So, do you leave those lights off when you listen to the radio or did you actually FIX the problem, and if so, how? General comment: I can't remember reading of a problem like this with Harley branded LEDs, perhaps this is one reason they are so expensive.

 

I had the exact same issue after installing an amp under my fairing. I have an LED headlamp and spots that made no static before the amp install.

Jump on amazon and search for "cyron choke".

It's an inline choke that plugs in between the headlamp and the wiring harness plugs. This eliminated ALL the static in my system.

 

 

 

Well, I "fixed" the problem by returning the bulbs to the manufacturer I bought them from because they knew it was a problem with their bulbs on bikes with radios, and I paid the money for the HD spotlight bulbs. The JW Speaker LED headlight I had previously installed did not cause any issues.

The lesson here is: If you have a radio on your bike be wary of less expensive LEDs.

 

So here's a follow up. I did finagle it and got to work better with the headlight. Used 2-3 chokes. But mostly it's about routing the antenna wire as far away from the headlamp harness as possible. Unfortunately, the day i realized the headlamp was the issue it was already one day too late to do a return on amazon. In the end, I still decided to to get another halo lamp. But this time from hogworkz. This has not be installed yet because I'm in the process of installing my new amp and speakers.

Other observations: the class D amp brings the problem back even worse than the headlamp ever could. lol. Working on some shielding ideas now. I'll test out later after my amp tray ( that i didn't know I needed) gets here today or tomorrow. Gonna put tinned copper sheathing over the antenna wire, and the power and ground cables. Maybe figure out some aluminum barrier around the amp a bit and re-route the hidden antenna at the bottom of the stereo rather than around the top. Just wrapping the antenna wire with a bit of aluminum foil helped. So gotta see what all else can be done cheaply to reduce EMI.

This like tape antenna for $20 on eBay works better broken than the $75 hidden antenna from Harley. But oh well. I got it now.

 

Update: after I finished everything I ended up going back to the whip antenna tucked under the seat. The hidden antenna with the tinned copper shielding was too problematic. With the whip you only have to worry about the antenna cable itself. Wrap it all the way back to the neck (as tightly as you can). Chokes on both ends seem to help bit. Thought about solder a ground wire to shielding to increase the performance but it's good enough for how little I listen to radio on the bike.
Just don't want to hear a bunch of static and when I turn on the ignition.

Fm Signal Is a lil spotty in the garage but on the road it's better. Have only tried the one station I listen too. But it's better than nothing at all.

 

Excellent info! I’m having the exact same problem.

 

I have the same problem except I have the antenna in the same location but have a shorty and a aftermarket headlight what should I try?

 

the radio uses a different sound profile when the engine is running vs not. It was programmed that way by Harley Davidson themselves.
edit: I should have looked at the dates on the posts