I have been asked by a couple of fellow forum members to create a brand new thread with to share my experience in getting the Cardo PackTalk Bold to work with the GTS radio. I have posted this information in at least 4 or 5 other threads making it hard to find; even for me when I am asked to share the links.

I hope you find this information helpful and look forward to possibly learning additional information from other forum members.

Please allow me to share my my setup. I have a 2019 CVO Street Glide with a GTS radio which of course supports Apple CarPlay. Although my bike came with a WHIM preinstalled, in the following configuration, I have completely bypassed it. I have a Cardo PackTalk Bold which is capable of communicating in mesh mode which is much clearer than Bluetooth and also has a much greater range. We can discuss more about the differences between mesh mode and BlueTooth mode in the replies if you are interested to learn more or have questions.

For those of you with non-branded HD Sean headsets, like me, I am sure you are well aware of the issues we face and compromises we have to make in order to get the most out of the GTS radio, including CarPlay. For those you who do not, I will summarize.

I think we can all agree, it was amazing that for quite awhile now, HD has manufactured radios that allowed for voice communication. After all, hands free communication on a motorcycle is a game changer. So what's the problem? Well, to communicate with devices such as you cell phone or HD radio via any Bluetooth headset, that device must come equipped with Bluetooth wireless headset profiles. It sounds incredibly complicated right? Wrong! For almost a decade, these devices have supported Bluetooth wireless headset profiles. There is not a single device that I can think of that does not come with this functionality built in. Wait... yes I can - the HD radios that have been manufactured since the Rushmore edition of their motorcycle was introduced in 2014. Well, surely this must have just been an oversight. Wrong again! HD from the beginning made a calculated decision to manufacturer their radios, since 2014 without this capability. Why? You guessed it - M O N E Y ! ! ! By not including Bluetooth wireless headset profiles, even you your bike has the capability of using handsfree communication, you cannot take advantage of this technology... that is unless you shell out an additional $250 for a Wireless Headset Interface Module(WHIM).

That's right, this is a just another way HD can squeeze and extra $250, plus installation, out of you. OK, well that sucks but all you need is a WHIM and any Bluetooth headset and you are good to go, right? Wow, you are not doing well at this guessing game are you? Wrong again! HD then decided that only if you buy an HD branded headset will your headset even fully function with the WHIM. Keep in mind that SENA makes all of HD's headsets, every one of them. They make a 10, 20s, and 30k. However, you cannot just buy any SENA headset, you have to buy the HD branded headset in order to get full functionality with the WHIM. That's right. Even if you buy a SENA 30K headset it will not fully function with the WHIM. You have to buy the HD branded 30k headset. HD partnered with SENA and forced them to remove functionality from the headset unless is branded with the HD logo. Please do not tell me I have to state why. Well what about other third party headsets like Cardo? Forgeeet about iiiiit! These issues are greatly more complicated with the introduction of the GTS radio, with CarPlay, in 2019. I know! I know! Get on with it!

Ok, thanks for hanging in there with me so far. We can discuss of these issues in greater detail in the thread. Let's get to the meat and potatoes. I have outlined some of the issues and challenges I faced getting my PackTalk Bold to work with CarPlay. Below is a summarize and a pretty good work around that I hope saves you hours and hours of frustration. If you are facing this situation, please read through it carefully, paying particular attention to the order in which you connect, pair, and power on your devices and your GTS radio. I look forward to reading your replies, sharing information, and helping as much as I can.

These instructions are for those of you who do not have an HD branded headset, do not have or wish to bypass the WHIM but still want to have the functionality of CarPlay. If you have a WHIM and an HD branded headset, then these instructions do not apply to you.

Many have written and confirmed that these steps work... Until Harley figures out a way to intentionally disable this work around or 'hack'.

N O T E : This only works if you have had your dealer disable the Apple CarPlay microphone option. This is something that has to be done by the dealer by connecting your bike to Digital Assistant. Some of you have said that your dealer can no longer do this because of a recent update to Digital Tech. This is total BS! If your dealer says that they cannot do it, take it to another dealership. Also, do not believe them if they tell you they can do it but the setting will revert if you update your Boombox software in the future. This is yet another lie! Hop on your bike and do a burn out while you peel out to another dealership.

1. Make sure your PackTalk is paired via Bluetooth to your iPhone. Do this without the bike being powered on or without the phone being plugged into the bike.
   1. power on the PackTalk,
   2. go the the Bluetooth settings of the iPhone
   3. press and hold the bottom button the PackTalk for 5 seconds until in begins flashing rapidly (I forget the color combination)
   4. look for the PackTalk bold on your iPhone and select it to pair it.
   5. confirm pairing is successful
   6. turn off your PackTalk

Before continuing, it is ABSOLUTELY important to make sure that you disable the Rider Headset on your bike so that the PacTalk is not, nor ever gets paired to the GTS radio.

1. power on your bike
2. go to 'wireless headset setup'
3. make sure rider headset is set to disabled

It is also extremely important to confirm that the phone is not paired to your bike by checking the Bluetooth settings. If you see you phone listed under Bluetooth devices on your bike, tap on it and choose 'forget device'.

The last preparation step is making sure that the Audio Routing options - for music, coms, and prompts are all set to headset and not the bike's speakers.

So at this point...

1. Your PackTalk has been paired to your phone but your PackTalk is powered off.
2. There are absolutely no pairings between your phone and your bike or your PackTalk and your bike (if there were, they should have been deleted or 'forgotten' by now).
3. Your bike is powered off and your phone is not plugged into the USB port of your bike.
4. All 'Audio Routing' for music, coms, and prompts are set to the headset and not the bike's speakers.

Here is the process you will follow for the rest of eternity to get this to work. Any deviation from the process will cause weird, unpredictable, and illogical behavior between the functionality of the iPhone, GTS radio, and PackTalk bold.

You MUST CONNECT & POWER ON DEVICES IN THIS ORDER.

1. Make sure you have no audio of any sort playing on the iPhone. In fact to be safe, close the Music app on the iPhone altogether.
2. Plug the iPhone into the USB port of the bike.
3. Power on the bike and wait a few seconds for the CarPlay icon to appear or until the GTS goes to the CarPlay Screen.
   1. If music starts playing, sometimes the bike remembers the status of CarPlay when it was last connected, pause it immediately, either on the CarPlay screen of the bike or the phone itself, unplug the phone from the USB port on the bike, shutdown the bike, and start from step 1 of this section again.
4. Power on the PackTalk.
5. Listen to the PackTalk speakers to hear the welcome message and the message that says your iPhone is connected.
6. Wait about 10 seconds, at the most, for all of the connections to establish and settle down.

That's it. Use Siri or CarPlay to your heart's content. I strongly recommend getting a PackTalk Bold because it has 'Hey Siri' functionality built into the microphone without having to press any buttons on the headset. For example, if I want to make a call, I just say, "Hey Siri", wait for the Siri indicator on the GTS as well as the audio prompt, and then say things like "Call my wife", "Send a text to...", "get directions to", "read my last text", or anything you want Siri to do.

I also want to add that all incoming and outgoing phone calls work perfectly and audio routing goes to the PackTalk speakers 100% of the time for both.

The only caveat to this setup, and I have not given up yet, is that if you say "Hey Siri, play Crazy B*tch by Buckcherry", it will play through your PackTalk speakers. I will only say, and I am sure you will not believe me and test for your self, there is no easy way without screwing up other functionality to get the audio to your bike's speakers. I digress. More to come on this topic in a future post.


__________________
2019 CVO Street Glide (Dark Forest)
Vance & Hines Power Duals
MagnaFlow 4.5" Hitmans
Factory 47 12" Bars
Ohlins HD159 Blackline Shocks

 

Thanks RiderX- subscribed

 

RiderX:

WOW!! What great information for the Forum! Thanks to you for your tedious work.

Would you care to guess how many hours it took working on this "FIX" for Harley's insidious attempt to have their customers use ONLY Harley branded Sena products?
I ask about hours...I'm sure this also included DAYS and WEEKS of detailed experimentation. Your tenacity during this task is truly impressive!

 

Thank you, RiderX.
The information you posted is extremely helpful.
Like so many others, my group is invested in the far-superior (in our opinions) Scala PackTalk system. None of us relish the thought of changing back over to Sena. Hopefully, with your help, all BoomBox functionality from our PackTalk units can be attained. I'm ok with no stereo sound, so long as DMC works simultaneously with the connection to the BoomBox.
Ken

 

Following the steps I have outlined allows for stereo sound with your PackTalk unit. This is possible because using the method I outlined, you are completely bypassing the WHIM. Enjoy your stereo sound!

 

I am glad you found it helpful!

 

It is my pleasure.

 

You are very welcome. Thank you for the kind words.

 

I have come to the conclusion that this is never going to work! My friend George has spent over 50 hours, both on his motorcycle with WHIM installed and at the dealership trying to get PackTalk to work properly to access the BoomBox AND (and this is important) to communicate via DMC or Bluetooth to our friends.

The PackTalk will indeed pair and connect to the WHIM and control the BoomBox. The audio out from the BoomBox is mono, though. I could deal with that if it were the only issue.
But the deal-breaker issue is that the PackTalk pairs to the WHIM at a higher priority than intercom. So any time the WHIM is paired and connected to the PackTalk, DMC and Bluetooth communications go away. On the PackTalk, the green light still indicates that the unit is in DMC mode, for instance, but you will not be able to hear your friends and they cannot hear you.
This is with the PackTalk paired to the WHIM as a phone (either phone 1 or phone 2) or in Hands Free mode. Doesn't matter. PackTalk thinks that a higher priority action is happening and intercom is superseded.

So I bought a Sena Freewire for testing. With the Freewire (WHIM disconnected), I could control the BoomBox, and I could make a phone call via the BoomBox. I could hear the other party, but they couldn't hear me. I don't know if DMC was superceded or not. I didn't have another PackTalk for testing.

The only answer I can think of is to have TWO headsets. One would have to be the HARLEY-branded Sena, dedicated to the WHIM and BoomBox operation and all of its functions. The other, a Packtalk) would be for intercom with other riders. And this sucks! Would need two microphones and two sets of helmet speakers.
And this is just a thought: Could the Harley Sena be paired to the PackTalk so that only one mic and set of speakers required?

I'd buy a new PackTalk if they'd make Phone 2 priority adjustable so that it could be set to the same priority as DMC intercom. Then, both DMC and connection to the WHIM would probably work.

Ken

 

Ken, I understand your frustration, believe me. These "in-order procedures" are so bizarre they scramble the brain. This stuff is WAY too complicated.

You said: "The PackTalk will indeed pair and connect to the WHIM and control the BoomBox. "
Rider X said NOT to pair the PackTalk to the WHIM. His whole procedure was predicated around BYPASSING the WHIM, as if it wasn't even on the bike at all.

So, why are you still trying to use the WHIM? I'm NOT asking this is a wise-guy fashion either. Please don't get mad at me. I am asking because I made a bad assumption, I think, about RiderX's use of the PackTalk. After reading his instructions, and reading what you are trying to do with Packtalk, it "appears" to me that you and RiderX really are doing two different things. IT "seems" to me that RIDER X only wants to use the PTalk to access CarPlay and his iPhone, using SIRI to do his commands from his wireless headset. YOU, however, want to use wireless headset for CarPlay....And...to communicate with your riding buddies(which is really what the Sena and PackTalk wireless headsets were designed to do).

So, if I understand you right, You want CarPlay and Dynamic Mesh Communication, and it won't work. Rider X only wants CarPlay, with iPHONE function to his headset, but he is not interested in communication with other riders.

DO I have this right?