I went with the Rockford Fosgate. I like the sound quality, they're loud, they've been rained on and haven't shorted out, they're reasonably priced.

The high end Infinity series, I think they might be called "Perfect" or "Kappa", were badass. I just couldn't stomach putting $200+ speakers out completely exposed to the elements.

Another requirement for the 6.5" needs to be the size of the grille; not all 6.5" grilles are standard size, and some won't fit the CVO speaker pods.

Also check the Audio section on this forum. Lots of good advice there from guys that have gone through multiple setups, I'm just one guy with a RK. FWIW, I do get a lot of compliments (sometimes complaints) on the sound this setup makes.

 

So the Rockford's are weatherproof?

 

They're polymer cones with butyl rubber surrounds, so essentially yes, although they're not advertised as such. They've been very durable so far. Been in the rain with them a couple times, and had to use the DIY car wash a couple times to get some road salt off the bike. No problems so far getting them wet. Also, the XTC foam baffles help seal moisture, too.

 

Awesome write up jayhawk.

What did you end up doing with the stereo cut out on the fairing?

 

Turned it into a waterproof storage box. Wife and I are currently riding 2up cross country. Will post up some pics and a ride report on this POS knockoff tour pak in a week or two. Here it is full dresser for our cross country:

 

Back from a 4,000mi trip riding 2-up. I'd like to offer my review on a couple of things.

First is the water resistance of the speakers. While not technically marketed as marine speakers, they have poly cones and butyl rubber surrounds. Twice we drove through downpour so bad the visibility was only a few hundred feet. Once we got hail. And then there was the ferry ride.

We put the bike on the Lake Express from Muskeegon, MI across to Milwaukee, WI. Through luck of the draw, my bike (and another guy's Buell) ended up on the fan tail. It is an uncovered section of the ferry on the aft of the boat. The night we went across was a bad storm. The boat was going approx 35mph through the water, in addition to the storm's wind and rain, that lasted for the duration of the 2-1/2 hour ferry ride. No problems at all with the speakers. Going to go ahead and call these water resistant.



Next was the Matuzu / eBay tour pak. I got the one with the wrap around seat as pictured a post or two back. It's junk. If you're thinking about getting this tour pak for cross country use, don't. We made it 1000mi before the top cracked. It started rattling. The latch hardware literally just fell apart at about 1500mi. I was worried about my wife falling off the back it seemed to be getting so flimsy. I got some ratchet straps arranged to where they were doing all the work, still made me a bit uneasy. I would say it's something that is barely adequate for occasional day trip use. I had high hopes of avoiding spending $1k+ on a MoCo tour pak, but looks like I'll be putting that order in soon as I refuse to ever bolt this tour pak back on the bike again.

FWIW, it did hold a lot of stuff. Just so flimsy, it's not safe to use.


r
One thing that ended up working out very well was the water resistant glove box I made for the fairing. I use an iPhone as my stereo, I don't want to add complexity to the wiring because too frequently I attach/remove the fairing depending on weather, distance, and my mood. I filled the hole for the radio cutout with a 1 DIN universal map pocket / glove box from a company called Scosche. They make radio install kits for cars, and I picked up this kit for $20 from the car stereo installation section of my local Best Buy. I used 3M adhesive tape to mount two thin strips of Oak to the top and the bottom of the glove box. Then I mounted a gasketed, weatherproof flip up radio cover like the kind used on boats. I screwed it through the fairing and into the Oak strips. I kept my registration, insurance and wallet in there for the whole trip. Worked great, even in the driving rain. Pictured here:



Also in that picture you may notice a pocket on the back of my driver's backrest. I had David Lee Upholstery here in OKC sew a vinyl pocket onto the back of the MoCo adjustable backrest with a velcro tab to open and close it. Ran a cable into the seat back and my wife was able to charge her phone and play DJ during the trip. Not completely waterproof, but kept the bulk of the moisture out, although the vinyl used ended up being slightly permeable.

Last, but certainly not least, I can't say enough good things about the Long Ride Shields recurve. I'm running a 12" on my fairing as pictured above. Zero buffeting. Significantly reduced overall fatigue on the longer ride days. The only negative I have about it, and this really is nitpicking, is a slight distortion when leaned while looking through corners. Absence of buffeting makes it worth it, though.

 

Clutch cable snapped at 17k miles the other day while riding. That was a little bit of pucker getting through traffic before I could find a spot to pull it over. HD waranteed it for $0.

 

Beautiful bike dude! Got some winter time plans for mine that lean heavily in the same direction.

 

jayhawkclint.. Trying to relocate amp to side cover have same bike 13 road king no ABS. Do you have or can you direct me to any pics of how you did the modifications. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, workingman

 

I don't think I have any pics of the amp sitting in the side cover. I recently sold the bike. Best I can describe is as follows:

1) There is a plastic tray in the right side cover that would normally house the ABS if installed.
2) Toward the back of the tray I cut out a notch that allowed me to mount the PBR300x2 on its side behind the side cover. The amp fit into the notch sort of snug.
3) I relocated the ECM so that it sat on its side behind the PBR300x2. Both amp and ECM fit in the side cover.
4) I used some thick rubber mat material, similar to what you might use for a heavy duty tool box drawer liner (not the perforated stuff, rather the solid rubber mat) to insulate the components and battery from vibration and what not.

It was all quite snug, side cover barely fit, but rode around no problems for 15,000+ miles, coldest ride was 27deg, hottest ride around 108deg.