A client from Westminster, Maryland, came to WSS Westminster Speed & Sound with a stunning 2014 Harley Street Glide. The pictures don’t do it justice – this bike is beautiful! He was looking for a significant audio upgrade to his factory Harley stereo. It came with the optional Boom system and, while it was better than the standard system, it still left a lot to be desired.
Proper Planning Was Key for This Street Glide Audio Upgrade
Our team spent significant time on looking over the bike with the client and getting to know him better. What came through loud and clear was that he wanted to do it right. He had made a substantial investment on this motorcycle and didn’t want to shortchange anything. We met this person several months ago when he was in the beginning stages of planning the motorcycle audio upgrade. When springtime rolled around, he came back, and we planned out the upgrade.
Bag Lids And Touring Pack Lid House JL Audio Marine Speakers
He had already purchased the bag lids, and the touring pack lid was set up to house JL Audio marine speakers, so we were good to go for rear speaker locations. (An important side note is that we offer replacement lids to our customers when we are building motorcycle systems.) The three driving comments that we heard from the client were “Make it loud, make it sound great and make it beautiful.” We love hearing those things! We worked up what we felt was his best solution, and he liked the idea, so we ordered the needed equipment and set an installation date.
Touchscreen Harley Radio For Ultimate Reliabilty
As this Harley was a 2014 model, it had the optional touchscreen radio in the dash, so there was no need to change that out. We often keep the stock Harley radios when possible, as they are designed to handle the punishment that riding on a bike can dish out. This was the case for this Street Glide audio upgrade.
State Of The Art Arc Audio Moto Amplifier Powers Audio System
We installed an Arc Audio Moto600.4 amplifier in the fairing, right above the radio. If you look closely at the design of the amplifier, you will see that one side of it is even angled down slightly to clear the back of the fairing. The Arc amp is state of the art in motorcycle amplifiers. It provides more than 600 watts of clean power to the speakers, has an extremely small chassis and is built to interface perfectly with the Harley radio. These amps will also take the punishment of life on a V-Twin motorcycle.
Arc Audio Moto Speakers, Designed For The Open Road
When it came time for front speakers, we went back to Arc Audio. We chose the Moto602, as it’s designed specifically for life on a bike. This is a 6.5” coaxial speaker with the tweeter mounted in the center of the woofer. It works great on any modern Harley touring bike, and doesn’t need speaker adapters on the 2014 and newer models. These speakers are extremely efficient and have a sound imprint designed for riding up the road. If you are sitting on the bike with the engine off, they sound a little bright and aggressive. When you are riding, they sound perfect.
An important note here is that the technicians at WSS Westminster Speed & Sound didn’t like the sound of the speakers at first. Harley designed their new bikes with these small, sealed enclosures, which has a negative effect on the sound of many higher-performance speakers. Our team modified the enclosures, and the sound quality improved dramatically. This is just one of the small things we do here to maximize the return on investment for our clients.
Rear Speakers, Rugged And Great Sounding Thanks To JL Audio
When it came time for rear speakers, we chose the Jl Audio M770-CCX-SG-TB, which is their top of the line 7.7” marine speaker. JL Audio is famous for their marine speakers, which they design and build in-house at their factory in Florida. They are the best-sounding, highest-performing marine speakers available. As you can imagine, if they can live on a boat and experience saltwater spray and the jarring of rough seas, the will have a comparatively easy life on a motorcycle. We chose the Sport grills for the rear speakers, as they fit better with the theme of the bike.
Custom Wiring Creates Easily Serviceable Motorcycle
Now came the hard part: the wiring. The rear speakers were mounted in enclosures that may be removed on occasion, so this meant the wiring had to allow for quick disconnects. It was relatively easy to find places for the bag speakers, but the tour pack was a real challenge, since it sits elevated above the rear fender. This bike is stunning to look at, so we couldn’t have something as simple as a quick disconnect ruin the look. Our technicians made a channel on the underside of the seat to allow the speaker wire to run from the tour pack and end up at the battery. At that point, we installed WeatherPak connectors inline on the speaker leads. These are completely waterproof connectors that will last for years, and we designed them in such a way that he couldn’t plug them in backward, which would mess up his left and right balance. The result was a hidden, clean look with quality that exceeded Harley Davidson standards. We also soldered and heat-shrunk every connection in the bike for the ultimate in reliability.
Proper Planning Pays Off With Happy Client
When the client came to pick up the bike, he was thrilled with the outcome. We went over all of the details with him and he was liking everything we showed him. And the sound, well … this thing jammed. Now, when he is riding up the road, he will truly have a concert on wheels. The music will never strain to overcome the road noise around him.
If you own a motorcycle and are unhappy with your audio system, we invite you to stop by WSS Westminster Speed & Sound. We will work one on one with you to design and build a solution that fits your unique needs. Our team has more than 30 years’ experience in working with mobile audio systems and will treat your bike with the utmost care.
You can also contact us here for more information about any of our products and services.
Leave a Reply