I purchased a Sony
tape deck and 10 pak cd changer. The tape deck was disassembled so that the deck and the
front cover are separate. The faceplate is still removeable for security reasons. I
mounted the "back half" of the deck into the recess of the saddlebag, and
hardwired with computer cable to the "front half" of the deck. (the faceplate
and backing plate). A felt covered board is placed in front of this to hide the deck and
protect the wiring.
I purchased a marine style stereo cover from a local boat shop to use as a weather
resistant cover. This one has a fold down and slide under tinted plexiglass face. Once the
"front half" was mounted to the marine cover, it was fiberglassed to the
original handlebar cover. Some cutting is necessary. Then the unit was painted to match
the Honda grey. It appears as though the whole deck is mounted on the handlebars, but only
the front plate is there.
Thats why I went with a cassette deck. Slightly cheaper than a cd deck, and the cassette
function is not used. The cd changer is mounted outside the felt covered board so that I
have access to the cartridge. The CD changer and the deck must be compatible so that you
can control radio functions and CD's from the one faceplate. A rubber radio antennae is mounted on the back of the saddlebag, and the wiring for this is
enclosed behind the board. Instead of surface mount speakers, I installed stereo
headphones into my two helmets. Purchase the best quality walkman type headphones, cut off
the bands, velcro in the speakers to the earcups of your helmet (some shaving may be
necessary) and wind the wires around the liner. Make a small cut in the liner at the back
of the helmet and drop the jack out about 3". Use 100mph tape to secure the wires
under the liner.
I installed one headphone jack onto the top of the saddlebag, wired to the "rear
speaker connectors". I ran a headphone extention cable up to the handlebars for
myself, and connected it to the "front speaker connectors" This gives me control
over the front - rear fader. From these jacks we use headphone extentions to run from our
helmets to the jacks. I started by having a junction box on the saddlebag, but kept
breaking it off on the brake disc. By the time I got it to clear, the junction box was gone, and the bag is no longer removeable. If I reinstalled it to the right bag,
clearances would permit me to use the junction box, but then my left bag would have all
those holes. Damn.
Anyways, all is watertight, and no problems have arisen. CLICK ON THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PHOTO 






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