Went a different route with my Vaquero's audio system

[RACNRAY]

The OEM audio system was fine untill i added a loud exhaust and my BAK. I found that at the higher speeds and/or traveling into the wind or ridin in gusty conditions the system just could not punch thru the all the noise no matter how high I had the volume turned up to.

So, my first mod was to change the speakers. Hog Tunes came out with direct replacement speakers for the Vulcans. The claim was 20% more sound. On my skoot I experienced a LOSS of sound volume. At those times where I could not hear the OEM system good enuff I would just turn it off. The night I rode with the HT speakers I was disappointed in the loss of volume that I rode with the system off most of the night. Now I know that some peeps were happy with the HT speakers, unfortunately my skoot and my ears were not happy. They were removed the next day and put away.

Many know of the members that upgraded to the Rockford/Fosgate amps and how much of an improvement it made, and I followed those threads and learned alot. I am grateful to those who made the upgrades and posted the results. My own problem, and it's all mine is the amount of work involved in the install, which really is not alot. But workin on skoots all day then trying to find the gumption to install the amp and do all the wiring had me procrastinating big time.

Afew weeks ago we installed a handlebar mounted audio system with amplified speakers on a customers skoot that connected to her i-pod. The sound was great and the volume was good also. That got me thinking and I did a search for "5 1/4"amplified speakers" and came up with Cycle Sounds m/c audio specialists. COOL!! Their site showed the amplified speakers with what they call "Power Pucks". What they also had were the pPwer Puck amplifiers available seperately to use with my speakers. Since I already had the HT speakers that was supposed to be better than stock speakers I inquired about the power pucks.

I spoke to a lady (I think here name was Valerie) who was EXTREMELY helpful in answering my lame brained questions. We did get to the point where my questions exceeded her knowledge, I was then put in touch with Bill. He was so helpful in "teaching" me stuff about audio ,uh, stuff. Vey helpful people with the kind of customer service that puts a big smile on my face.

We decided that I would order the Power Puck amplifiers to use with the HT speakers. So couple of weeks ago I recieved the amps. The install was exactly what this lazy guy wanted. All i had to remove was the speakers, the speaker housings and the headlite. The amps required a switched 12 volt supply and a ground, both of which are found in the inside of the fairing on the upper left side. EASY AS PIE!! Just what this lazy dude wanted!

The amps have 4 different adjustments that we went thru to get the sound right. I was kinda disappointed when I really cranked up the gain, the speakers distorted, so we just tuned for the best sound quality.

Out on the road there was a deffinate boost in sound volume with a bit better sound quality. I still wanted more volume than what i tuned it for, but even with that tuning the clarity was,um, not what I wanted.

Last week a Vaquero owner brought his skoot in for baseline dyno runs on his stock skoot b4 he did his mods. He had installed the Rockford amp with Infinity speakers. I was impressed with the fullness of the sound. He had sent me a link to buy those Infinity speakers, which i did, and today did the install one speaker at a time.

First was to install the right side speaker with no adjustment to the amp. Both my mechanic and myself could tell a HUGE inmprovement in sound quality, and even putting my head close to the HT speaker I could hear the Infinity speaker drowning the HT speaker out. Cranking up the volume we could tell a noticeable iprovement in the sound clearity as the words in the song were perfectly clear coming from the Infinity speaker. I replaced the other HT speaker and WOW, what an even bigger improvement. I will take the skoot out tonite for a ride to hear what the improvements are on the road.

PICS OF THE POWER PUCKS...







THE INFINITY SPEAKER...





So, this is kinda the lazy man's way of improving the sound, and at this point
I really look forward to what I hear on the road. If it's more gooder ( as my dad used to say) then I'll open up the amps and do some more tuning.

Thanx to Barry for his speaker recommendation, and thanx to the fine peeps at Cycle Sounds.

I'll let u'all know after tonite's ride.

RACNRAY

[cactusjack]

I know a lot of you are anti-anything Harley, but Harley owners have been dealing with motorcycle audio systems for years. I found hdforums.com very helpful when I was doing the audio in the Reckless fairing I added to my Nomad. Just look in the touring section, since only the HD touring bikes typically have audio systems. Lots of good ideas in there.

Just throwing this out there for those who aren't afraid of a Harley forum.

[Top Cat]

Originally Posted by RACNRAY

The OEM audio system was fine untill i added a loud exhaust and my BAK. The system just could not punch thru the all the noise no matter how high I had the volume turned up to.
RACNRAY

Ya think maybe your pipes are to freakin loud
Pipes so loud you have to soup up the audio system to hear it.
I'll keep you in mind when the powers that be tell me I can't ride my motorcycle, I mean scoot, down the main streets of America.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by Top Cat

Ya think maybe your pipes are to freakin loud
Pipes so loud you have to soup up the audio system to hear it.
I'll keep you in mind when the powers that be tell me I can't ride my motorcycle, I mean scoot, down the main streets of America.

Damn, Tim - you jumped on that like a duck on a junebug. Nothing gets past your steely gaze.

[RACNRAY]

Originally Posted by Top Cat

Ya think maybe your pipes are to freakin loud
Pipes so loud you have to soup up the audio system to hear it.
I'll keep you in mind when the powers that be tell me I can't ride my motorcycle, I mean scoot, down the main streets of America.

YO...no need to be so negative. I have modified my exhaust to make real good power but is no louder than a set of V&H slip-ons, and maybe a bit mellower. Just about every freakin Vulcan owner does some kinda upgrade to their exhaust that ultimately makes more noise, blame then too. I also ride in a responsible manner, and with the torque my skoot makes I really don't have to turn it past 2500 or 3k rpm to shift, and get it into 6th gear as low as 40 mph, chugs right along and hardly makes any noise.

I also don't run as tall of a shield as most do, so wind noise is also a concern, prolly more so than the exhaust as i hear more wind noise than exhaust noise.

So, if YOUR skoot is stock then noone will tell YOU that you can't ride and I garantee it isn't gonna because of ME!!

RACNRAY

[fish]

Originally Posted by Top Cat

Ya think maybe your pipes are to freakin loud
Pipes so loud you have to soup up the audio system to hear it.
I'll keep you in mind when the powers that be tell me I can't ride my motorcycle, I mean scoot, down the main streets of America.

[cnc]

I see Tim's point load and clear, pardon the pun. My cottage is located on a very popular bike route. On a good day tons of bikes pass and it is not uncommon to hear the music blasting long before the sound of the exhaust on many bikes. Now I take it in stride as I ride a bike, but lots of people in the area are fed up with that kind of noise pollution. There will come a time when they will have had enough and if they can't regulate the noise they will shut the road down to all bikes.

[Top Cat]

Ray, here is the thing, I hate loud pipes.
The reason I hate loud pipes is they are not necessary on a street bike.
You can get enough power from today's bikes and still run a relatively quiet exhaust.
You said ,"The OEM audio system was fine until i added a loud exhaust and my BAK." So I assumed you added a loud exhaust.
A loud exhaust pisses off the general public. They don't want, and should not have to listen to the noise pollution.
If enough of them get pissed then we will be legislated against. Don't think it will not happen because it has already started in some places.
You say if I run stock no one will tell me I can't ride. Well there are streets now in some places where motorcycles are not allowed. Myrtle Beach comes to mind.
I may have misinterpreted how loud your pipes are and if so I'm sorry, but when you say you have to soup up your radio to hear it over your loud pipes, I don't think I did.

[BudMan]

Originally Posted by cnc

On a good day tons of bikes pass and it is not uncommon to hear the music blasting long before the sound of the exhaust on many bikes. Now I take it in stride as I ride a bike, but lots of people in the area are fed up with that kind of noise pollution. There will come a time when they will have had enough and if they can't regulate the noise they will shut the road down to all bikes.

It's not just bikes.
I've stopped at lights next to the jackass with the sub woofer that shakes my pickup.
My personal favorite is when they're at the gas pump.
It's a look at me thing I guess.

[jestephens]

Ray, I hope to meet you and your bike some day to check out all your custom work

[Old Bear]

I would be worried if my pipes were so loud that I had to increase the stereo wattage to be able to hear my tunes. I would think that has to be hard on hearing-and mine has long ago been damaged by too many "big guns" and too little protection!
"Loud" depends on who is listening, where at, and what time. My super just had a custom baffle installed on his Honda 1300, was bragging about the sound. Until the next morning however, when he fired it up at 5am to come to work! Now he has to really baby the RPMs to get out of the neighborhood without pissing off his neighbors. He had me come out and listen, and yea, my thought was "loud!"
I wasn't even considering changing the sound of my Vaquero until I heard about the Tri-Ovals. From what I understand, at low RPM they are about the same volume as stock, but increase at higher RPM. But what is "higher RPM?" I would love to get to try out a set for about twenty minutes! The idea intrigues me-pretty quiet when I want it to be, but I can sound off when I want to. Best of both worlds!

[Top Cat]

Bear, I,m not being a wise ass, honest.
You said " The idea intrigues me-pretty quiet when I want it to be, but I can sound off when I want to. Best of both worlds!"
When would you want to have the pipes be real loud?

[ponch]

Originally Posted by Top Cat

Bear, I,m not being a wise ass, honest.
You said " The idea intrigues me-pretty quiet when I want it to be, but I can sound off when I want to. Best of both worlds!"
When would you want to have the pipes be real loud?

Pipes sound great when you are next to the bike just listening to it rumble, but after riding with them for awhile can give one a headache. I debaffled my Vulcan 800 and it was annoying to ride more than a half hour and that's not counting the seat issues. Since then, only stock pipes.

[Old Bear]

Originally Posted by Top Cat

Bear, I,m not being a wise ass, honest.
You said " The idea intrigues me-pretty quiet when I want it to be, but I can sound off when I want to. Best of both worlds!"
When would you want to have the pipes be real loud?

Hey TC, you're cool, I ask the same questions! Let's see. To start, I'm not talking open-pipe loud, but something more commanding than I hear now. I'm an old hot-rodder from a previous life, and confess to loving the rumble of tweaked big blocks with high-lift cams. And must also confess a touch of vanity when it comes to such things. Alpha-male issues? Doc, where's my meds? Oh, sorry, I digress.
So when do I like to make some noise? When I'm hanging out with other bikers (very seldom, I'm more of a lone wolf-or bear); When I'm on some twisties that require a good bit of accel/decel (gets my heart pumping); or when I really open the plates for some hard accel for whatever reason. Other than that, I like a low volume rumble. Anybody make slip-ons like that?

[ponch]

Yeah, there's nothing like a big block and flowmasters.