Speaker and XM Radio Install

2003 Honda Shadow ACE (VT750CD)

Written By: T. Little

This is the before picture of the motorcycle about to get the sound system. Not too many places to hide electronics.

A close up of the instrument cluster and windscreen area.

This install is in two parts:

1.              Install the hardware, least flexible to most.

2.              Connect the wiring.

I do the job in this sequence to avoid as much re-work as possible. Sometimes even a slight change of one piece can result in lots of extra time doing other things over to make a good fit.

First, I needed to mount the XM receiver somewhere. This bike has no storage compartments so I purchased an aftermarket windshield mount leather toolbag. We ride in the rain so it's important to keep the XM tuner out of the direct rain. It's position would be somewhat fixed since the toolbag I bought for it uses the windscreen center screw for a mount. I mounted the toolbag so that I could use it's position to judge the best fit for the speakers.

Here's the contents of one bracket kit that comes with the speakers. I attached one of the sides to the center section, leaving the screws loose.

This allows you to snap it on the handlebar and attach the other half.

At this point, I tightened the allen screws. The clamp is still loose enough to move around on the bars.

Now it's time to fit up the speakers. With the clamp rotation on the bars and the two pivots on the speaker housing, you need to twist things around to figure out the best position for the speakers.

In the above photo, I had originally thought of putting the bracket behind the speaker. In order to get the nut on the speaker started, I had to use some pliers on the clamp to squeeze the sides closer together. It only takes a little bit. You want to leave some room so that when you cinch that nut down, the clamp will crush down on the handlebars properly for no slips later.

In this photo, I have rotated the speaker forward to show the clamp assembly. This position left the speakers turned too far inward so I loosened things up and tried some different options.

After some experimenting, it worked out better to rotate the clamps forward and mount the speaker on top.

This photo is taken just prior to final tightening. I wanted to make sure the speakers were directed at the rider and mounted evenly with respect to the instruments.

It helps to hold the speaker mount with a Crescent wrench to keep it from turning while tightening the nut.

This is the final fitment of the speakers. Brackets and base mounts are all tightened. Don't forget to cinch down the bolt attaching the speaker housing to the base.

This is the car kit receptacle for the Delphi SkiFi XM tuner. I am showing how the screws are removed to separate the backing plate for a clean, fixed mount.

Here is the backing plate mounted inside the toolbag. As luck would have it, the toolbag mount was recessed, concealing the nut. This left enough of the bolt to use a second, shallow nut to attach the XM kit.

I drilled a hole in the side of the toolbag to pass the wiring inside. At this stage, all the wiring is separated and draped out of the way.

Next it was time to remove the seat and gas tank in order to get the amp in position and run wiring. If you look closely, you can see the ignition control module on top of the battery box. This had to be moved and its mounting tabs trimmed in order to fit the amp.

Here are pictures of the amp fitment. I ended up having to trim the fins back with a die grinder in order for it to lay down inside the frame. I cut it one way and discovered that the input jacks were too close to the frame to connect the wiring. I turned it around and cut it again for a good fit; however, the amp's power button was so close to the frame I was worried it might turn the amp off when hitting bumps in the road. I was able to pull the power button off, then sealed the hole with black tape after making sure the stem inside was in the “ON” position.

With the amp in position, I made sure the seat fit properly. Here you can see the mounting tab nearly flush to its mount with no forcing.

Here's a shot showing the right hand cover removed. The ignition control module had just enough length to shift it under the side cover. Space was at a premium due to the auto chain oiler already in there.

This is a shot of the main harness running along the right side of the frame. Wires were run along side the main harness, being careful that nothing would get pinched when the gas tank was reinstalled. Once the wiring emerges from the front of the gas tank, you can “conceal” it by following existing wiring and cables where possible. Be careful of sharp edges that could rub or cut the new wiring.

This is a close up of the amp and how the wiring runs back into that area. At this point, everything but the power is connected. The little pigtail on the right of the frame is the power supply for Gerbings heated cold weather gear.

An important item from Radio Shack was a small, inline volume control (usually used for headsets). This connects inline between the XM tuner and the wires leading to the amp input. The Delphi unit I used has a volume setting, however it's buried in a setup menu and very inconvenient for frequent use. The Radio Shack control is a simple to operate thumb wheel.

For the power supply, I purchased a noise reducer at Radio Shack for about $15 and an accessory port (matches the cig lighter power plug for the XM) for another $10. The accessory plug was required since the XM power plug has a built-in voltage reduction. I also bought an accessory relay kit at Pep Boys for $20. The relay kit is most commonly used for people that install aftermarket fog lights. It came with a 30A relay and a 15A fuse on the supply – plenty for this amp and the XM tuner. The goodness of the relay setup is that the amp can always be switched on and will lose power when the key is turned off. With everything under the seat, that's a must. It also isolates the sound system on it's own circuit, eliminating the chance of overloading an existing circuit by piggy-backing at the fuse panel or equivalent.

For power connections, I never attach anything directly to the battery. Aside from safety concerns around hydrogen gas and potential sparks, you will find terminals attached directly to battery posts will corrode in short order. Also, if you haven't already, invest in a service manual. The wiring and component locators were very important to locating sane power connection points on this job. Last but not least, disconnect the negative battery connection before stabbing your metal tools into various wiring connections. Chances are you'll also rub the frame and create an arc that could ruin any attached electronics (EFI, ignition module, your new XM tuner, etc).

I used a battery positive terminal on the hot side of the starter relay to provide power. The other end of the relay's load circuit went to the input side of the noise reducer. The switch side of the relay was spliced into the ignition run circuit. All ground wires were attached to an existing chassis bolt, grounding them to the frame.

Here is the view from the seat of the completed install, with the toolbag open and closed. In order to make this easy to operate, I attached a junk piece of fiber optic data cable to the remote and threaded it into the bag (remote not pictured). The fiber is about the same size as 22ga wire making it very light and unobtrusive. I used some 3M Dual Lock (like Velcro but holds better) to attach the remote to the front of the instrument panel and a small clip to point the fiber at the infrared receiver on the XM tuner. Once the presets are programmed, it's easy enough to remember what number your favorites are programmed to without needing to see the display. For those that would rather see the display (and risk more rain damage) there are several universal style handlebar mounts that could be used instead of the toolbag.

This is a front and rear view of the completed install, with the gas tank and seat back in place. As you can see, the MotorcycleTunes.com speakers blend in nicely with the rest of the bike.