Daves Blog

I’m still looking at the bike and trying to imagine how to fit the passenger audio controller but in the meantime I’ve had the front mudguard back off and have now fitted the extension correctly by tapping out two bushes. You can never beat having the right tool for the job and this tap and die set will be a wonderful addition to my workshop.

I’m really pleased with the result and I hope it helps to keep muck off the front of the engine and lower fairing etc.

We went for a ride today and what an incredible difference Meikes new helmet has made to the intercom. Music sounds better because of the new bass cavity behind the speakers, speach is much easier to understand, the auto mute control works more effectively and the noise from her helmet is all but gone. I can still hear stuff from her but now she can from me too but most importantly it isn’t deafening. Actually no, most importantly she is wearing a helmet that fits her properly. I think Mic mutes would still be a good idea for long periods of silence but they’re not now essential, just a nice to have.

The passenger audio controller arrived today which is very good service as it was delivered from the USA. I have a problem though and that is that I don’t like the way it’s supposed to be mounted. According to the instructions it sort of hangs on a metal bracket under the right rear passenger pocket with a piece of moulded shaped rubber to conceal the bracket and wiring. Not only does it simply not look good but it would make it impossible to clean on top of the right saddlebag. There is a similar control on the other side for the passenger seat heater, but as this is factory fitted it’s actually in the lower section of the left pocket and not underneath it. Looking at the shape and size I’m thinking with some careful cutting it should be possible to fit this audio controller in a similar fashion in the right pocket.

My wonderful wife came home from work with a tap and die set she’d bought for me and so tomorrow I will fit the front mudguard extension properly as well.

In a spare couple of hours today I took the J&M Elite headset out of Meikes old helmet and installed it into her Schuberth. I learnt a lot from when I did it to mine and so this time I completely dismantled her helmet and got the cheek pads out completely. I also did a little more studying and found reference on the J&M web site that the headsets should be fitted with a hole all the way through the cheek pad. With this in mind I didn’t do anything to pull the lining back on her cheek pads but this time carefully cut the hole through from the back without cutting through the lining. I also discovered a slightly better way of securing the mic by cutting away a little of the bottom of the cheek pad and instead of cutting a slot in her neck guard for the wires drilled a hole through the the plactic neck piece of the C2 and finished it off with a grommet. Once back together the finished result was so much better than mine.

So much better in fact that I then took mine to pieces again and applied the same mods. Testing in the garage the sound quality is improved and Meike was very comfortable with hers. Can’t wait to try it on the road and see how much noise I get from her helmet now.

I’m sorry, because once again I completed the whole job without taking a single picture.

I ordered the Hondaline rear passenger audio controller from Wingstuff today for two reasons really. Firstly it will mean I can turn the volume up a little for me and if Meike doesn’t like it she can turn it down for herself. Secondly because it has a passenger CB PTT switch. The CB is something I might buy and fit one day but right now I’m thinking of buying some Micmutes which are operated with the PTT switches. The noise in the helmets isn’t bad, but when no one’s talking there is definitely background noise from the microphones. Micmutes enable you to turn the mics off when they’re not being used.

Yippee. Yesterday my rear spoiler arrived from the USA so I spent some time this morning fitting it. Because my bike is a US import there was no need to order an additional wiring loom and the spoiler fitted without any problems.

I think it has really finished off the rear end nicely and given it a much more purposeful stance. The high level brake light looks great too.

Having fitted that we had to go for a ride of course and ended up at my favourite store Fatboyzdiner. Well, I just can’t visit that place without buying something and so I got a Showchrome front mudguard extension…

You can’t imagine how frustrating this was to fit. Not because it’s not designed well but because you have to fit some support brackets inside the mudguard and to do this you have to tap out two bushes from the inside of the mudguard. I don’t have a tap and die set and there’s no clue you have to do that on the packaging, only when you get to the instructions inside. For now I have forced some bolts into the holes with a sort of ‘interference’ fit and it seems solid. I will though get a tap and die set and do the job properly very soon.

I found a helmet shop in Kent offering Schuberth helmets at great prices. I found them on eBay yesterday and called to check they had Meikes size(s) in the same colour scheme as mine. Today we went to see my parents who still live in Kent and took the opportunity to call in at this shop. Amazing place. It’s absolutely buried in the countryside and is I think really a sort of trials bike adventure playground but with a really great shop attached. Very helpful people and we came away with a new Schuberth C2 for Meike that is the right size!

We’re on holiday at the moment and so have been going out on the bike almost every day. Today while we were out and I was listening to the usual racket from Meikes helmet it suddenly dawned on me: If she didn’t hear the same racket from my helmet then perhaps her helmet didn’t fit properly? When we got home I got her to leave her helmet on and then with her holding her head still I pulled it around. I couldn’t believe what we realised when it just seemed to slide around on her head and I absolutely dread to think what would have happened in an accident. It was way too big! I remember when we were shopping for one for her and she kept complaining they were squeezing her head. In hindesight I think she just wasn’t used to it and didn’t much like the feeling. Perhaps now she’s used to it she might actually like one that fits properly. As I already know my C2 is very quiet and comfortable and the flip front very convenient then I think we should get her the same.

Oops… I couldn’t help it… honest lol.

I know, I’ve gone mad. First we have the fog lights from Showchrome or rather Big Bike Parts. Then we have the shark fins over the radiators and the front upper vent trim from Kuryakyn. I’m really not going to go completely mad with chrome, but I do think these accents make the bike look so much better. I’ve seen some great future additions. Perhaps new swing arm covers to replace the cheap grey plastic stock items and I’m also considering the chrome side panel mouldings for the same reason. Everything on this bike is chrome, silver, gold or black apart from the side panel mouldings which are dark grey and to me stick out a little for it.

I’ve also fitted a chrome rear mudguard trim just to add a little something to the rear end view. Once I get the rear spoiler, that will make it look good from top to bottom. Now, having said that, I really don’t like the looks of the exhausts which appear as just black holes and always look crooked to me. For such a big powerful bike I’m surprised they didn’t fit something that looks a little more purposeful.

All the parts were easy to fit once instructions were clearly understood. The shark fins were left to set overnight as they’re glued in place and the fog lights were plug and play. One thing I’ve noticed though is that the fog lights only work on dip beam. I might have to take a look at that one day as I’d like them to work on both dip and full beam.

I’ve shown this picture before to show off the chrome key surround but you might have noticed my iRiver Clix MP3 player also. I got this player after trying my Creative Zen Touch 20GB player in the left glove box and finding that, being disc based, it really didn’t like the vibration it was suffering. At times it would shut off for about 3 minutes before catching up and then continuing. The iRiver is solid state which gets over this problem but also has some other benefits to motorcyclists. The whole of the display is a giant rocker switch controlling such things as track selection and being such it it extremely easy to operate with gloved hands. The only real problem I had was mounting it but got over this with some sticky back velcro tape stuck to the Honda badge and the back of the MP3 player.

I still had a problem though and that was with volume balancing. To get the MP3’s to anything like the same volume as the radio it was neccessary to have the volume of the iRiver at full. Anyone who knows anything about electronics will tell you it’s not good to run an amplifier at full volume no matter how small as at such it is running with maximum distortion etc. Someone on another forum advised me, somewhat beligerently, to increase the volume of the MP3 tracks themselves, even suggesting I obviously didn’t realise what a +3db increase means. As it happens I know exactly what it means, but again the overall effect is similar to increasing the volume of an amplifier and thus in this case losing the highs and lows of the original source and amplifying the imperfections.

Nope, I wanted to find another solution and a couple of weeks ago I came across a German guy making headphone amplifiers in a tin and selling them on eBay. Reading all about them it seemed one would be perfect for amplifying my iRiver player. A couple of emails later and Robert of Headphonia had agreed to make me one with an external 12V power socket.

Well, it arrived yesterday and having fitted it today I have to say it has achieved everything I hoped. My MP3 tracks are now the same volume as the radio with a full bodied sound not lacking in any frequencies. Obviously a moving Goldwing isn’t the best listening environment but even here I can hear a substancial difference in the quality.

I already knew from experience that I would need a ground loop isolator for this installation as the bikes earth (ground) is common between the audio and power sides. Fortunately I had one left over from some previous work and the whole lot fits very nicely into the left hand pocket.

We’ve been in Yorkshire for the last few days and with the car not the bike. We really went up because it was a cousins wedding but we took the opportunity to stay a few days and travel a little around the Yorkshire Dales. Wonderful scenery and a very relaxing couple of days off work. Glad to be home though because I missed riding the bike.