Sounds simple enough. Can you recommend a XM radio model? Parts needed. Do you have a photo of the set up?
It's very simple. Get a bluetooth transmitter/receiver, here is one inexpensive option, but there are many you can get on walmart.com or amazon for under $30.00. Hook it up to your 3.5 in cubby, connect it to your phone via bluetooth, and you can play your music through the bike. It's as easy as it sounds, and it sounds better than my thumb drive I have hooked up in the saddle bag. Just be sure to set the source on the bike to auxillary, I believe it is. The bluetooth receivers are small and don't take up much room in the cubby. No need to spend a lot of money. I've never spent over $23.00 and they work great.
https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Ada...th+transmitter
Last edited by STRaider; 09-16-2018 at 08:52 PM.
Well got it narrowed down to the XM radio kit or the Bluetooth transmitter. Pros and Cons. Have a feeling I will trying both
The problem with the XM kits is they take up the entire cubby if you don't hard wire them. It's a lot to keep up with. If you are willing to spend the money, get a Garmin Zumo 665 GPS. I found one on ebay, and it solved all of these issues. It is gps, sirius/xm, bluetooth, stores music you can play, can answer phone calls, etc. I use mine primarily with a bluetooth helmet. I wanted xm and this was a compact, easy to use/store/remove answer for me, allowing gps, xm, music/audio books, and bluetooth in one unit. I ran the sirius antenna to under my luggage rack, and the wire is totally hidden. The mount is on a ram ball, and so far it works great. The zumo even has weather capabilities and warnings if rain is near and weather radar, which is pretty awesome if you ever need to dodge the rain. They were selling these as the solution on Harleys before they integrated the gps into the bikes. I believe this unit is discontinued, but I can't figure out why. It's a great little system for a bike that doesn't have all the above integrated. It was a little pricey (around $450-500 used), but far less than the $28,000 to get the new gold wing with all the goodies.
Well the $9 Bluetooth USB seems to do the job. Odd thing is sometimes the music that plays through the phone through the BT USB starts up a little fast then slows to regular speed..maybe something in the digital conversion. Only tested it in the garage and not on the road to see if it loses signals. May still want to go with the XM radio option though..
The Bluetooth USB is in the saddlebag just hanging there completely out of the way. Very small thumb drive size. Phone stays in my pocket after I press the BT button and it connects. I can control Pandora music functions like skipping songs and and volume control through the bike's controls so no need to handle the phone after start up. You can place phone in glove box or cubby also. I don't think the proximity has anything to do with the intermittent speed variances of the music but probably the buffering since I was in a weak signal area. I just can't take traditional radio any longer with continuous commercials and poor audio.
That is pretty cool that you can use the hand controls to skip songs and adjust the volume. When I ride with a bluetooth helmet, I can do that with the helmet controls. I have a small usb thumb drive attached in the bad with music that I can do that with, but it is not a bluetooth transmitter. Glad you got it worked out. I am with you on traditional radio. I just don't listen to it anymore. The XM is nice as I can break up music with some Fox News, a ball game, or other talk radio, and when I'm on the road for any good distance, it is nice to have options.