Pegasus: Radio Upgrade

[PegasusRider]

So new project I am working on, I have upgraded the speakers both front and rear. Now I am looking to upgrade the radio. I did buy a newer radio but did not want to spend the 200 plus on the ones with a large screen. I don't want distractions. The mounting I am not to worried about its the wiring harness. I am sure I can wire it myself just fine. The issue is I still want the handle bar mute. Any one have any suggestions on how to make the install easier? I was looking at wiring harness adapters but none specifically for the gl1500. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074QKLGVX/?tag=goldwingdocs-20 ... ingdocs-20

Find This Item on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074QKLGVX?tag=goldwingdocs-20

[PegasusRider]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074QKLGVX/?tag=goldwingdocs-20 ... ingdocs-20

Find This Item on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074QKLGVX?tag=goldwingdocs-20

[Rambozo]

You will probably have to make your own adaptors. You can buy the ISO plugs or use an adapter as a starting point. Cyclemax has some of the Honda plugs, so that might be a place to get something that will connect to the factory mute switch harness. That would be a no-cut solution. If not you can always change the connectors to something easier to get, at the cost of not easily being able to switch back to stock.

[PegasusRider]

I dont mind changing the connectors. This motorcycle is not for resale. I plan on riding it and working on it for many many years. I guess I need to get the old wiring diagram out and study which wire goes where. If I do it correctly I could still use the handle bar controls right?

[Rambozo]

You will have to check that radio supports the mute function. It is an option on the ISO plug so not all radios have that. You would not have tuning or volume. Same with the speed controlled volume, another ISO option and it might take some doing to make that work. You might want to look for a radio that has a wired remote control. Then you will have a lot more options. You can also add the CB switch module to give you some more switches. I did that to have a switch for my gate opener. Someday I might upgrade the radio if I don't upgrade the bike first.
There are some posts and diagrams here and on Goldwing facts about wiring up aftermarket radios to the factory switches.

[PegasusRider]

It has a mute on the new radio, I will probably try and find an adapter and see what I can do from there. Alot of wires lol.

[PegasusRider]

Well I did something foolish. I got impatient and started hot wiring the wires but not sure which wire goes where. I did get a connectivity yesterday but I'm not sure that is working at all. I know I should be fine if I can just get the power on. Looks like the yellow/red wire and there is a red/green wire with a black sealed wire.

[bluthundr31]

FYI to anyone wanting to bring their stereo/radio into the 21st Century and retire the dinosaur cassette on their ride, , ,

Almost NONE of the aftermarket stereos/radios have the "goodies" (mute/station select/volume/etc) wired to a connector. You'll likely have the get the motherboard diagram and splice into it with wires coming out the back. Stereo Mfg's are real "possessive" of their diagrams so its not always an easy fix. It can be done, but its not always easy. Just my .02 cents

[PegasusRider]

Ok I guess its not that big of a loss. I only use the mute button on the left handle bars for when I go in a parking lot. It's just so convenient

[PegasusRider]

The biggest issue I am having is locating the hot wires. I have a connectivity tester and I am not sure if I am using it incorrectly or if I just bought a faulty one. I do have the wiring diagrams but am having trouble locating the electrical source as it looks like it goes to the passenger control or the fader control upfront. I am going to cut those out since I don’t use them anyways. Would really like to bypass the fader upfront and have all speakers working equally. I was going to take out the CB transmitter and intercom as well since well.. we have technology that is way better than CB radio now. I think I bit of more than I could chew with this one so might take some time.

[bluthundr31]

If there is a Dark Green (Dg) wire on the large connector that plugs into the radio, looks to me like that is your +12 volts. See what your meter reads there.

[WingAdmin]

If there is a Dark Green (Dg) wire on the large connector that plugs into the radio, looks to me like that is your +12 volts. See what your meter reads there.

Solid green wires are ALWAYS ground in Hondaland.

Pin 9, light green with black stripe, is your switched power.
Pin 18, red with yellow stripe, is constant power for memory backup.
Solid green is ground.

[Rambozo]

If your radio has the mute option in the ISO plug it is easy to hook up.

First check that A2 is populated.
If it's not you're SOL.
If it is, then you will need to ground the green/black wire in C1 pin 15 and hook the blue/black wire C1 pin 6 to the A2 pin on your ISO plug.
It would be best if you do one thing at a time then verify that everything works as expected before moving on. Since you have the wiring diagram and are still having trouble, you might be in over your head, but if you take your time and only proceed after you understand, you will increase your skills. If it was all easy you wouldn't learn anything.
Take the diagram and start at the battery and follow the paths to the radio that WingAdmin told you. See if you can figure out the mute pins, too. Then you will have a better idea of how to trace the speaker leads and how the fader works. Since your radio has 4 channel output, you will remove the Honda fader and use the one on the radio. Because your radio is high powered and has independent +/- for each speaker, you will have to bypass some of the stock Honda wiring harness to wire up the speakers, as Honda has some of them joined together in the harness. You can still tie into the Honda wiring, but just not at the radio connectors, but a little farther away.

[PegasusRider]

I bow before all of your superior Goldwing Knowledge. Thanks to this forum I continue to learn amazing skills. I just have to hook up the speakers. Would it be a good idea to try and bypass the speaker fader in the front?

[Rambozo]

You will be bypassing that whole part of the Honda wiring.
Your new radio will require that you not use a bunch of the Honda wiring. You can't wire your radio output to the Honda radio plugs.
Instead you will wire in your radio outputs to connector C71 for the front, and connector C302 for the rear.
Here is where they are on your diagram. The red "circles" are the splices you have to bypass by hooking your radio outputs to the connectors circled in green.

Alternatively you could just run new wires all the way to the speakers if that is easier for you.

[PegasusRider]

Ok that actually made alot of sense. I did wire in the front right and left to the corresponding wires. I have tested radio and bluetooth both work. The rear speakers seem to be connected to the front speakers. I do have rear speaker set up on this radio I guess I just wont use them? My phone isnt loading the forum I will post pics when I can.

[PegasusRider]

So in all likliness I wired the speakers incorrectly. Since the front speakers are playing for both front and rear. I should cut and wire the rear speakers separately? Also attached is the radio cover I will use as a mount since they seems to be a popular way to do it.

[Rambozo]

Pictures of the wiring do not help as much as a sketch or text description of what you hooked up to what.
No knowing much about your radio, I'm not sure what type of amplifier is in it. But that you didn't let the magic smoke out, I can make some assumptions about it. Also modern lower cost radios are much more tolerant than they used to be. The Honda radio was not happy with low impedance loads so the fader took care of that. It sounds like you still have the fader so if it is working, you could just leave it. I'm sure the new radio can drive almost any load so paralleled speakers would work, too. One thing is that the ISO plug is meant to be a standard, so it covers high end to low. For all I know a lot of the wires are all tied to the same points inside, or are missing altogether.
So using only the front ouputs may cut your power in half, or may not matter at all. Hard to say but you can measure a few things to find out. Then figure out which fader you want to use.
Also if you still want to be able to cover your radio, you can get the unobtainium 2.1 panel from bluthunder. It's a pretty slick way to add an aftermarket radio to a 1500.

[PegasusRider]

I guess while I have it apart might as well see what everything thinks of the air filter. It looks dirty there is oil on it but I believe that is normal. The sticker on the outside of the box said k and n which I know they are a good brand.

[bellboy40]

I know a lot of people like the K&N filters but I'm not a fan of them. If it was mine, I would put a new OEM type air filter back in there. If you want to keep using the K&N, then give it a cleaning and re-oiling per K&N instructions on their website.

[Rambozo]

K&N filters are skewed towards more performance at the cost of engine life. They flow a lot of air but let a lot of dirt through. Probably not what you are looking for with a GoldWing. I love them on race vehicles, but not on daily drivers.

[PegasusRider]

I cut and installed the radio on the radio cover using an oscillating tool. It was easier than expected and came out looking great

[Solo So Long]

Ok I guess its not that big of a loss. I only use the mute button on the left handle bars for when I go in a parking lot. It's just so convenient

The mute button is a simple mechanical-latching switch, single-pole, single-throw. MAKE to get speakers, BREAK to mute them.

It would be simple to tie all speaker grounds to a double-throw relay that would put a resistor inline with the speakers on a radio that doesn't have mute function.

[PegasusRider]

So, solo so long you are basically saying wire the switch to the ground so it degrounds it and stops the speakers from working? I just placed everything back together last night. I am going to clean the k and n air filter and replace the fuel filter before putting it all back together.

[Rambozo]

Did your radio have the mute wire in the ISO plug?