Sirius/XM Satellite Radio Antenna Location

[Auggie]

I have posted previously about the location of the antenna for the satellite radio. I was told that it is located behind the radio controls in the left hand storage pocket. I did disassemble that pocket and took the controls out and found nothing resembling an antenna. I did talk with a person that said that the antenna could be part of the navi system. Does anyone have any information on this location? I have been having many issues with reception on the satellite radio and our local dealers don't want anything to do with the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[baumedagn]

The antenna is located is the dash above the speedometer/tachometer.

[jkwing]

The antenna is located is the dash above the speedometer/tachometer.

I had a Harley Ultra Classic last year. The antenna for the XM was located behind the front fairing, I had so much trouble with losing signal, I took the front fairing off and brought the antenna out and mounted it on the top of the fairing on the right side. Never lost signal again

[Auggie]

Remounting the antenna is exactly what I want to do. I previously had a unit on the front dash and it worked great and never lost the signal. I would like the exact location of the current antenna so I don't tear the bike apart and its not where I was told. I now have a couple of locations. One is in the rear trunk and the other is under the front dash. Which is true?

[baumedagn]

Under the front dash. When I get home I can scan the pic from the manual.

[Auggie]

That would be great! Thanks for doing that. Now to figure out how to dismantle.

[baumedagn]

I sent a pm as I couldn't get the pdf to load

[WingAdmin]

Remounting the antenna is exactly what I want to do. I previously had a unit on the front dash and it worked great and never lost the signal. I would like the exact location of the current antenna so I don't tear the bike apart and its not where I was told. I now have a couple of locations. One is in the rear trunk and the other is under the front dash. Which is true?

The actual receiver (handles both XM and navigation, and both antennas plug into it) is located in the trunk. The antennas themselves are inside the upper dashboard, and require disassembly of the upper dashboard to get to. Removing them and mounting them instead on top of the dash is something that many people have done, and all report significantly improved reception as a result. Mounting them inside the dash was a boneheaded thing to do on the part of Honda for the sake of aesthetics.

[Auggie]

I appreciate the communication from all. I hope there is enough wire to mount the antenna on the dash . If Honda was so worried about looks, they would have changed the trunk of the bike to look in place with the saddle bags. They certainly don't match or look right in my opinion.
Thanks again.

[WingAdmin]

I appreciate the communication from all. I hope there is enough wire to mount the antenna on the dash . If Honda was so worried about looks, they would have changed the trunk of the bike to look in place with the saddle bags. They certainly don't match or look right in my opinion.
Thanks again.

Quite a few others have done exactly what you're looking to do, so I'm sure you'll find there is enough wire available.

[oilboy1162]

Any chance of getting a step-by-step proceedure for pulling apart the dash. Hate to break something by being ignorant! Pics would be GREAT.

[lorenzob]

hi there ,
this is a late reply to the very bad xm radio reception on my 2009 GL1800! i had the same issue . So i removed the front panel below the windshield &
also the windshield. Their are 2 antenna's 1 for the gps & 1 for the xm radio. I relocated both the antenna's on the top of dash
above the fuel & temp guages. The reception is much better for both the xm & gps . i rerouted the wires out thru the right side of the dash near the side mirrors.
see attached photo

[Orpheus75]

Just got my 2009 goldwing.. in the same boat. I want to get to the antennas and put them on the dash. But the posts are confusing. One says you have to remove the upper dash panel, another says they removed the front fairing and windshield. Which one is it? or both - just depends on route one wants to go? I don't want to start this and find I went the wrong route.

[Wayne]

It is on a shelf under the front panel which means you have to remove shield. I mounted mine on the top of the brake resevoir.

[lorenzob]

Remove both top Panel and the
windshield. Sorry for confusion.

[lorenzob]

reply to the very bad xm radio reception on my 2009 GL1800! i had the same issue . So i removed the front panel below the windshield &
also the windshield. Their are 2 antenna's 1 for the gps & 1 for the xm radio. I relocated both the antenna's on the top of dash
above the fuel & temp guages. The reception is much better for both the xm & gps . i rerouted the wires out thru the right side of the dash near the side mirrors.
Enjoy ur new ride.

[Orpheus75]

Thanks guys! Now I just need to figure out how to remove the covers.

[oilboy1162]

i ended up buying an OEM antenna , and found the connector under the right side control panel.for $40 it was ALOT easier.just disconnect the old one , hook on new and run the wire up the right side up the dash. viola! better reception.

[lorenzob]

How about posting a photo n make model number of external antenna!!
Thks

[oilboy1162]

through wingstuff.oem parts. mine is a 2013 so put your make,model and year in to get oem parts. look under navigation section for the antennas.
part # 39180-mca-s51
antenna assy,xm
price has gone up to $58!
still worth it

[oilboy1162]

just checked for pre-2012's. the antenna for earlier models is around $95.

[Orpheus75]

i ended up buying an OEM antenna , and found the connector under the right side control panel.for $40 it was ALOT easier.just disconnect the old one , hook on new and run the wire up the right side up the dash. viola! better reception.

Does that just pop off? I'm assuming you're talking about the main panel with the audio control buttons?

[oilboy1162]

No,the right side.remove the control panel with the nav buttons.cruise control module is under that. You'll find the connector behind that.

[Orpheus75]

well, took the wind shield off, couldn't remove the upper fairing piece. I could only loosen the front black shield part enough to shine a light up and try to get a peak. I don't know how the top fairing dash comes off and I didn't want to break anything. So-I saw nothing remotely looking like an antenna. I even looked behind the controls on the right side as one poster suggested but saw nothing looking like an antenna connection.

So suffice it to say, I was defeated and just put everything back together without obtaining my goal of pulling those antennas out.

Without directions or a manual or something to guide me as to what I'm doing, I'm tearing the thing apart blindly and afraid of breaking something doing so.

[AZgl1800]

not what you need, but I found that with my SPOT gps tracker, that the only reliable place was on top of the rear truck lid.

I tried it all over the fairing, and it could not see, or reply to the satellites reliably.
Had so many skips, that it was useless for what I needed...

so, I velcroed it to the light bar on the top of the trunk, it has never missed a beat since then.