Mark G
06-14-2007, 09:38 PM
Hi, kiddies, I don't come around here much any more, but just finished a little mod which might benefit some.
I use an Autocom intercom/music system on my bike, and have always wished for a way to control volume on the XM, or even the ipod, for that matter. I finally found a solution I'm happy with, called an Ampliderhttp://www.electric-avenues.com/amplirider.html (http://www.electric-avenues.com/amplirider.
tml)
The best feature, as you'll see if you follow the link, is the wired remote volume controller. This can be plugged into an Autocom or similar system, or simply directly into a Roady, for instance, or an mp3 player. You hard wire it to the bike's system, easy to do, or you can consider asking the maker, Gary Ali, to make up one for you that uses 9 volt batteries. There are a million places you can put the thing, to make it easy to use. Here's a little writeup with photos, of how I mounted it on my BMW (with the extension mentioned, you can also mount the whole getup in a tank bag, with an external volume control...cool, move it from bike to bike!
I did the following so I could control volume on my Roady, and for that matter my ipod, but it should help anyone with a problem hearing any input source to the Autocoms. Gary Ali is a Canadian, mentioned often on this forum, who makes a little amplifier that can be used with Autocoms, or any music source by itself, called the Amplirider
which has the excellent feature of a long lead to the volume "knob." The amp, like anything this size, is not going to give high fi sound, but it does improve volume, and more important for me, gives control of same at my fingertips.
I installed the amp under the seat, between the music lead and the Autocom, and ran the volume controller lead up under the tupperware to the radio control blank, drilled a hole and installed the knob. Looks good, works fine. I had a flexible extension I was able to use to get from the back side of the blank to the controller, so I didn't have to cut the dash, but it would have been a simple matter to cut out the space between two of the radio controller holes and just mount the thing directly to the blank (the extension, which also is a GREAT tool for adding a volume control to a tank bag, came from Kieth Goudelock at Tulsa Truck Center (he's an Autocom guru like EffBee who's popular on the FJR forums and elsewhere).
Gary is great to deal with, very responsive to email queries, and anxious to please his customer. My first unit was real buzzy, and the left channel was almost nonexistent; he happily sent me a replacement amp, not the volume controller, since I'd already installed it...which didn't fix the problem. After much contorting on my part, I finally deduced that it was the volume controller thingie that was the problem, and Gary sent me an entire new unit, which did the trick. After installing the thing three times, I can do it in less than ten minutes.
The amp is currently just stuffed under the seat with all the other wires and bits, but this weekend I'll get around to tidying it all up a bit...after a thorough test run...I may need to get a ground loop isolator once all the electronics are hooked back together.
I use custom earphones, by the way both for hearing protection and for better sound. My wife uses Etyomotic ER4p phones, which frankly sound better than my custom jobs, but the hard plastic bit that sticks out really bothers my fat head inside the helmet...she's,um, more narrow minded?
Hope this is of some use to someone. Clickable thumbnails below.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/queenbetty/th_FinishedKnob.jpg (http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/queenbetty/FinishedKnob.jpg)
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/queenbetty/th_VolumeExtension.jpg (http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/queenbetty/VolumeExtension.jpg)
--------------------
You know what they call the place they take you when you get road rash? The Burn Ward.
I use an Autocom intercom/music system on my bike, and have always wished for a way to control volume on the XM, or even the ipod, for that matter. I finally found a solution I'm happy with, called an Ampliderhttp://www.electric-avenues.com/amplirider.html (http://www.electric-avenues.com/amplirider.
tml)
The best feature, as you'll see if you follow the link, is the wired remote volume controller. This can be plugged into an Autocom or similar system, or simply directly into a Roady, for instance, or an mp3 player. You hard wire it to the bike's system, easy to do, or you can consider asking the maker, Gary Ali, to make up one for you that uses 9 volt batteries. There are a million places you can put the thing, to make it easy to use. Here's a little writeup with photos, of how I mounted it on my BMW (with the extension mentioned, you can also mount the whole getup in a tank bag, with an external volume control...cool, move it from bike to bike!
I did the following so I could control volume on my Roady, and for that matter my ipod, but it should help anyone with a problem hearing any input source to the Autocoms. Gary Ali is a Canadian, mentioned often on this forum, who makes a little amplifier that can be used with Autocoms, or any music source by itself, called the Amplirider
which has the excellent feature of a long lead to the volume "knob." The amp, like anything this size, is not going to give high fi sound, but it does improve volume, and more important for me, gives control of same at my fingertips.
I installed the amp under the seat, between the music lead and the Autocom, and ran the volume controller lead up under the tupperware to the radio control blank, drilled a hole and installed the knob. Looks good, works fine. I had a flexible extension I was able to use to get from the back side of the blank to the controller, so I didn't have to cut the dash, but it would have been a simple matter to cut out the space between two of the radio controller holes and just mount the thing directly to the blank (the extension, which also is a GREAT tool for adding a volume control to a tank bag, came from Kieth Goudelock at Tulsa Truck Center (he's an Autocom guru like EffBee who's popular on the FJR forums and elsewhere).
Gary is great to deal with, very responsive to email queries, and anxious to please his customer. My first unit was real buzzy, and the left channel was almost nonexistent; he happily sent me a replacement amp, not the volume controller, since I'd already installed it...which didn't fix the problem. After much contorting on my part, I finally deduced that it was the volume controller thingie that was the problem, and Gary sent me an entire new unit, which did the trick. After installing the thing three times, I can do it in less than ten minutes.
The amp is currently just stuffed under the seat with all the other wires and bits, but this weekend I'll get around to tidying it all up a bit...after a thorough test run...I may need to get a ground loop isolator once all the electronics are hooked back together.
I use custom earphones, by the way both for hearing protection and for better sound. My wife uses Etyomotic ER4p phones, which frankly sound better than my custom jobs, but the hard plastic bit that sticks out really bothers my fat head inside the helmet...she's,um, more narrow minded?
Hope this is of some use to someone. Clickable thumbnails below.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/queenbetty/th_FinishedKnob.jpg (http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/queenbetty/FinishedKnob.jpg)
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/queenbetty/th_VolumeExtension.jpg (http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/queenbetty/VolumeExtension.jpg)
--------------------
You know what they call the place they take you when you get road rash? The Burn Ward.