Cycle Sounds 3 speaker installation help needed

[sparrow]

Hey fellas. Looking for info on installing Cycle Sounds 3 speakers on a roadster. I replied earlier today to a related thread asking what a member has done to install these but the webmaster closed it because it was an old thread. (It's still relevant and I was hoping to hear from the original poster) Anyway, I just received Cycle Sounds 3 speakers but am having problems with the installation. There's a constant loud noise when hooked up through headlights and there's no kill switch to turn the speakers off so I don't trust leaving them hooked up directly to the battery. Can someone point me in the right direction. A relay switch, accessory line? I'm not good with this stuff and could use a hand. What do I need to order to make this work without killing my battery. Thanks! Cheers from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

My baby

• sparrow
• May 17, 2015

 

[R3Tex]

Get in touch with @DEcosse ...he is the electrical guru around here and since there are a bunch of ways to do what you are asking he can probably point you in the direction of the best one

 

[DEcosse]

Wow - that is bizarre R3Tex - I was already in middle of reply when alert came up and saw you had tagged me!

... Looking for info on installing Cycle Sounds 3 speakers on a roadster.

Is this what you have?
http://www.cyclesounds.com/series-3-premium-amplified-speaker-kit-universal-metric.html

What are you using for the music source?

... There's a constant loud noise when hooked up through headlights and there's no kill switch to turn the speakers off so I don't trust leaving them hooked up directly to the battery. ...

If you have connected to the headlight, power, then it will not be on when ignition is off.
However also note that if you switch to high beam while riding, it will power off!

How exactly do you have it wired up right now - did you simply tap the amp supply wires on to the headlight wires? Which colour wires did you connect to, and where?
Did you ground to the frame, or to the battery -ve, or to a negative wire (like the headlight negative)

As to the noise - can you tell what type of lighting you have in your headlights - is it stock, HIDs, LED or ?????

Is the background noise present if you just turn on ignition, or only when engine is running?

Can you also confirm that the noise goes off when the ignition is off?

Is the noise only present when your source is connected, or background noise even with no source connected?

 

[DEcosse]

Incidentally, what a crock of marketing BS from that Cycle Sounds company ...........

... provides 200 watts of speaker handling capability ...

However .............

Amperage Draw:
1.5-2 Amps

2A @ 12v is .................. 24W

You CANNOT get more power out than you put in!
So the key terminology in their bull-**** is the 'speaker handling CAPABILITY'
Which probably means each speaker can take up to 100W each - however the actual amplifier is only capable of providing about 10% of that.

 

[mexican]

I had my set connected directly to the battery with a fuse in between, you dont wast your accesories interfiering with the primary functions of your bike in my opinion,

 

[mexican]

Incidentally, what a crock of marketing BS from that Cycle Sounds company ...........




However .............



2A @ 12v is .................. 24W

You CANNOT get more power out than you put in!
So the key terminology in their bull-**** is the 'speaker handling CAPABILITY'
Which probably means each speaker can take up to 100W each - however the actual amplifier is only capable of providing about 10% of that.

The 24w will be peak power, the RMS watts would be about 10w

 

[DEcosse]

Correct (and I didn't account at all for efficiency - just simple illustration) but you would expect given their specsmanship, that their '200W capability' would also be Peak Power
Any way you slice it, it's still BS and intentionally misleading.

 

[1olbull]

Hey fellas. Looking for info on installing Cycle Sounds 3 speakers on a roadster. I replied earlier today to a related thread asking what a member has done to install these but the webmaster closed it because it was an old thread. (It's still relevant and I was hoping to hear from the original poster) Anyway, I just received Cycle Sounds 3 speakers but am having problems with the installation. There's a constant loud noise when hooked up through headlights and there's no kill switch to turn the speakers off so I don't trust leaving them hooked up directly to the battery. Can someone point me in the right direction. A relay switch, accessory line? I'm not good with this stuff and could use a hand. What do I need to order to make this work without killing my battery. Thanks! Cheers from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

My baby

• sparrow
• May 17, 2015

Consider ear buds.
The sound will be better and you won't piss those around you off.

 

[cr0ft]

Yeah "hooked up through headlights" sounds scary. Either connect accessories to a power distribution module or straight to the battery connectors with an in-line fuse on the positive cable, I'd say. Tapping something else for power, especially tens of watts of power, is probably not great.

A power distribution module or relay box would be better since it cuts power to it when the bike is off. You also don't need to connect anything else straight to the battery.

A http://pdm60.com is the deluxe variation of power distribution on a bike, but they are nice. More old-school (but cheaper) might be http://www.fuzeblocks.com

 

[tdragger]

I would suggest that you immediately remove the connection through the headlight circuit as that circuit has been the cause of numerous ignition switch failures. It may not be a problem on the Roadsters but it certainly was with older models.

If you are going to be adding farkles then a new fuse block should be on your list. I recommend this: http://easternbeaver.com/Main/Wiring_Kits/Fuseboxes/3_Circuit/3_circuit.html

You'll want the 3 Circuit Solution Switched. The install is easy peasy. Red wire to battery positive terminal. Black to negative. The blue wire is tapped into the taillight circuit that is easily accessible under the right side cover.

When you hook up the sound system to this fuse block, it will come on and go off with the key and therefore protect your battery.