[Mr Magic Fingers]

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Hi everyone,

Yes, I know... another 1500 speaker install. Blaa blaa blaa. However, there has been a few questions on here lately on how to install and what to install for speakers. I thought I would show you what I did and the reasons why. I haven't seen anyone here take my approach so I thought I would toss in my 2 cents worth of free advice.

While rebuilding our bike over the winter this year I tore into everything including the fairing and wanted to get rid of the silly Honda "stuff" (being polite here) they call speakers. My speakers were completely wore out, the surrounds were completely gone (the rubber between the speaker cone and the metal basket (frame) of the speaker).

Next winter I am completely fabricating a mounting system and customizing a proper stereo system for this bike and digging a hole in the back yard and burying the old one. I dislike the Honda system so much I prefer to not even have it on unless I need to hear the news sometimes. It certainly is not worth the money that Honda got for them.

Anyhow, I came across a great deal on new set of Sony X-Plod speakers. They were regularly about $100 or so and they were on sale for $25 I think. The speakers are a Sony X-plod, rated at 35w RMS and a peak of 150w.

 

[Mr Magic Fingers]

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The model is an XS-GT1327a. It's a 5.25 inch speaker and though not marine rated, it's materials will easily withstand the sheltered area in the bikes dash. I got them at Future Shop in my area. I think they are/were a discontinued item. I am sure there are still some out in the market place.

 

[Mr Magic Fingers]

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I am not a big Sony fan but besides price these speakers had something I was looking for... the tweeter in the middle of the speaker does not come out past the front surface level of the speakers basket (frame). That means that there will be zero interference with the speakers grill when all is complete and I button things back up.

The pictures shown here are of the speaker after I had trimmed part of the basket away. New out of the box they are as round as any other speaker with 4 mounting tabs on them. These pictures were taken after all the test fittings were done just before final mounting.

 

[Mr Magic Fingers]

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These speakers can easily be mounted but there will have to be a few cuts to the speaker opening in the dash and the basket of the speakers have to be carefully trimmed in spots. It took a lot of looking, measuring, fitting and figuring to fit these in an optimum way that I did not wreck the dash on the first attempt.

As you can see in this picture, the dash of the 1500 is not really designed for speakers. In essence, you can look right through the fairing. The air guide or channel from the front vents were removed in this picture. You don't need to do this. I just happen to be doing other work in there too. Not an "ideal" speaker enclosure to say the least. This openness will be addressed a little later. I ended up making a rather good speaker enclosure.

As pointed out in this picture, you can see my preliminary pencil outline of the area that I would be cutting away. It was not anyway near the size opening I would need but was an educated guess through test fitting and observation. The last thing I wanted to do was make a cut in the dash and make a mistake. I don't like mistakes... not that I don't make them... it's just when I do make them that are of the "Royal Mistake" quality. Usually because I don't see something that is right in front of my eyes!

Both sides of the dash are mirror reverses of one and other. Both speakers are placed closer to the instrument cluster and a bit higher up than the original holes and what is shown in pencil here.

 

[Mr Magic Fingers]

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So here is my final opening for the speaker. You can now see just how much plastic has been removed from the original opening and the location from which it was taken. There was considerably more plastic taken away then the pencil outline from above was showing. I was able to use the metal retaining clip during the fitting as a pivot point and anchor point during the fitting process. It was used during the final install to.

Note how the new opening goes tight to the top of the dash. You can see the grinder marks on the inside of the dash. The right side of the hole again goes right to the edge of the plastic. The bottom goes just a bit further than the inward bend of the plastic. This new opening exactly allows this speaker to sit flush with the plastics of the dash.

 

[Mr Magic Fingers]

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This is the final mount of the speaker. Note where the basket of the speaker was trimmed with tin shears to follow the outline of the dash. This is needed to allow the speaker grills to fit over the speakers and the dash cover to fit properly. Any stress on the dash cover / speaker grills could lead to cracked and broken plastic once out in the sun with expansion / contraction and vibration. On the right side of the speaker no trimming of the speaker was needed. There is ample space within the dash between the dash plastics and the instrument cluster. It does overhand my 4 - 6 mm.

 

[Mr Magic Fingers]

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So what about improving the quality of sound from a nonexistent "speaker enclosure" of the dash? Answer... Make your own! It's easy! Use expansion foam!



The first thing you will want to do is remove your signal light and put a barrier inside that signal light opening. In this case I used thin foam. It was foam I have left over from laying laminated floors a few years back. I use it for light packing material now and then.

Basically, I put the signal light (stilled hooked up) in a plastic bag and used that to push a small sheet of the foam into place inside the signal light opening. It's a tight fit but it can be done. This way when you foam the inside of the speaker opening it will not adhere to the signal light fixture.

 

[Mr Magic Fingers]

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I also placed some of the thin "floor" foam on the inside of the speaker opening up against the working mechanics of the wind shield adjustment parts. That will stay in place after you foam it and will stop the adjustment parts from being locked in place with the expansion foam.

Also, I recommend that you put your vents in place before you foam. It keeps the air duct from the front intake vent from moving out of place and not lining up after the foam hardens. You basically want things in their final location before you foam because they will be difficult to move and adjust afterwards.

 

[Mr Magic Fingers]

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Now it's just a matter of using common sense when using the expansion foam... and I really mean common sense!! For those of you who have never used this stuff before... it expands an incredible amount. Foam it a tiny amount and let it set. It will continue to expand and stick to things on its way. And boy... is it sticky!

Fill in all the little openings that you can find until you have and enclosure made. It will be pretty airtight and will actually quiet down some of the rattles of the dash. When the foam hardens up over night, you can trim away any of the excess foam with a utility knife.

Now you can remove the signal lights again and remove the bag and foam that that were protecting them. There will be ample room in there to reinstall the signal light now. It will not be such a tight fit.

The nice thing about the expansion foam is that if you make a mistake you can "carve" out your mistake once it hardens up. To finish things up, I put a little hunk of fiberglass pink in the new enclosure. Adding fiberglass to a speaker enclosure actually produces the effect of having a larger enclosure than you actually have and does help with the bass response.

 

[Mr Magic Fingers]

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Here is the end product of the mounting. All fits in well and no changes have to be made to any of the external plastics of the dash and speaker grills. Although you can't tell here, the speakers are just as recessed as the original Honda ones and the center tweeters are a good 35 - 40 mm away from the speaker grills.

Just an FYI, I did run new, heavier speaker cables for these speakers the length of the bike. They will be in place when I install the new stereo. I am not going into this dash for a long long time from now if I can help it!

Job Complete!



Tim.

 

[Bellboy40]

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Another first class job, as is usual from you Tim.

 

[Mr Magic Fingers]

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Thank You! :?