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GL1500 Radio Help. Any Professional Radio Installers Out Here?

32K views 66 replies 22 participants last post by  Hey Load!!! 
#1 ·
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Without going into too much detail, I would like to know if there is a female adapter for the main connector that plugs into the radio. I know that Scosche and Metra make all different configurations. The main harness is a white 18 pin connector. It is a two row setup with 2 notches in the bottom and the 2 top corners ar angled. Here is the configuration but it is not drawn to scale: http://www.gwrra-mi.org/chapter/B/Library/Honda%20Goldwing%20GL1500%20Radio%20External%20Wiring%20Diagram.pdf

I am trying to keep from hacking into the main harness. I want to keep the factory wiring intact. If anyone has any ideas, I would be grateful.
 
#52 ·
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when i bought my 1500 the speakers barked at half volume or more.thay were after markt sparkomat.i replaced with auto speakers..no change..i just read honda has 3ohm stearo if i put right ohm speakers in will noise go away????{when i say bark it sounds like blown speakers base crackel.}
 
#54 ·
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Speakers including mobile car speakers come in all kinds of ohms, 2ohms, 3ohms, 4ohms, etc... Normally if you are in the 2-4ohm range for goldwing speakers, there should be very little issue. Now if you put 8ohm speakers in there, then you could run into serious problem and could end up frying the radio internals because they have to work too hard.

What I would do is plug in a helmet headset and see if you have the same problem. If so, then you probably need repairs to the radio. The only place that works on them is http://www.sierra-mc.com and the person to speak with is Wayne. If the helmet headset is fine though, then it probably is the speakers. Maybe they are just not mounted securely or something inside the dash may be loose.
 
#55 ·
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It's time to update this thread. For a while now, I have been running Infinity REF 5022i speakers on the front.I have beenusing the XTC baffles andit sealed up all around the speaker nicely. I originally used the slimline ones (2-1/2" depth) but found a local stero installation place that carries them so I picked up a set of the deep ones (3-3/4") and since they are flexible, they will work as well. After installing the speaker and baffles, I took a knife and cut off the excess baffle edges.

If you look at Post #34, you can see what I had to do to get the speakers to fit. It looks pretty hacked up because I went a little faster than I should but there is still plenty of plastic on the edges to hold the speakers firmly. There is not a lot of extra room in there so the top and bottom edges of the speaker stuck out a little but this also caused problems with the dash cover. If you look at the last picture, you can see that the plastic is bulging around the speaker grilles.The dash finally succumbed to the pressure andthe plastic cracked all the way through on the left side from just under the grille all the way to the vent. I just recently found a replacement dash panel and it is on the way. Since the old one was messed up anyway, it gave me a chance to experiment with it. The plastic on this piece is pretty thick. I took my mini air grinder with a grinding stone and carefully ground down the inside of the dash cover on the top and bottom where the speaker connected with the dash cover. I took off a little at a time so as to not go all the way through and make a hole. I finally got enough taken off so that the dash cover no longer bulges. Here is a photos showing the damage and the how it looks after being ground down:







By grinding the plastic down a bit, the old dash cover fits very nicely. Since I was in there, I also pulled off all the duct tape you can see in Post #34 along with all the stuffing. The baffles took care of the issue created by my rotozip and provided a decent sealed enclosure.

When the replacement one comes, I will take a few more photos to show the installed speakers and baffles along with how the inside of the dash looks after grinding. And since I have to pull the dash cover off anyways, I may just change out the dash lights to LED's like tlbranth and tmdriverwannabe did along with doing the LCD fix that jfairman did. I had previously cleaned my LCD circuit board but never sealed it. The issues are popping up again so I might as well do it right this time.
 
#56 ·
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Since the wiring diagram in my first post is a dead link, I will repost the pin out diagram I had put on another thread.



The only pins I originally used were Pin #9 positive, Pin #17 ground, pin #18 backup power(memory), pin #1 front right speaker +, pin #2 front right speaker -, pin #3 front left speaker -, and pin #4 front left speaker +. You can determine the pins by holding the factory connector in your hand and look down into the pins. I don't know why they just didn't go in order on the connector... None of the other pins matter. Since Inow am using the rca out jacks to my amp, I only have 3 wires connected, those being the positive #9, ground #17 and the backup/memory #18. Make surethat the Scosche adapter has wires in the proper slots and connect the corresponding wires from the new aftermarket stereo to the proper wires.Also, there is a seller (autoware302) on ebay that sells the Scosche DO01B connector I used to connect to the factory wiring for $1.00 + $3.49 for shipping here. He sells them one at a time so if this one gets sold, just search his home page.


I now have my "new to me" dash panel courtesy of Willie's Cycles of Camp Hill, AL tmdriverwannabehelped me out with that one.I am just waiting on the new LED dash light I ordered. I will have some new photos showing how the Infinity Ref 5022i 5-1/4" speakers look with the XTC baffles and where I had to do some grinding on the inside of the dash panel to get it to fit over those speakers.
 
#57 ·
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So I finally got around to getting it done. The circuit board on the LCD has been cleaned and lacquered so hopefully no more moisture problems, the LED dash lite conversion is done, and the new dash panel is now back on. Here are some photos showing the speakers installed with the baffles. You can see that the baffles cover up all the gaps from my hack and end up providing a nice enclosure





And here are some photos showing where I did the grinding







I had to do the top and bottom on both sides to get enough clearance for the dash panel.

My camera died before I got a chance to get pics of the installed dash panel and I will post them later.

Now that this project is pretty much finished, I wanted to add my opinions on it. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I like the stereo, the amp adds a nice touch, and the baffles were IMHO definitely needed. However, if I was to do this again (although I like the sound from the 5-1/4" speakers) I would go with the Polk DB501's. The speaker end of this ended up turning into too big a hassle. The Polks are smaller (but still larger/better qualitythan the factory speakers) and would have been a much better fit. No modification of the dash panel would have been needed. In my case, it is a little too late to go back. The only options I have would be to get some larger ABS sheets, cover the speaker openings and drill a hole to go back to the original size or custom make a speaker mount that wouldgo in frontof the existing speaker grilles.
 
#58 ·
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Thank you for this info. I remember seeing it before but couldn't find it
Do you think I could take the POS + & NEG _ off the radio wiring for the LED gauges?
 
#60 ·
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pwhoever,
Looks great. Just had one question. In one of your later pics, you can see part of your odometer, and I was wondering about the first digit. A zero? Sounds like you need a little more seat time.
Great topic, and enjoy seeing the updates, etc.

noeleo
 
#61 ·
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Yeah, I definitely need more seat time. Unfortunately my strange hours and schedule at work get in the way of my free time. Another couple of years though and those numbers will really start racking up.....
 
#64 ·
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Ebay,
Do a forum search on replacement radio for gl1500, there was a member from spain? that was making them and had them on ebay.
 
#66 ·
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With all the threads recently on speakers, I figured it was time to once again update my thread. Well I finally ditched the cheap Kenwood 4" speakers I was using for the rears. I was all set to buy some Polk Db401 speakers and finally found a place where I could listen to them. It was at a local Fry's store. There were also a bunch of other 4" speakers all hooked up to the same head unit. Brands such as Kicker, Infinity, etc... After listening to the Polks, I tried out the Infinity Ref-4002cfx and was blown away by the difference from the Polks. To my ears, the Infinity speakers had a much more fuller sound. And since they were the same price as the Polks, I got them. They were fairly easy to install. They fit very easily in to the top half of the speaker compartment with no modification at all. However, I had to slightly modify the base so the tops would fit back on properly. I only had to cut away a small amount of the base as you can see in the center of the third photo below. Took less than a half hour to get the old speakers swapped out. Now I have a matched set of Infinity's for the front and rear. Here are some photos:





 
#67 ·
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This would be great, but I am thinking of Tray-ak's rear speaker mod. Those are some huge speaker boxes.
 

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