Motorcycle mobile

[N8YX]

Not the rig, the antennas and related bracketry.

I'm doing some metal hacking today - finishing up the fab work on a set of antenna mounts for my Connie-14. The design concepts can be utilized on other bikes.

There are several different styles of antenna mounting hardware in use today. These are:

NMO mount (Larsen and others)
UHF mount (Diamond, Comet multiband VHF/UHF)
3/8-24 to stud (CB whips, some HF amateur antennas)
3/8-24 to ring and stud (as above)
3/8-24 to SO-239 (as above)
Honda threaded stud (used on GL1100, GL1200 and some GL1500 CB, AM/FM BCB antennas)

The NMO style provides a bit of a challenge for use on a bike, as the resultant bracket is going to be largish. The others, however, are doable.

Today's exercise involves sectioning a set of mounting arms from a GL1200 (OEM right; aftermarket left) so that they'll fit on a custom trunk rack spacer/antenna arm setup which a friend machined for me.

The end result will be that any combination of 3/8 stud, Hondaline stud or UHF mount antennas can be used on the bike.

Pics of this as I progress.

[KA9MOT]

Sounds interesting. I ran a 2M rig on a GoldWing I had. It worked well. My Major issue was with wind noise above 60MPH. I finally purchased a Prime Helmet Mic that helped (still have it) but did not eliminate the problem.

[N8YX]

We currently have provisions for mounting a VX6R, VX7R, Motorola 220 (FRS) or Midland GXT900 (GMRS) on two of our Valkyries. Those installations went a LOT smoother than that of the Concours, which is now looking like a body panel strip/tank removal/fishing a bunch of wires expedition. Tentatively slated for this weekend, as it's going to be warm enough outside to wrench on things.

I'm also going to run supply lines for heated grips, heated vest/gloves and driving lights while all the bodywork is off. Then I'm going to mount the FTM-10's control head on the bars and snake its connection harness towards the rear of the bike.

Planning on putting one of these underneath the seat as soon as it arrives:

http://www.motorcyclelarry.com/myfiles/image/fuseblock.png

http://www.motorcyclelarry.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=100_116&products_id=404

Five of the connections will be run in switched mode and will supply the following circuits -

Driving lights (5A fuse - LED units - 24w total draw)
Heated grips (10A fuse - 70w total draw)
Powerlet connector (10A fuse - for whatever), heated clothing connector/controller (run in parallel with previous circuit)
JMCB2003 CB rig (3A fuse - 20w draw on TX)
FTM10SR (5A fuse; 35w draw on TX)

The sixth circuit will be run in un-switched ("constant") mode and will facilitate connection of a Battery Tender or similar float charger. It'll have a 5A fuse in-line.

Progress on the antenna mounts was slow but steady last weekend. There's a lot of hand fitting, welding and filing yet to do.

The FTM10SR has a Bluetooth adapter option. I have those for both of the rigs which will be going on our Connies. Additionally, the J&M unit can be equipped with a Bluetooth dongle. We're going to use the devices in conjunction with Nolan N103 helmets which are equipped with J&M Bluetooth headsets, or with N43 helmets/NolanComm units.

A Zumo 550 is going to make its way to each bike (rather, a pair will be available for use on several bikes) so I've got to integrate its audio output into the scheme somehow. With Bluetooth it'll be "pair and go". With the corded-helmet bikes...not so simple.

[KA9MOT]

Pretty impressive.