Just got a 2012 170i but..

Slink · Post by **Slink** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:32 pm

I am trying to figure out where and how to mount a stereo on it? Anyone have any pics or examples of a stereo installation?

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:16 pm

this is easier and more effective tbh. i mean its just you listening, right? just a suggestion. or maybe at least until you get the stereo mounted? but personally i find ear buds ideal for listening to music while riding. and yes, i can still hear the sounds around me fine

Slink · Post by **Slink** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:35 pm

Just slightly illegal. Was trying for a legal way.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:39 pm

careful. Depending on the state it can net you a very nasty fine.

I personally decided that between my own ADD and how generally cursed I am with music players, I would just enjoy the road. the voices in my head are generally plenty of noise.

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:47 pm

There are several ways to mount a stereo.

See:
viewtopic.php?t=19886

viewtopic.php?t=19746

viewtopic.php?t=19743

viewtopic.php?t=12448

viewtopic.php?t=16171

viewtopic.php?t=6494

and

http://www.scooterwest.com/item_details ... HROME/2279

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:58 pm

Slink wrote:Just slightly illegal. Was trying for a legal way.

A stereo that's loud enough to hear while riding could run afoul of noise ordinances in some places.

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:52 pm

TVB wrote:
Slink wrote:Just slightly illegal. Was trying for a legal way.
A stereo that's loud enough to hear while riding could run afoul of noise ordinances in some places.

my thoughts, also. not to mention...and this is just ME...but i have always been bothered by it when on the road. idc if its coming from a car or a bike. and with a helmet on and what not? wind, traffic, the sound of the bike itself? how do i "hear" a stereo?

i know "helmet speakers" are available. are those illegal, too? idk if buds are illegal here, but i wear them. i wonder if earplugs are illegal? helmet over the ears? ear muffs? i mean i listen to the music at a volume where i can hear it, not at a volume where i can't hear anything else outside my helmet

ugh. i hope its legal in cali. i mean i am not going to check and do it anyway, but i don't want to be a menace to society, either. what with ear buds and all

its legal for deaf people to ride in California. good enough for me

Slink · Post by **Slink** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:56 pm

It is illegale to have both buds in in cali. but thats for a car, I would assume that the same holds true for M1.

Raiderfn311 · Post by **Raiderfn311** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:23 pm

This is the first Ive heard of this being illegal. I dont use earbuds while riding anyway, but Im a bit suprised by this law. You could hide the cord pretty easily, so I dont imagine a cop would see this and pull you. I think Im gonna say this is the riders call if they want to risk it.

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:24 pm

Slink wrote:It is illegale to have both buds in in cali. but thats for a car, I would assume that the same holds true for M1.

oh well one bud is good enough. not going to nitpick

good luck with the stereo project, tho. should work out fine as i know others have had success

jijifer · Post by **jijifer** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:30 pm

if you're using it commute 55 miles a day, my guess is you'll go through stereos quick. I went through 3 in 2 years (18k miles approx) and went to headphones.

Stereo is waterproof - remote is not. It is a quick fail. When it does you can't mute quickly and sometimes it turns up all by it's self, so find yourself pulling the cord out to stop the music fast.

Second fail: the vibration from the scooter seems to pull on the aux jack. I don't know HOW long but I'm thinking "months" before you find yourself jiggling the cord to get it to come out both speakers or not be crackly.

And then consider you're likely hooking something up like a phone or something value and letting it bounce around the bucket in your scoot. My original video ipod was destroyed that way - flying out of the bucket when I was hit.

And last you lose the one good spot for some water.

so the 3rd stereo I thought i had it all figured out: mount under the seat. Oh jeez, that thing would over heat, then the remote wouldn't work it'd get really loud and I'd have to pull over and open my seat.

I was a big advocate until my 3rd fail in 3 years. At first i rode with one headphone in (and still do if with a group) but now most rock both. No not legal. No not safe. But I ride a lot and what I like most is thinking a video is playing out infront of me as I ride

No music is not an option.

Slink · Post by **Slink** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:47 pm

Indeed I like music.

I want to put the head unit under the cowling and just have the remote exposed. This will ensure my water cubby is maintained. I did this on my chinesse scoot but there was way more room in that POS I had mounting options. This 170i has little extra space and I don't want to interfere with the streering.

I plan on keeping a little plastic baggy in the seat incase of bad weather like we are having now. My scoot is in the my garage and out of the weather when I am at home. It will be exposed when I am at work however.

Just wondering where a safe area to mount that head unit. I read about your over heating thats why I was planning on putting in the front but it's pretty tight up there.

BigBenlor · Post by **BigBenlor** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:59 pm

As far colorado is concerned, you cannot wear anything "inside your ear" (i.e. earbuds) because they feel that will impare your hearing to much. You are allowed to have helmet speakers (since they cover, but do no "cancel out" surrounding sound)

When I first started riding, it was a quick 5 mile commute through a neighborhood, so I used earbuds, until the day a cop pulled along side of me to get my attention, and gave me the "pull them out of your ears" sign. He said "No ticket" but you will get pulled over everytime, it'd be the same for earplugs (nothing in the ear canal, that looks like it could be "noise cancelling")

I got myself a pair of helmet speakers, and a cord that allows me a hands free button so I can plug in my iPhone, and play/pause/fast forward/ rewind the music, and answer calls. Never had any more cop problems.

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:05 pm

jijifer wrote: At first i rode with one headphone in (and still do if with a group) but now most rock both. No not legal. No not safe. But I ride a lot and what I like most is thinking a video is playing out infront of me as I ride No music is not an option.

this is how i feel about it. and fact is i can still hear everything. in fact maybe even better. because lots of wind and bike noise is muted, as well as road noise. yet things like traffic and sirens and horns can still be heard

also our senses are very active when we ride. and our minds. i read a article (maybe someone has a link?) which said a study found people who ride motorbikes have exceptional reflexes and heightened awareness. especially while riding. it said riding changes us for the better, our minds function at a higher level in some areas, and while riding we are in a state of extreme awareness like others never or seldom experience on a daily basis. assuming you ride daily

`so i don't see how a little music in the ears while riding can hurt. volume at riders discretion....

but yeah, that stereo or three you went through doesn't sound so nice

jijifer · Post by **jijifer** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:32 pm

Slink wrote:Indeed I like music.

I want to put the head unit under the cowling and just have the remote exposed. This will ensure my water cubby is maintained. I did this on my chinesse scoot but there was way more room in that POS I had mounting options. This 170i has little extra space and I don't want to interfere with the streering.

I plan on keeping a little plastic baggy in the seat incase of bad weather like we are having now. My scoot is in the my garage and out of the weather when I am at home. It will be exposed when I am at work however.

Just wondering where a safe area to mount that head unit. I read about your over heating thats why I was planning on putting in the front but it's pretty tight up there.

all 3 of mine were a thing about the size of an ancient walkman that was the amplifier and receiver and 2 speakers hooked (as well as the remote) into it and mounted to the mirror stems. I can't even imagine what you have and how you're thinking on mounting it and in no way should you interfere with the steering

sounds like a more complex set up. I saw a vespa in LA that seemed to have the stereo in the topcase and speakers in the front and back (I think) that was pretty custom, though.

AWinn6889 · Post by **AWinn6889** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:20 am

BigBenlor wrote: I got myself a pair of helmet speakers, and a cord that allows me a hands free button so I can plug in my iPhone, and play/pause/fast forward/ rewind the music, and answer calls. Never had any more cop problems.

If you don't mind my asking, which ones/where from?
I'm looking for a set of helmet speakers for my 3/4 helmet (the one that doesn't have the Scala rider set). I would get a new Scala solo, but those bad bears are 'spensive.

@JHScoot, see the "Your brain on motorcycles" thread, I posted the link to the article there.

Lokky · Post by **Lokky** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:11 am

AWinn6889 wrote:
BigBenlor wrote: I got myself a pair of helmet speakers, and a cord that allows me a hands free button so I can plug in my iPhone, and play/pause/fast forward/ rewind the music, and answer calls. Never had any more cop problems.
If you don't mind my asking, which ones/where from?
I'm looking for a set of helmet speakers for my 3/4 helmet (the one that doesn't have the Scala rider set). I would get a new Scala solo, but those bad bears are 'spensive.

@JHScoot, see the "Your brain on motorcycles" thread, I posted the link to the article there.

Personally in my 3/4 helmet I have a set of skullcandy speakers that are made for snowboarding helmets, too bad nothing will fit in my modular

AWinn6889 · Post by **AWinn6889** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:40 am

Lokky wrote:
AWinn6889 wrote:
BigBenlor wrote: I got myself a pair of helmet speakers, and a cord that allows me a hands free button so I can plug in my iPhone, and play/pause/fast forward/ rewind the music, and answer calls. Never had any more cop problems.
If you don't mind my asking, which ones/where from?
I'm looking for a set of helmet speakers for my 3/4 helmet (the one that doesn't have the Scala rider set). I would get a new Scala solo, but those bad bears are 'spensive.

@JHScoot, see the "Your brain on motorcycles" thread, I posted the link to the article there.
Personally in my 3/4 helmet I have a set of skullcandy speakers that are made for snowboarding helmets, too bad nothing will fit in my modular

Thanks Lokky, I'll have to check like... Zumiez or something, and see what they have!

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:40 am

Check your state laws, as they may vary.

In California, you are only permitted to have one earphone or bud when riding.

Whether to not riding with music is a good idea has been debated ad nauseum. There's really no point in debating it; folks just have to kind of agree to disagree on this one.

black sunshine · Post by **black sunshine** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:48 am

i've got an amp mounted under my seat, and speakers in the pet carrier:

now that i've got it in there, i've realized that the outward-facing speakers aren't really killin it as far as me being able to hear my own sounds.

i'm thinking about getting these:

http://www.amazon.com/Shark-SHKMSDHRS61 ... MNXCWW82R3

we'll see . . . we'll see.

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:29 am

You can also get some decent helmet speakers. In most places they are legal.

I will admit that I use shure noise blocking ear buds. Yeah...not legal...but if caught I'm willing to eat the fine. Usually if you yank them out when pulled over they ignore them

What I don't understand is that earbuds are usually illegal....but ear plugs are recommended. So you ride with ear plugs and helmet speakers you can't hear crap from the road. With the shures I can keep the volume down, get hearing protection and still hear the road.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:38 pm

BuddyRaton wrote:What I don't understand is that earbuds are usually illegal....but ear plugs are recommended. So you ride with ear plugs and helmet speakers you can't hear crap from the road. With the shures I can keep the volume down, get hearing protection and still hear the road.

Legislation of this sort is usually written in reaction to some high-profile heart-tugging accident, so it's not well-thought-out. Some legislator introduces a bill to prevent the exact same accident from happening again, there's no organized opposition, and no legislator wants to be accused of being "against safety", so it passes with no real scrutiny.

superseagulls · Post by **superseagulls** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:32 pm

Only one earbud in ear is also law in Florida.

Over on the Kymco forum, someone had some good results with this:

http://www.gooddeals18.com/product/SHKM ... splay.html

Quite a nice concept, and a pretty good price, almost disposable!

black sunshine · Post by **black sunshine** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:06 pm

superseagulls wrote:Only one earbud in ear is also law in Florida.

Over on the Kymco forum, someone had some good results with this:

http://www.gooddeals18.com/product/SHKM ... splay.html

Quite a nice concept, and a pretty good price, almost disposable!

can you give a link to the forum discussion? i've been looking at these myself!

superseagulls · Post by **superseagulls** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:14 pm

http://www.kymcoforum.com/index.php?top ... 8#msg55848

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:34 am

black sunshine wrote:
superseagulls wrote:Only one earbud in ear is also law in Florida.

Over on the Kymco forum, someone had some good results with this:

http://www.gooddeals18.com/product/SHKM ... splay.html

Quite a nice concept, and a pretty good price, almost disposable!
can you give a link to the forum discussion? i've been looking at these myself!

jijifer mentioned elsewhere that she was told the 250w would be too much for the Buddy battery/electrical. Might want to look into that.

Lokky · Post by **Lokky** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:12 am

TVB wrote:
BuddyRaton wrote:What I don't understand is that earbuds are usually illegal....but ear plugs are recommended. So you ride with ear plugs and helmet speakers you can't hear crap from the road. With the shures I can keep the volume down, get hearing protection and still hear the road.
Legislation of this sort is usually written in reaction to some high-profile heart-tugging accident, so it's not well-thought-out. Some legislator introduces a bill to prevent the exact same accident from happening again, there's no organized opposition, and no legislator wants to be accused of being "against safety", so it passes with no real scrutiny.

Having a fairly loud ride, especially since the upgrade to 177cc, I carry earplugs with me at all time in case I get a headache.
Earplugs will not block out noise completely. Mostly they are made to damped very loud noises and defuse the more penetrating noises like a loud 2 stroke engine. I am still able to hear cars around me just fine and my riding is not impaired in any way while wearing them.

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:57 pm

ericalm wrote:jijifer mentioned elsewhere that she was told the 250w would be too much for the Buddy battery/electrical. Might want to look into that.

a 20 amp additional load? No way in hell. People have enough trouble with just a few amps worth of deadlights or 55w headlamp upgrades.

iMoses · Post by **iMoses** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:37 pm

A buddy of mine bought one of those "Rock-It 2" speakers. It attaches onto his helmet via a sticky-suction cup and turns his entire helmet into a speaker.

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:18 pm

BuddyRaton wrote:You can also get some decent helmet speakers. In most places they are legal.

This is what I used to do- I bought a decent but not too expensive pair of over the ear headphones and cut the headband part off so I just had the two earcups. I velcro'd them into the little ear pockets in my helmet and routed the cable out the back. It worked great. Sounded much better than in-ears and was totally legal (in FL).

BigBenlor · Post by **BigBenlor** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:28 pm

AWinn6889 wrote:
Lokky wrote:
AWinn6889 wrote: If you don't mind my asking, which ones/where from?
I'm looking for a set of helmet speakers for my 3/4 helmet (the one that doesn't have the Scala rider set). I would get a new Scala solo, but those bad bears are 'spensive.

@JHScoot, see the "Your brain on motorcycles" thread, I posted the link to the article there.
Personally in my 3/4 helmet I have a set of skullcandy speakers that are made for snowboarding helmets, too bad nothing will fit in my modular
Thanks Lokky, I'll have to check like... Zumiez or something, and see what they have!

Here is exactly what I got, I love them they get plenty loud, and a great price, the back side of each speaker has adhesive tape, ive never had any problems, and the cord just comes out the back, over my shoulder and into my iphone (in the breast pocket)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MP3-ATV-Motorcy ... 2ebbda16ee

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:03 pm

BigBenlor wrote:Here is exactly what I got, I love them they get plenty loud, and a great price, the back side of each speaker has adhesive tape, ive never had any problems, and the cord just comes out the back, over my shoulder and into my iphone (in the breast pocket)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MP3-ATV-Motorcy ... 2ebbda16ee

I have a rather complex wired system that has a mic for communications that I've never used. Probably getting a Chatterbox at some point, but I may get one of these to have something simple and battery free.

BigBenlor · Post by **BigBenlor** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:12 pm

ericalm wrote:
BigBenlor wrote:Here is exactly what I got, I love them they get plenty loud, and a great price, the back side of each speaker has adhesive tape, ive never had any problems, and the cord just comes out the back, over my shoulder and into my iphone (in the breast pocket)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MP3-ATV-Motorcy ... 2ebbda16ee
I have a rather complex wired system that has a mic for communications that I've never used. Probably getting a Chatterbox at some point, but I may get one of these to have something simple and battery free.

Yeah I use, just an inexpensive pair of helmet speakers, but I had to have a second cord/device that would allow me to play/pause and answer calls... I had the battery opperated "wireless" control, but kept forgetting to re-charge. now I use this guy, and it works great.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/380296661846?ss ... 1439.l2649

Southerner · Post by **Southerner** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:26 am

First, these seem to be the Cadillac systems, with a price to reflect that:
Nolan N-Com
http://www.n-com.it/site/index.php?opti ... &brandid=1

Next, although I've often wanted to listen to music while riding, I just don't see how it can work that well, due to road noise, etc. At least not in my experience.

I don't think listening to the music is necessarily a danger. My greater concern would be fiddling with the music player while riding. If texting in a car is dangerous, and it is, messing around with anything while riding is tantamount to suicide. So the best thing to do would be to start the music or radio while sitting still and leave it strictly alone while moving.

But while we're on the subject, this thing has an integrated AM/FM stereo with a pigtail for an mp3 player: http://www.theautomoto.com/
Yeah, I know it's a chinascoot, with all that implies.

I don't know what would work for a Buddy, but wasn't there once an available stereo kit for the Stella that took the place of the glovebox door? The speakers were aimed at the rider and behind the legshield, which should work OK at the speeds the Stella can achieve.

black sunshine · Post by **black sunshine** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:38 pm

so i got these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018P ... 00_details

installation was SUPER easy. i just attached them to the mirrors with the included clamps, ran the wires down through the front of the scoot, under and up into the pet carrier. the amp is in the carrier and i actually have it attached to a spare battery that i had. sound is pretty good, i love being able to actually hear my music now! i hit about 60 bmph and was still able to enjoy it. highly recommended!

-ad

jijifer · Post by **jijifer** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 12:43 am

black sunshine wrote:so i got these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018P ... 00_details

installation was SUPER easy. i just attached them to the mirrors with the included clamps, ran the wires down through the front of the scoot, under and up into the pet carrier. the amp is in the carrier and i actually have it attached to a spare battery that i had. sound is pretty good, i love being able to actually hear my music now! i hit about 60 bmph and was still able to enjoy it. highly recommended!

-ad

that was my second stereo. didn't last very long. N2Tattoos had this stereo, too, his doesn't work either but I guess I can't remember when or what went bad on his. Shark was my 3rd stereo, as well, the one with the usb port (which did NOT work). The stereo that survived the longest was the one I bought at Scooterwest. It was twice as much but lasted twice as long. I recall them saying those were made locally. They look the same as this shark, though.

As for the 250w - yep, told it would be not be good on the electric. Consider its that AND likely the charging whatever you're playing in the ac adapter. Of course, I like to brag I'm still using my stock battery 23K miles later so I've been kind to my electrical systems

black sunshine · Post by **black sunshine** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:28 pm

jijifer wrote:that was my second stereo. didn't last very long. N2Tattoos had this stereo, too, his doesn't work either but I guess I can't remember when or what went bad on his. Shark was my 3rd stereo, as well, the one with the usb port (which did NOT work). The stereo that survived the longest was the one I bought at Scooterwest. It was twice as much but lasted twice as long. I recall them saying those were made locally. They look the same as this shark, though.

As for the 250w - yep, told it would be not be good on the electric. Consider its that AND likely the charging whatever you're playing in the ac adapter. Of course, I like to brag I'm still using my stock battery 23K miles later so I've been kind to my electrical systems

we'll see - i really wish they'd had the black version, because the chrome sometimes reflects sunlight right into my face! i think i'm going to get some matting stickers and take care of that . . .

BoneGirl · Post by **BoneGirl** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 7:33 pm

You guys are brave. I can't imagine having a stereo or earbuds while I ride. There's enough to distract me without that going on.

Post by **ericalm** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:30 pm

BoneGirl wrote:You guys are brave. I can't imagine having a stereo or earbuds while I ride. There's enough to distract me without that going on.

I never do music in the city. Out on long rides, touring and in the mountains, etc. it actually helps me focus. Otherwise, my mind starts to wander and I stop paying attention to the ride.

I couldn't listen to a book on tape or anything like that and my system is just loud enough.

Southerner · Post by **Southerner** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:02 am

That makes sense. I wouldn't want to use the thing in town but there's a long stretch of my commute where there's little traffic that would probably be safe enough.

Modern Buddy

Just got a 2012 170i but..

Just got a 2012 170i but..

Brave souls

Re: Brave souls