Note: Since I wrote this article, XM has come out with a new radio known as the MyFi.  It's way portable, has the ability to record up to five hours of music, is much easier to operate and use.  I now use this radio and just carry it in the tank bag.  If, however, you want to use an older XM or other type satellite radio then the story below may be of some use.

Occasionally, I like to dabble with retrofitting something to work that wasn't necessarily made to work in that manner.  My other article on carrying extra fuel for motorcycles is one example.  My newest challenge was to install a satellite radio on my newest ride - a 2005 BMW R1200GS.  When I began researching just what this would entail, there was no one single place where I could get all of my questions answered and that's the reason I wanted to write this.  You can read my step-by-step trial and error guide and hopefully, this information will help you through the process without the same trial and error.

I am making no claims and anything you do to your motorcycle as a result of this article will be your own doing.  I take no responsibility in writing this - use at your own risk.  Also note that the use of helmet speakers and perhaps even a satellite radio on a motorcycle may not be legal everywhere!  Having said that...

Installing a Satellite Radio on a Motorcycle for under $500.00  Download article here

While there are many ways to go about this, there was little information available on the Internet when I undertook the project.  I found most of the information on a series of sites that also sold the various pieces of equipment needed for the installation.  I wish this article had been available when I undertook the project! 

My project bike is a new 2005 BMW R1200GS and along with GPS, I wanted the ability to listen to music while I drove.  Previous bikes – most notably a 1993 Honda Gold Wing and a 2002 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic had spoiled it for me, making available music a much-needed respite for mile upon mile of roadway. 

In researching satellite radio earlier for one of my cars, I had discovered that there were two major providers of satellite radio, SIRIUS Satellite Radio (www.siriusradio.com) and XM Radio (www.xmradio.com).  Both services have different pricing plans and there are pluses and minus for each.  Do a little research before you select the most appropriate radio for your motorcycle installation needs.  

From everything I could gather, XM Radio’s units – the XM SKYFi® and the XM Roady® (and now the ROADY 2) - are considered the top models because of their size, portability and ease of use.  I selected the SKYFi since I liked the look and size of the unit and thought the larger buttons would be more easily controlled with gloves.  The XM Roady2 is smaller but has cool color accent faces that you can match to your bike. The orange lighting on the SKYFi radio matches perfectly with the BMW Instruments and that was another reason I selected the XM SKYFi.

Once you’ve selected the particular receiver, you must activate it and pay a monthly or annual fee to receive the satellite signal.  Generally, this fee runs 9-12.00 a month and if you move the unit from your bike to your car or to your house, the value becomes apparent. 

First, let me say a word on programming and sound quality.  I have Sirius in my car and the XM on the motorcycle and because of that, I have to pay for two services.  Had there been a place in my car to mount the XM unit where it didn’t distract from the car’s interior, I would have been better off.  I also went with Sirius the first time since they offered more commercial-free music.  From what I hear now, XM also offers commercial-free music channels.  As I said, there are differences in the two services and much has been written on these subjects elsewhere on the Internet. 

The next item you’ll need to order is the automobile mounting kit.  This kit contains the cradle that will be used on the bike as well as the antenna and a cassette-type output (for use with systems that might already have a cassette player like the Harley Ultra Classic.  There is also an FM-Modulator accessory if you have an existing radio that can be wired into the system and the satellite radio can be output through your existing radio system.  For this article however, your motorcycle does not have an existing radio.

The next item you need to consider is where – and how – you wish to mount the receiver, antenna and amplifier.  Yes!  Unless you have an existing sound system on your scooter, you’ll need to amplify the signal since the unit is only a receiver.  In my research, I discovered there are various amplifiers available.  Most of them will also allow you to hook other equipment i.e., GPS, CD player, radar detector etc. into the amplifier and relay it through your speakers.  One of the first amps I saw was a simple unit called the “Mix-It”. This amp can be run from a standard 9-volt battery or wired into the bike’s electrical system.  I purchased mine from a motorcycle friendly site at www.cyclegadgets.com and while I was there, I also purchased the next item – The Mount! Again, while doing my research, I discovered the R-A-M mounting systems and have now seen, first hand, just how easy and handy there are to install and use.  There are a multitude of mount types and the Cycle Gadgets website has a very nice selection of photos of the various mounts all affixed to a variety of bikes. 

Because of the simplicity of the BMW GS, I choose a very basic handlebar mount that was cut specifically to mate up with the XM SKYFi holder. In addition to the mount and bracket that mates up with the SKYFi, you will also need to select an “arm” for the mount.  This arm is what makes the whole R-A-M system work so well and in a most simple and cleaver way, holds onto the balls on the clamp and the back of the radio mount and allows for an almost infinite number of mounting solutions.  The arms are available in 1 ¾”, 3” and 5 ¼” lengths.  Now, you should have the receiver, the amplifier, a mounting system and the associated plugs, wires et al.  Note:  The XM SKYFi requires a 6-volt input and, of course, most modern motorcycles have a 12-volt system so you will need to use the cigarette lighter adapter since it has the requisite converter built-in.

The other issue I had when I was trying to get everything dry-fitted was that the mounting plate that is normally attached to the back of the SKYFi was broken during shipment and rather than send it back, I simply made the required attachment to the R-A-M mount and then glued the plastic back onto the SKYFi holster.  Aside from the glue residue, it was an easy fix.  Now, it all fitted together and I needed to locate a place on the GS where this all could be mounted.  You will also have to install a satellite antenna somewhere on your bike for the signal to reach the receiver.  Another product available at Cycle Gadgets is a thin steal antenna mount that goes between the radio and the mount.  It’s a simple solution, works well and looks cool.  

I had initially put the R-A-M mount on the handle bar but found that when I had the factory BMW Motorrad Navigator (Garmin) GPS installed, there wasn’t room for the SKYFi and the left-side power and output wires.  After looking around a bit, I decided to put the mount on a support bar in the cockpit above the instruments.  The bar is not perfectly round but the mount hooks to it without any problems and does a few other things too!  First of all, none of the XM Radios are waterproof since they were not originally designed to mount on a motorcycle.  Again, Cycle Gadgets has a fix but I’ll get to that later. At any rate, the SKYFi is now mounted up behind the GS’s windshield where it receives a small bit of protection and the antenna is right there to receive the satellite’s signal.

Once you have it located where you want it, you have to consider what to do with the wire(s).  Apparently, the antenna that comes with the automobile mounting kit has 20’ of wire that allows you to run it inconspicuously in your car.  However, depending on where you are mounting the radio on your bike, you will only need, at a minimum, a few inches to a few feet.  In the case of my mounting location, I only needed about 6” of wire.  DO NOT CUT the antenna and try to reconnect it after taking out the extra wire.  The end of the antenna contains a small amplifier and the length of wire helps gather the satellite signal and relay it to the amplifier and on into the receiver.  You will need to find a place to hide the extra wire.  On the GS this was fairly easy and I mounted both the amplifier and the extra wire in such a way that they are nearly invisible and easy to get to.

Now, you need to decide whether or not you want to use the 9-Volt battery in the amplifier or hardwire it into your bike’s electrical system.  The battery is a simple solution and is supposed to give you about 40 hours of service.  Using a battery also cuts down on the “ground-loop” interference that some electrical systems give off.  My problem is that I’m over 50 and I tend to forget to do certain things like turn off batteries J so as soon as I can find a proper blade-type in-line fuse, I’ll hard-wire it into my system.  

OK, now we’re down to your choice of speakers.  I use, and have used successfully in the past, helmet speakers that have either been handcrafted or purchased from such sources as J&M or other manufactures.  On this occasion, I went to a different set but did so to try and find something that could also afford me the chance to use some form of two-way communications.  I settled on a set up helmet speakers by RF Ltd’s MotoComm.  I used ALF Enterprises, again via the Internet, at www.alfenterprises.com and purchased the helmet speakers/microphone and an auxiliary setup to that also allows for connection to an alternate output source such as a CD-Player or Radar detector. I will be using a fairly simple FRS Motorola radio for bike-to-bike communications and this will all be integrated with the use of the Starcom1 equipment.  Working in conjunction with this is a Push-To-Talk (PTT) switch that is mounted on the handlebar that enables you to transmit without removing your hands from the bars.  Except for the speakers, all of the other stuff IS NOT REQUIRED in order to hear the satellite radio but gives you the ability to talk with a co-rider if you should so choose.  There are numerous other intercom or communication systems out there and since they are not central to this article, I won’t go into it any further here.

Performance – In my initial testing, the amplifier could be a bit more powerful and if, when this is all put together, it doesn’t make the radio as loud as needed at highway speeds, I’ll be looking for something else to try but the small form factor combined with numerous inputs and a separate volume control seems to be the ideal answer for this application.

I will be installing the helmet speakers over the next few days and will then be able to offer a full performance test once I can get it out on the road.  For now, I’ve just done static testing in the garage with a cheap set of headphones.  I’ll also show some detailed photos of the actual radio in the mount, the amplifier and everything else.

Oh yea, I also mentioned that I would briefly touch on waterproofing the SKYFi radio.  Once again, someone is thinking out there and has created a beautifully injection molded case for the radio.  Although I got mine at (Can you guess???) Cycle Gadgets, I think their origin is an outfit called Two-Wheel Radio and their website is at www.twowheelradio.com where you'll find all sorts of great goodies for your motorcycle radio needs. Note:  As of 3 August 2004, 2WheelRadio has improved their website and it is still under construction.  You won't see many photos of their products yet but they are definitely worth dealing with.

4 August 2004

The headphones arrived from ALF Enterprises last night and they installed in my KBC Racer-1 Full face helmet in about 10 minutes.  I've put these in other helmets before and pretty much know the routine so it may take you longer.  The speakers are placed inside a round oval with peel and stick Velcro-type material already supplied.  Peeling the tape and putting them into the ear-hole space took seconds. The running of the wires between the helmet shell and liner is made easier with a wooded pop sickle stick that you can use to push down the wire without cutting or gouging them.  The microphone sticks in the same way and I positioned it off to the left of my mouth a little since it was comfortable this way.  The Mini-DIN plugs then connected and viola!  I had sound.  Unfortunately, these speakers sound pretty "tinny" and do not seem to have the resonance of previous helmet speakers I've had.  I'm not a sound engineer but it could also be that the small "Mix-It" amplifier/mixer is not strong enough to power the speakers properly.  They work...but not as well as some other configurations I've had.

At this point, I began searching the Internet for alternative amplifiers and, as you might expect, there are not a lot out there.  Some potential solutions I've found ordered one to test it out.  They have a good return policy so if it doesn't do the trick, I'll return it and look for something more.  In addition, there is also a larger amplifier but I believe it is more for regular speakers than for helmet speakers.  This site is worth checking out too!  www.mhinstruments.com has a variety of systems for motorcycle music and a small amplifier seen here. 

Here are a few pictures of the bike the way I have it configured now. I'll continue to work on the issues of poor speaker and volume performance and write what I learn.

Be well... Ride Safe!

COSTS

Some basic equipment costs:

XM Delphi SKYFi Receiver can be had for a variety of prices.  I found mine on eBay for less than MSRP.  According to the XM website www.xmradio.com the MSRP for this unit is $99.99
 

Also, the XM people are asking an MSRP of $69.99 for the car adapter kit - This is a necessity so just look for both units upfront! - Again, I found mine on eBay less than MSRP. 

For the R-A-M mounts - you need the XM Radio holder, arm and base.  The combination I purchased was approximately $35.00 plus shipping. I bought mine from Cycle Gadgets.
 

The Delphi XM SKYFi rain cover is $49.95 (Optional) Again, Cycle Gadgets

The "Mix-It" Amplifier/Mixer goes for approximately $149.95 at Cycle Gadgets

The Motocomm helmet speakers were approximately $50.00 at ALF Enterprises
 

So, as it stands now - I'm into this thing for just under $500.00 and will probably spend a bit more on more expensive helmet speakers and/or an amplifier of some sort.