Harley-Davidson Street Glide Audio Upgrade With Cicada Audio

A client from here in Lake City stopped by to ask about a Street Glide audio upgrade for his Harley-Davidson bike. We discussed different options with him and mentioned the new line we brought in, Cicada Audio. He was excited about the features the motorcycle-specific company had to offer, so he booked an appointment for a full Cicada Audio system.

Rockford Fosgate Radio

The first step in the motorcycle audio upgrade was to provide the client with a clean audio source. Thankfully, Rockford Fosgate had the perfect solution for this Street Glide. We swapped the client’s old factory radio out for the Rockford Fosgate PMX-HD9813 radio. The radio is designed for the Street Glide, so it was a perfect fit, and it even retained the factory handlebar controls.

Cicada Audio Amplifier Addition

The power wires were run in the factory wiring guide.

We labeled the fuse holder so the client could also jump the bike from the connection.

The tiny Cicada Audio amplifier fit right above the new radio.

Once we had a clean signal for the audio system, we moved on to amplifying that signal. The amplifier we chose was the Cicada Audio FLX1000.4. The tiny amplifier packs a BIG PUNCH of power. The FLX1000.4 can produce over 1000 watts and will fit your hand. It is a perfect solution for fitting in the tight space above the radio in the front fairing. We used the Cicada Audio wiring kit to power the amplifier. We neatly routed the wires under the gas tank to the battery. The battery on these bikes is buried under several cables and covers, so we labeled the fuse holder for the client. If he ever needs to jump his bike off, he can use the battery side of the fuse holder and not have to remove any parts for battery access.

Fairing and Lower Cicada Speaker Upgrades

Top center: wimpy stock speaker, Bottom left: CXX speaker, Bottom right: CHX speaker

The new Cicada speakers and crossovers were mounted in the fairing.

We test fit the acrylic insert before removing the protective paper and upholstering it.

We upholstered the adapter plates in a matching vinyl.

The lowers were disassembled to give us access for securely mounting the adapters.

Our adapter plates fit the new speakers without altering the pods.

The new Cicada Audio speakers look right at home in the lowers.

Now that we had a clean signal and plenty of power, we moved on to the speaker upgrade. The client wanted lots of output from the front of his bike, so we used one of the best speakers Cicada Audio offers, the CHX series. The CHX speakers feature a horn-loaded tweeter and a carbon composite cone for maximum efficiency. In the fairing, we swapped the anemic factory speakers for the CHX525.4 speakers. These were a direct swap and required no modifications to install. The lowers required a little more work. We used our laser to create a set of drop-in plates to adapt the lowers to hold the second set of CHX525.4 speakers. We then wrapped the plates in matching vinyl. We engineered the mounting for our adapters so the client could remove them if necessary and return the lower pods to stock.

Rear Tour-Pak Speaker Upgrade

For the rear speakers, we chose the Cicada Audio CXX525.2 speakers. These feature many of the same design elements as the CHX speakers without the horn-loaded tweeter. The CXX525.2 has the added benefit of being a very slim speaker, which is necessary to fit the Tour-Pak speaker pods.

Street-Glide Audio Setup, Tuning and Delivery

We used the radios eq to adjust the sound.

The completed audio system was a huge improvement over the stock system.

With all the gear installed and wires connected it was time to setup the new radio and amplifier. We first set the gains on the amplifier to a level that would give the client plenty of output and also good reliability over time. Our next step was to set up our JL Audio MaX tuning rig to analyze the acoustic response of the new speakers. The Rockford radio has a 7-band equalizer that allows us some amount of sound contouring. We set the bands on the equalizer, taking into account the additional wind noise the client would experience while riding the bike.
When the client came to pickup his bike he liked the quality of work and how well his bike was taken care of while we had it. There was a difference in volume between the client’s phone and the USB drive we were using to set up his system. We worked to find the solution for the settings on his phone to help maximize the output of his upgrade. This has been our second Cicada Audio system so far, and we are pleased to have added them to our lineup. If you are interested in a Harley-Davidson Street Glide audio upgrade for your bike, give us a call or Contact Us Here.