Mp3 Player
Have you ever
tried to install a cassette tape into your tape deck at 70 mph only
to have the wind catch the tape inside the cartridge and begin to
pull it out like toilet paper off a roll? Well I have.
When
I'm riding there are times that I don't want to hear anything but
the bike and the wind. Other times I feel like rambling down
memory lane with my favorite oldies. Fortunately for us motorcyclists
our options to hear our favorite music has grown considerably over
the last several years. Today along with the good old fashion
and pretty reliable AM/FM stereo we are use to we can have CD players,
Mp3 players or even Satelite Radio. I decided to go with the
Mp3 player for several reasons. First, I can pick whatever songs
I want to hear, not what a DJ wants me to hear. Secondly, there
are no monthly fees involved like with Satelite Radio. And Third,
with Mp3 format you can get a whole lot of music on one disc or in
one small Mp3 player. And as we all know small is good for motorcycle
accessories.
Now, like everything else
there are decisions to make when you're ready to purchase your
player. There are many many brands and types of players to choose
from. There are the ever popular IPOD's and clones that are
basically a wee hard drive that can store literally thousands of songs.
These are excellent but can be pricey. You can spend between
$150 and $400 easily on such a player. Then there are the mini
disc's that boast of 5 hours of music on a single disc. That
is true but to do that you need to put your music files into a more
compressed format that erodes the quality of the sound of your tunes.
You can compress them less and use the same player and maybe get three
hours of music with great quality of sound if you wish to go that
route. Last but not least is the ever popular standard CD player
that can play either regular CD's you buy from a store or Mp3 music
files you burn onto the disc.
I chose the Sandisk Sansa 4 gig Mp3 player.
A 4 gig player will hold approximately 1000 average length songs.
After
you have selected your music player whether it be an Mp3 player or
a CD player you will need a means to hook your new unit up to your
bike so you can play your tunes through your bike stereo. There
are a couple ways to do that little task too. Both ways will
sound great so it only matters which you prefer so I will show
you both.
The first way is the easiest and requires no
technical ability at all. Go to your local Radio Shack or Walmart
and buy a cassette adapter.
Push the cassette adapter into your cassette
deck of your motorcycle and plug the cord end of the cassette adapter
into your CD or Mp3 player. Switch your stereo to the cassette
player and turn on your Mp3 player.
Its that simple. In
the picture the cord is plugged into the remote control unit of the
CD player which is in the pouch. You don't need the remote but
this particular unit had one.
The second way to route your music into your bike stereo
is by means of an FM modulator. There are two types of
FM modulators. The first is a wireless FM modulator which tends
to lose sound quality and reception in certain areas in
the transmission from the player to the bike stereo. The other
type of modulator is called an inline FM modulator. That simply
means that the modulator is wired
right inline between your Mp3
player and stereo. The inline FM modulator is the better of
the two modulator setups. Now I'm going to post a picture of
the FM modulator but don't freak out. Its really alot easier
to install than it looks.
After trying a cheaper
brand ($20) of FM modulator and being very unsatisfied with it I did
some research and found that the Kenwood KCA-20 had grabbed some pretty
good reviews. I paid around $43 for it and am very satisfied
with it.
Ok,
to pull this all together you'll need one more cord. Hop in
the family truckster and head to Radio Shack and pick up part # 42-2483
for a 90 degree jack or part # 42-2550 for a straight in jack whichever
you prefer. This is what the end plugs will look like on
the audio cords. The single black end goes to the Mp3 player
and the other ends plug in to your FM modulator.
Installing
the FM modulator is pretty simple. Just follow the directions
that came with it.
1) Unplug the antenna wire from the
stereo, which is a thick black coax wire, and re-route it a bit to
come up into the side compartment where it can be plugged
into the modulator at the "in" jack receptacle.
2) Now
take the antenna wire coming out of the "out" receptacle
from your modulator and route it up to your stereo and plug it in
where you removed the antenna wire from.
3) Plug the new
Radio Shack cord into the modulator, red to red and white to white and
route the other end out to where you will be mounting your Mp3 player.
4) Hook up your power lead for the modulator and remember to
install the power switch. Hook up the black ground wire.
5) Click your toggle switch (or dim switches) on the modulator
to the frequency you want it to use per the instructions.
Set
up a pre-set radio station on your stereo to the appropriate
station and in a flash you are listening to Hip Hop with Puff Daddy
or Tumbling Tumbleweed with Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers.
Here is what the FM modulator
looks like mounted on the sidewall down underneath my lefthand compartment.
In
this picture you can see the on/off switch I installed for easy access
and
also where I ground out a small piece of the plastic from the storage
compartment to route the Mp3 cord through.
Thats pretty much it. Here is a picture
of the finished installation. Easy to reach while riding and
also easy to remove when not in use. There is one last
thing....
I hope you realize that I cannot be responsible for any problems,
malfunctions or damage that may occur to you or your equipment
just because you read this article. I offer this only as friendly
advice. Good luck.
For more information about ripping music and creating your own Mp3
music files click here.
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