New HK Stereo and it Skips!!!

Make the dealer replace it! That's the reason they give you a warranty in case crap like this happens. Push for replacement not repair, garaunteed thay don't have anyone competent to repair it.

gliderman said:

My HK stereo has started to skip quite a bit when playing CD's. I happens on brand new CD's as well as older ones. Will the new software upgrade solve this problem or will I be needing a new stereo? Damn thing is only 4 months old.....................

Click to expand...

My Street Glide's CD player did the same thing. The Software upgrade didn't help at all. To make a long story short, they replaced the stereo when I took my bike in to have the inner fairing replaced through the recall. The dealer sort of gave me a hard time about it at first. But they called HD and were told to replace it. I have read several posts about CD's in the new stereo system skipping on different forums. That's probably why HD didn't even bother having it checked out but told the dealer to replace it. It's probably fairly common.

eddie

I had the same problem on my new Street Glide also . The dealer told me that sometimes when they install them at the factory they don't tighten the radio properly and it rests on or should I say bounces on some bolts inside the fairing....not sure what bolts he's talking about but when they replaced my inner fairing they tightened it up and sure enough it hasn't skipped once since (about 1300mi ago) so I guess he was right in my case.

I'm Curious

gliderman said:

My HK stereo has started to skip quite a bit when playing CD's. I happens on brand new CD's as well as older ones. Will the new software upgrade solve this problem or will I be needing a new stereo? Damn thing is only 4 months old.....................

Click to expand...

Did you have the HK installed on your bike? You are listed as owning a 05/FXDWG and the HK only became availible on 06 models.

reg26 said:

I had the same problem on my new Street Glide also . The dealer told me that sometimes when they install them at the factory they don't tighten the radio properly and it rests on or should I say bounces on some bolts inside the fairing....not sure what bolts he's talking about but when they replaced my inner fairing they tightened it up and sure enough it hasn't skipped once since (about 1300mi ago) so I guess he was right in my case.

Click to expand...

Thats is true a i have tightened down 2 or 3 bikes radios as they come a little loose from the factory.That does work SOMETIMES....I would also check the fairing brackets if anyone is in the checking things out. One of my friends has an 05 flhtcui with 3000 miles on it and the fairing was rattling very bad. The left side supprt bracket and the speaker bracker were both snapped in half. I replaced both of them and been smooth sailing since......:cheers:

TXCHOP said:

....I would also check the fairing brackets if anyone is in the checking things out. One of my friends has an 05 flhtcui with 3000 miles on it and the fairing was rattling very bad. The left side supprt bracket and the speaker bracker were both snapped in half.

Click to expand...

My friend's '03 ultra had a rattle inside the fairing and his bracket was broke, too. the head of the mounting screw was only catching one side of the slot on the bracket. a fender washer would give more support. he bought a new bracket...$9.00

OldMsocko said:

Did you have the HK installed on your bike? You are listed as owning a 05/FXDWG and the HK only became availible on 06 models.

Click to expand...

I sold the Wide Glide and now have an 06' Street Glide with the HK stereo.


I had the dealer download the updated stereo software a few days ago, but I haven't had a chance to ride the bike long enough to see if it still is skipping.
I should clarify a little, rather than skip, it would seem to stop playing alltogether for 2-3 seconds then start again and repeat from time to time. I'll try and do some riding this weekend and see if the download did any good. I also bought a cd cleaning disk and ran it through a couple of times to see if that helps.

gliderman said:

I sold the Wide Glide and now have an 06' Street Glide with the HK stereo.


I had the dealer download the updated stereo software a few days ago, but I haven't had a chance to ride the bike long enough to see if it still is skipping.
I should clarify a little, rather than skip, it would seem to stop playing alltogether for 2-3 seconds then start again and repeat from time to time. I'll try and do some riding this weekend and see if the download did any good. I also bought a cd cleaning disk and ran it through a couple of times to see if that helps.

Click to expand...

Mine is doing exactly what you are describing. Please post back with your results.

gliderman said:

I should clarify a little, rather than skip, it would seem to stop playing alltogether for 2-3 seconds then start again and repeat from time to time.

Click to expand...

Actually that is skipping. Most CD players skip at times when you hit a bump or make sharp turns. But you do not notice because in the newer players there is a memory buffer. The CD is usually back on track without you realizing that it skipped. That pause you are referring to is the CD player trying to get back to where it was before it lost track. I may not be using the correct technical terms but I believe that the CD is skipping so rapidly that it ran out of buffer. Therefore it takes awhile to find it's place and start playing again. Also from my experience, the software update does not resolve the skipping problem.

eddie

Alpha_Biker said:

Actually that is skipping. Most CD players skip at times when you hit a bump or make sharp turns. But you do not notice because in the newer players there is a memory buffer. The CD is usually back on track without you realizing that it skipped. That pause you are referring to is the CD player trying to get back to where it was before it lost track. I may not be using the correct technical terms but I believe that the CD is skipping so rapidly that it ran out of buffer. Therefore it takes awhile to find it's place and start playing again. Also from my experience, the software update does not resolve the skipping problem.

eddie

Click to expand...

Well that's not good news. I was sure hoping there was an easier (software upgrade) solution. My radio also loses stations for brief intervals often. The bike is actually in the shop right now for its 1K service. I told the service manager about the radio and CD. He was going to check for loose connections - made sense to me at least as far as the radio. It appears now that with all these posts that the problem goes a little deeper than that. I'll check the radio function when I pick it up (possibly this afternoon). Based on that outcome I'll either be in good shape or working with the dealer on a replacement.

Thanks for all the info on this guys. This appears to be a fairly common issue with the new (improved? hah!) HK system.

TLeath said:

Well that's not good news. I was sure hoping there was an easier (software upgrade) solution. My radio also loses stations for brief intervals often. The bike is actually in the shop right now for its 1K service. I told the service manager about the radio and CD. He was going to check for loose connections

Click to expand...

Since I had my stereo replaced I have read that some people fixed their problem by tightening up loose connections. I don't think that works for everyone but that may have been my problem. I don't think my dealer even attempted to fix mine. I also just realized that my replacement stereo is a refurbished model. It's stated on the work order that I didn't bother to read at the dealership because I didn't have pay for it. I have bad luck with refurbished items. I just went through a nightmare with refurbished LCD monitors. After returning a new one with dead pixels I went through 3 refurbished ones before I gave up and sold the last one and bought a different model. I hope I do not have a similar experience with my refurbished HK stereo.

eddie

Okay, I'm too stupid to live. I got my bike back from the dealer today after the 1k service and he fixed my radio problem. The squelch was turn up too high (or was it too low) on the CB. I didn't even know the CB was on - I've never owned one. The cutout that I was experiencing on the radio was simply the system muting the radio when it picked up a CB transmission. Boy was my face red. :laugh:

I rode home from the dealer and the radio worked perfect. I didn't have any CDs with me or I would have tried those too. The system will mute the CDs for the same reason as the radio so I may not have a skipping problem at all - just CB ignorance.

adlerx said:

Make the dealer replace it! That's the reason they give you a warranty in case crap like this happens. Push for replacement not repair, garaunteed thay don't have anyone competent to repair it.

Click to expand...

I just finished reading no less than 4 H-D Service Bulletins concerning the new radio or "Advanced Audio System" . It appears that they aren't as 'advanced' as the MoCo had hoped. If the base radio goes bad, the MoCo will replace it with a 'refurbished' unit. Same with all the other 'modules'. If they go bad under warranty, they get replaced with 'refurbished' units. Since this is a new model, where are all the 'refurbished units' coming from? I read a post earlier where one of the VT members had his replaced, with a 'refurbished' unit. Hopefully Harley still has a good relationship with the company that made the pre '06 models. Good luck you guys with the new 'Advanced Audio'.

Krayven Sumhead said:

Since this is a new model, where are all the 'refurbished units' coming from?

Click to expand...

Good Question...
I guess I'm going to have to borrow a CD & try mine......and i guess i better check my 2003 truck, too, before the warranty runs out in a couple weeks.
...and i just got all my 8-tracks copied to cassettes

Krayven Sumhead said:

Since this is a new model, where are all the 'refurbished units' coming from? I read a post earlier where one of the VT members had his replaced, with a 'refurbished' unit.

Click to expand...

I'm the one who said I received a refurbished unit. Like you I wondered why they had refurbished units so soon after the new system came available. My dealer called me and told me that HD said to replace the unit with a new one. Since the 2 jobs I had done to the bike while it was at the dealer's were covered by warranty, I really didn't read the work order when I signed it. The other job was replacing the inner fairing due to the mirror recall problem. It wasn't until a few days later that I read the work order and realized that my stereo was replaced with a refurbished unit. CD's on the refurbished unit skip also but no where as often as the original. Then again the skipping got progressively worst over time on the original unit. I haven't been riding as much the last couple of weeks because of the cold weather so I really didn't have a chance to let it play for a decent amount of time to really see what's going on. But I have a feeling this may not be over.

eddie

It appears this is just not an '06 radio problem. My '04 Electra Glide's radio has been skipping periodically. But it has gotten progressively worse. There is no pattern to the skipping. Sometimes it will skip as soon as CD is put in, other times skip after it has been playing a while and then other times can run whole CD without skipping but then start up when CD starts over.

Going to dealer tomorrow to see about them taking it in next week(while I'm off) and fixing the darn thing.

TLeath said:

Mine is doing exactly what you are describing. Please post back with your results.

Click to expand...

O.K.,

As stated above, had the software updated and used a CD cleaning disk. Took the bike for 2 longer rides and listened to about 5-6 CD's. The HK stereo skipped about 2 times for a brief 1-2 seconds on 2 different CD's. Not nearly as bad as before the software/cleaning update. I don't know if there will ever be a fix that prevents any skipping at all, but I can live with this percentage. Now if it gets worse over time it will go back to the dealer. I have already decided that if this player gets to be a major problem over time, I will pull it out and replace it with an aftermarket Sony with the Biketronics kit as I did on my 03' Glide. No problems what so ever with the Sony CD/MP3 player. Time will tell!!!! I don't have much faith in H-D's stereo systems....

I really don't think the soft ware upgrade has anything to do with the skipping.

gliderman said:

O.K.,

As stated above, had the software updated and used a CD cleaning disk. Took the bike for 2 longer rides and listened to about 5-6 CD's. The HK stereo skipped about 2 times for a brief 1-2 seconds on 2 different CD's. Not nearly as bad as before the software/cleaning update. I don't know if there will ever be a fix that prevents any skipping at all, but I can live with this percentage. Now if it gets worse over time it will go back to the dealer.

Click to expand...

Before I got a replacement I updated the software and tried 2 different cleaning CD's to no avail. I rode for about 40 minutes yesterday before it got too cold. The 1 CD I played skipped about 6 times which is a vast improvement over the original unit but still has me concerned. The original unit's skipping started out as occasional and was tolerable. Over time it got progressively worst to a point where it skipped every ten seconds before I finally just stopped using it. I have had CD Players in many cars and trucks going back 20 years. It was rare that any of them ever skipped. Usually when they did skip or jump it was from hitting a large pot hole or something. My Harley CD player skips when I'm riding on completely smooth roads.

eddie