Recently I took a Floriduh to Michigan trip on the SG to visit my brother, got caught in a wicked downpour going through Cleveland and into Detroit, it was so bad I just watched the car tail lights in front of me until I saw the exit for a rest stop. So during the ride through the rain I was obviously taking water into the fairing, the radio was turning off/on then finally quit working, check engine light came on and the red security light just stayed on. I figured the radio might be toast but it was safer to keep going that stop on the side of I-75.
When I finally got to my brothers house we pulled the fairing apart and sure enough had water in some of the plugs, so we blew them out and got everything dried off. Turned the bike on and the radio worked, but no hand controls, luckily they were still good after going through the reset procedure hand control reset procedure
I know there's some cheap solutions to do it yourself waterproofing that people have done on Street Glide fairings. But, I wasn't happy with the Metra radio mount for the Sony, it's a cheap plastic mount and as of tonight 2 of the side screws had just fallen out inside the fairing, plus the 2 options for a rain cover aren't that great, I tried both and wasn't happy with either. So to kill 2 birds with one stone I ordered the Biketronics radio wrap kit. Expensive, yes, but I have to say it's 10+ times the Metra kit and I'm pretty sure my radio is as waterproofed as it can get now. Took about 2 hours to pull the radio, install the wrap and put it back together.
The faceplate is milled and anodized aluminum, the mount is also aluminum and both fit perfectly. I wrapped the radio while watching the video on my kitchen island, very easy to do if you take your time. Radio wrap install
If you have the Sony 5000 or 7000 I would recommend doing the wrap if you ride in the rain. I believe they give a 10% veteran discount or if you're a member of the "other" HD forum they give 10%.
When I finally got to my brothers house we pulled the fairing apart and sure enough had water in some of the plugs, so we blew them out and got everything dried off. Turned the bike on and the radio worked, but no hand controls, luckily they were still good after going through the reset procedure hand control reset procedure
I know there's some cheap solutions to do it yourself waterproofing that people have done on Street Glide fairings. But, I wasn't happy with the Metra radio mount for the Sony, it's a cheap plastic mount and as of tonight 2 of the side screws had just fallen out inside the fairing, plus the 2 options for a rain cover aren't that great, I tried both and wasn't happy with either. So to kill 2 birds with one stone I ordered the Biketronics radio wrap kit. Expensive, yes, but I have to say it's 10+ times the Metra kit and I'm pretty sure my radio is as waterproofed as it can get now. Took about 2 hours to pull the radio, install the wrap and put it back together.
The faceplate is milled and anodized aluminum, the mount is also aluminum and both fit perfectly. I wrapped the radio while watching the video on my kitchen island, very easy to do if you take your time. Radio wrap install
If you have the Sony 5000 or 7000 I would recommend doing the wrap if you ride in the rain. I believe they give a 10% veteran discount or if you're a member of the "other" HD forum they give 10%.
