Lazy (and cheap) man's speaker installation guide

So I was getting tired of stuffing bluetooth earbuds into my ears to have music on my 07 Swing.  But I'm a cheap ass so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on anything.  Along came a ebay auction selling an older PYLE PLMCA60 speaker set for peanuts.  This model was a few years old so it has the hard wired 3.5mm connector for your audio device (the newer ones have bluetooth making the install slightly "different").

This set included a pair of speakers, with related clamps, a small amplifier unit, couple of wiring harnesses and connectors.  And some other crap like USB charger outlet port, MP3 device mount, and cable management stuff.





So I was trying to figure out how I wanted to mount this mess without modding a bunch of stuff.  Trying to use the handle bar mounts left me with undesirable speaker mounting (not towards the driver).   And I didn't want to hack up the plastic handlebar covers to get it where I wanted it.    So I thought if I discard the handle bar clamps and just use the Z mounts (that normally connect from the speaker to the handle bar clamps) where the 2 large bolts hold the plastic bar cover on, it might just work.  I'll be damned, it worked fine.  Used the same bolts and I can still see my tach/speedo from the rider position.   I was able to run the speaker cables up through the plastic handle bar covers the same place that the grip controls wiring and brake line hoses feed through.  Worked like a charm.







I might just be able to get away without modding this scooter.   (I hate the idea of losing storage space for speakers, etc).    So I start sizing up the installation of the amplifier.   I pop out the right glove compartment box and I see a mounting bolt above the the coolant reservoir.    I got the idea to bend the amplifier mounting tab with pliers to make sure it wasn't in the way of the glove compartment when installed.





Holy ****, I'm 2 for 2.  That means something is going to go horribly wrong.  LOL.

The bluetooth units have a little pad for controlling BT devices.  This just has a volume pot control.   I mounted on the left handlebar using one of the brake fluid reservoir bolts.   When done I tidied up the cabling with a wrap and used the same slit in the handle bar covers as I did for the speaker wires (see end pics).



Now for the big decision.  How to power this mofo.  Most of the cabling is near the amplifier (speakers, volume control, etc all go into the same harness.  But I don't want to splice up front.  So I ran the cabling back to the fuse box under the seat and the battery.   To do this, I had to get a feed rod (or wire if you have it.  I have some flat steel that I taped the power wires to,  removed the bolts to the right foot pad area (see this for a reference):

https://www.silverwing600.com/t196-12-volt-power-install-without-removing-tupperware?highlight=speaker+install


And was able to shove the power wires all the way to the right rear passenger foot peg area (remove for better visibility).   So feed power wires down near coolant reservoir to the smaller weird shaped opening in the fairing near the radiator (see 2nd pic, even though I'm feeding the rod at this point, you'll want to feed wire out of this hole first).   Once feed out the hole, tape it to your rod, and if you loosened the right floot panels and are pulling them away a little bit (not much),   you should be able to feed your rod/wires all the way through:






I then covered my power wires in wrap and feed them through (taped to a straightened coat hanger) to the left side.  Remove the passenger foot peg cover on the left side to see better.




Here I pulled the red positive wire up through the plastic to where the front fuse box is (circle in pic), and used a Add-a-circuit mini fuse adapter to connect the power to at the 3rd slot for the turn signal.  Don't use the low profile one, I think the one I got was Littelfuse FHM200BP.   It does effect the fuse box top closing but I just cut that off and covered it with plastic (you don't want the elements getting into the fuse area if possible).  I forgot to take a final pic but you get the idea.




I then ran the negative black wire up a little further back where the cables run to the battery compartment in the trunk.   You'll see them if you remove the passenger foot peg cover thing.   Kinda where near the red circle is if I recall.



Then I used the included wire connector, crimped it on the end and screwed it into the negative battery terminal.  No pic but you get the idea.

A quick power on test (had to reverse my add-a-circuit so that is switches on/off with the key).  Everything works great.  So now to tidy up.  More cable wraps everywhere I could.  Cable ties to make sure nothing dangles and gets caught.   Button it all up.  

Lastly, drill a small hole in the right compartment to feed the 3.5mm plug through. Although I need a rubber grommet to make sure no dirt gets in there from driving (pretty low risk).




Works great, sounds good. And cleaned up pretty well.





I hope someone finds this useful.


Note: I chose not to use/install the USB charger port.  I don't really need it and wanted the least amount of wiring possible.

Thanks, nice job and pics to boot.

Nice job. Those speakers look like the ones I have mounted on my SWing. I mounted them on the top box with the speakers facing forward. I mount my MP3 player between the handlebars with a small Bluetooth transmitter that goes into the ear phone jack. It transmits to a receiver in the top box to a 300 Watt amp that hooks to the speakers. I control the volume with the MP3 player and it works great even at highway speeds.



This is a better shot of the speakers. Disregard the bug splatter on the windscreen...

4give my newb ignorance, but....those louvered areas on either side of the gauges would seem to be good for speaker placement. No?