Intercom Wiring

I have a Starcom system with the unit mounted in the recess which normally holds the tool-kit.
I have a power cable from the fuses running up through the drain hole.

At the moment the rider headset lead and music lead come out under the front of the seat.
What I'd like to do is hard-wire them to sockets in the dash so there are no trailing leads.

Is there an easy route under the plastic? I've looked again at the way of running a power cable from battery to front but as there's no current as such in my leads I wondered if I could find a way under the tunnel.

if just for the power why not take it from the power outlet in the glove box,as this is big enough to take coms kit aswell.from there wires can come out via small hole in the side of inner box to the stearing cowl.seen it done.
mines all in bag,use batteries,so much less hassle,and don't have to unplug .

Sorry - I didn't make myself clear (no change there!)

The Starcom is plugged in to 12V power under the seat.
I want to run the audio leads from it to the dash instead of having them trailing out from under the seat.
Just thought also the the GPS lead could follow the same route.
I thought that as audio leads are not carrying power as such it might be safe to run them next to the petrol tank under the tunnel.

My autocomm and radio are in the front locked glove box. Autocom do have rather large plugs, about 22mm. I drilled a hole this size in the top of the glove box sideways towards the centre, ie towards the steering head. The square bung is easily prised out; drill a hole in the bung for the cable size and then cut a vertical slot from the hole to the bottom edge. Bring the cable and connector for your headset from the side pocket through the big hole and then through the hole where the bung fits. Fit the cable in the bung and then push the bung back into its square hole...you now have this connecor right in front of you. I took power from the cigar lighter and used a relay controlled by the front side lights to operate it, and turn power onto the autocom inside the glove box.

Dick,

I'm not sure this will be clear so I've included a picture! All of my add-on electrics are mounted to one of the access doors inside the rear of the trunk compartment. My switched power (control +) comes from the taillight. All of my additional wiring runs along the frame of the bike and is attached with either tywraps or velcro straps. In the picture it follows the yellow path. It then continues along the frame (now concealed by the bottom tupperware piece) below the floorboard. Just behind the radiator and in front of the gas tank you will find there is a space about fist wide, this is where i began to feed the wires up to the steering head. Using a short piece of stiff wire "snake", you can fish the audio leads up to the base of the handlebars. From there you can route the wire to just about anywhere. I hope this helps to give you some mounting options.

Thanks, chaps.
My Starcom is mounted under the seat, leaving glove-boxes and all that free - it's been there nearly all the time I've had my Silverwing.
I just want to avoid having trailing leads by running the audio leads through the bike to the front.

I take it it's a no.

Hi Mike,

Exactly a year later. Bob and I went for our first ride of the season today. We got to check out our StarCom 1 Digital system. We tempted in mine. Bob put it in the same place as you did where the tool kit would go. He plans on getting the leads to the front of the bike not sure how exactly but when we figure it out I will let you know.

We had a Scala G4 last year. It was OK but we had problems with Bob's. Had to send it back twice to be fixed. Then at the end of last season it started to act up again. Aerostich had a 33% off sale a couple of months ago on the StarCom so we went for it.

Today's ride was a nice test. I came through to Bob's helmont fine. He did not come through clearly to mine. He was fine at stops but when we were moving I got a lot of static when he was talking. We have some fine tuning to do.

I also tested out the audio lead for the IPod. The music came in clear but it would drop out now and again. I wasn't talking or coughing or making any particular noises. I wasn't sure if it was the bumps or a loose connection.
Any thoughts.

One last question, storing the unit under the seat (tool kit area) does your unit ever get warm or hot in that location? Should this be a concern? When we got home I pulled it out and it felt warm. Warmer then Bob liked. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Cathy

Hello Cathy.

I'd appreciate the heads-up when Bob's found an easy way to get the leads to the front although having them dangling from the front of the seat hasn't caused me any problems.

The mics are ultra-sensitive; I've taken off the foam wind-shield and slipped a piece of plastic tubing over it. I did the same with Ed's - he has an older mic and the modification works very well - but the music still cuts out on mine with more than the slightest draft.
I have it set on the least sensitive setting, at least I think I have!
I have the minimum delay set, too, and put up with the minimal silences.

To be honest I haven't ever felt the unit at the end of a ride. I shall have a feel next time. I don't think it's a problem - it's been there for two years or so.

Hope this helps

If your asking for an easy way, then no is the answer. You will need to take the side and bottom tupperware off. You may have to run the wires rearward a bit from the tool pocket to get around the engine shroud then follow the tube frame down and forward. You will find a void behind the radiator and in front of the fuel tank. You can "snake" wires from the right side pocket (after removing the tray) to that void. A real pain in the arse but the socket location up front will be very convenient. I'll try to find a better picture.

That's what I thought.
I know that someone posted a way of getting power cables from the battery to the front so I guess one could follow the same route.
Perhaps the answer is to do it once and leave a piece of string in situ so that subsequent wiring could just be pulled through, remembering to attach another piece of string at the same time.

The advantage of just having the Starcom cables poking out from under the seat is that if I ever decide to change scooters I have only to unplug the electrical feed and not have to leave all the other cables in place.

Incidentally, I had the original Starcom unit, which had a battery in it as well as being 'mains-powered', which I wore in a bumbag with all the leads dangling down. That worked very well, especially after I made a power lead which plugged into the bike (my X9s).

Mike,

Bob got the Starcom unit in place on my Swing. We moved the unit to the front of the underseat box. I will probably not be able to store my helmet their but I store it in my top box anyway.

We ran the wires to the left through a hole that is already there. He followed the tunnel. We were able to bring an audio lead up through the left side and cross over to the right handle bar. The lead sticks out of the right handlebar plastic. I can connect it to my I Pod on the Ram mount.
Bob used a audio spilter coming out of the unit. We have 2nd wire that is attached that I store on top of where the tool kit is stored. I can use this wire when I want the I Pod in my tunnel bag charging or if I need the right Ram mount for another device. The lead comes out from the front of the seat.

I have three surface mounts on the left side of my seat just in front of it.

The closest to the handlebars is for the PTT connection. We could not find a good place to mount it under the handlebars. I had to buy an extension cable to reach the unit in the box. Bob put some shrink wrap around the connection to keep the moisture out. The PTT switch comes up under the tunnel up through the left handlebar attached at the end of the handgrip.

The middle surface mount is the 12V power to my tunnel bag.

The 3rd surface mount closest to the seat is my Headset connection.

I tried a wired connection to my phone but it did not work. I got the Starcom Blue Tooth. It seems to work well. Bob attached this to the right of the unit. All attached with industrial strength Velcro.

We will be taking it out for a test run this afternoon. A bit chilly and windy but I haven't ridden in a week. I have bee spoiled by our weird March weather when we reached 80F. We are now at 50F.

I hope this helps. I have taken pictures but have not figured out how to attach them.

Took the bikes out for a 85 mile ride today to test out the Starcom unit worked very well. Very happy with it so far. Bob has to adjust his phone connection but otherwise all is good.

Also, checked out the Gerbings heated jacket and gloves. Those worked great too.

Thanks for the excellent 'heads-up' Cathy.

Did you have to take off any plastic to feed the wires along the tunnel?

I look forward to seeing the pictures - someone will guide you through posting them.

Glad also everything worked out so well.

Mike,
Two things come to mind for you to look into.
1/ Are the leads long enough or can you get extension leads if needs be?

2/ Will there be any electrical interference? The cheapest method to avoid interference is to wrap the leads with foil. There are rolls on the market that are about 50mm wide with adhesive backing which would work a treat.

Bluetooth is the best way!

Cheers,

Thanks, William.
1) Yes, extension leads are available ( I have several from previous set-ups) and the leads on the Garmin m/c mount are long. Starcom supply a splitter lead, also long, specially for linking Zumo to Starcom unit.

2) I wondered about interference; I have no problems currently with leads trailing from under the front of the seat. I shall be interested to hear if Cathy and Bob experience any difficulties in that respect.
I take the point about Bluetooth but I sometimes take a pillion and have things set up for him to plug in to the Starcom.
I also favour a system which doesn't require charging; half my luggage on trips is chargers for Netbooks, Kindles, phones, cameras et al plus adapters as some have English plugs and the rest Continental ones.
I will look for the sticky-back foil and bookmark both your post and a source of supply.

Mike,

Bob took off the bottom piece of plastic, the rubber strip on the foot rest, the back side panel, the silver piece just under the seat all on the left side.
He also took off the underside back plastic piece. Under the top box. He hates working with the plastic. Since my bike has fallen three times on the left side there are a number of tabs broken. Pain in the butt. He used other words though.

I have not experienced any interference. Bob still needs to figure out his phone connection through the Garmin GPS blue tooth. We purchased a cable for this. It worked OK in the garage but when we were getting ready to ride yesterday he couldn't hear very well. He thinks he needs to adjust the volume.

MikeO wrote:

Thanks, William.

Hello Arnold,

Oh bugger, someone changed my name and never told me!

No offence taken.

Cheers,

Thanks, Cathy.
I think it's a job for warmer weather - it's freezing in the garage at the moment.
I'll psych myself up for it in the meantime.

Hello Arnold,

Oh bugger, someone changed my name and never told me!

No offence taken.

Apologies - senior moment!

MikeO wrote:

Hello Arnold,

Oh bugger, someone changed my name and never told me!

No offence taken.

Apologies - senior moment!

No worries Mike, I have too many of those myself nowadays.

Cheers,