Installed an Autocom this weekend

[Bobnoxous]

This weekend I installed the Autocom Super Pro AVi, so the wife and I can talk while riding (people keep asking me why I would want this). The install on my 07 K12GT went fine. I did need to take a lot of the body work off to install it, but I'm comfortable doing that now. When I put everything back together, I had one "extra" screw left. Taking things apart again I found where I missed one. After I had it all back together, I decided to run one of the aux cables to the glovebox so I could plug in my ipod, which required another remove/replace cycle on the right side body work. I got lots of practice with this.

The one issue I had was how to get switched power. Other threads mentioned pulling power off the accessory socket in front of the battery. So, another drive to the dealer to pick up what I thought was a Y cable that plugs into this socket, but they instead sold me a "Part 1546" from autocom, which is a rather expensive ($49) fused relay. The idea is that you pull power directly from the battery, which may be cleaner than other power sources that may have interference. You connect the autocom power to one side of the relay, and you switch the relay from a switched power source. I tapped into the accessory power socket on the left side of the bike. It's nice to have a wife than can do some soldering and do a good job on this.

It works, and it seems free of interference, but since my ipod takes a different size pin than the one that comes off the autocom, I need an adapter before I can really try it out.

I just wanted to add my experience to the list of suggestions on installing an intercom. My recommendation, if you do decide to go the fused relay route, is to get one from any supply store. That should be cheaper than the BMW/Autocom branded one I got. But, I'm there, I want to get it done, you got me.

[Offwego]

Good job! Was there any reason why you chose the Autocom over the Baeher, Starcom, Intraride or J&M? Just curios. I've narrowed it down to Autocom or Starcom.

[Bobnoxous]

I chose autocom a while back (although I just bought it Saturday), so I'm pulling this from memory, a process that has shown its flaws previously.

The autocom does everything I need. I didn't really need the Super Pro, but it has the noise detection that adjusts the volume on wind noise. I decided to splurge. People have generally reported good results with the autocom.

The baehr was expensive, relatively speaking.

I didn't see any J&M that mounted under the seat. I didn't want the intercom mounted on the bars. I wanted it out of the way. The only thing I plan to mount on the bars is a GPS/radio.

The intraride seemed to have more complaints about how well it works.

Chatterbox mounts on your helmet. I wanted it out of the way, under the seat.

[Fountain]

Good job! Was there any reason why you chose the Autocom over the Baeher, Starcom, Intraride or J&M? Just curios. I've narrowed it down to Autocom or Starcom.

Autocom Super Pro AVi = $600
Baeher = $1200

I looked at both at the MOA National at West Bend.

[brianbeemer]

My son bought the Starcom and is very happy with it - as is his wife. They haven't been fast enough to find out if it doesn't work at high speed yet :rolleyes: but he assures me it works fine into triple digits :rolleyes: He also bought the bluetooth adapter so he can use his mobile phone - although heaven knows why! I use 'I'm riding my bike' as an excuse to not be contactable by phone...

[ICXC]

Bob,
I bought one at West Bend also, and have been doing the install this week. I located mine in the right saddlebag, removing the cd changer in the process, as it just takes up space. I am wondering how the Autocom ties into the system radio. The Baehr unit that I had uses a connector that matches the large twist-lock connector under the passenger seat. This connection gives the interface to the radio. I looked at Jim Beard's pictorial install where he solders four Autocom leads to the BMW connector wires, but the Pro AVI is different. Do you know how the radio interface is handled?
Thanks

[cfell]

Intaride complaints? really.. guess several of us just got lucky..

[jzeiler]

I looked at Jim Beard's pictorial install where he solders four Autocom leads to the BMW connector wires, but the Pro AVI is different. Do you know how the radio interface is handled?
Thanks

It is the same thing. Autocomm was developing a plug and play like the Behr but the lack of LTs in the UK has not helped get it done. (as told by Autocom at West Bend). You have two options that both solder in, one can switch the speakers off the other has them on all the time.

I am using the aux out port on the radio that the VOICE II uses but I have some noise issues that I can't get rid of. May just buy the solder in option from Autocomm

[deputy5211]

Bob,
I bought one at West Bend also, and have been doing the install this week. I located mine in the right saddlebag, removing the cd changer in the process, as it just takes up space. I am wondering how the Autocom ties into the system radio. The Baehr unit that I had uses a connector that matches the large twist-lock connector under the passenger seat. This connection gives the interface to the radio. I looked at Jim Beard's pictorial install where he solders four Autocom leads to the BMW connector wires, but the Pro AVI is different. Do you know how the radio interface is handled?
Thanks

The Super Pro AVI uses the same interface. Four leads tap into four speaker leads. There's a little "black-box" inline and the other end terminates in a 3.5mm plug that goes into one of the Autocom ports. Two models available -- one is as described above, and the other has a toggle switch to turn off the bikes rear speakers. Priced at about $89 and $109 respectively, IIRC.

As for the cable end not being the same size as the iPod jack. . . I surmise that you are using the cord with the 2.5mm plug, which is normally used to plug in a cell phone. You can use a stereo 3.5mm male to male cord to interface your iPod to the Super. If you want to avoid tearing down the bike yet again, just buy an adapter with 2.5mm jack and 3.5mm plug.

HTH

[Bobnoxous]

As for the cable end not being the same size as the iPod jack. . . I surmise that you are using the cord with the 2.5mm plug, which is normally used to plug in a cell phone. You can use a stereo 3.5mm male to male cord to interface your iPod to the Super. If you want to avoid tearing down the bike yet again, just buy an adapter with 2.5mm jack and 3.5mm plug.

HTHHi Tony. I did buy an adapter at radio shack, and a cord extension. By the time I routed the autocom aux line from the unit, mounted under the back seat, to the glove box, I only had about 2 inches left. It's working out well. I'm so far behind on podcasts, I don't see needing radio anytime soon.

[ICXC]

Thanx, y'all. I think for the time being, I'm just going to forego the radio interface. All it really gives me is static and country music anyway. What I really want to hear is my wife and the hummmm of those 100 ponies.

[ljjohns]

When I replaced my K11 with my 2003 K1200LT, I took my Autocom Pro 7 Sport off of the K11, leaving the speaker interface on the K11 and purchasing a new one for installation on the K12. Both the old and the new were the "Part 67" (SML-S-CR-A) units with the toggle for turning the rear speakers on or off.

With the info provided on this forum, I had no problem re-installing the Pro 7 main unit on the K12; the power connections and placement were fine. I had no problem hooking up the PTT switch and cabling for bike-to-bike comms via a Kenwood TK3101. The intercom worked well, as did the bike-to-bike.

I am having problems--persistent ones--with the interface. I had purchased a new unit (same as the old one) and while in Wenachee in May, my friend and I attempted to install it. We were initially misled by the disparity between the illustration and the instructions surrounding them (the picture depicted a connection to a blue-grey wire while the text specified the blue-mauve wire).
When we corrected that, I could toggle to the top position, where the rear speakers (both of them) worked just fine (but there was no sound in the earphones); the other two positions gave me nothing at all.

I contacted Autocom America and we ran some tests: I can get input from a music source through the headphones, and of course the intercom and bike-to-bike work fine. Scott, the tech support guy, said that it must be a bad toggle switch and so they graciously sent me a new interface.

The bike's been in the shop for the last forty days (that's another story) and so today I attempted to reinstall the new interface. To be sure of myself, I called Scott and confirmed the wiring instructions (and those he gave me conformed to the positive/negative schematics in my Clymer). The results were the same: speakers work fine, the autocom controller accepts external music inputs and routes them to the headphones; the intercom and bike-to-bike all work. BUT I DO NOT GET ANYTHING FROM THE RADIO on the headphones in any of the three toggle positions.

So what have I done wrong?

[ljjohns]

When I replaced my K11 with my 2003 K1200LT, I took my Autocom Pro 7 Sport off of the K11, leaving the speaker interface on the K11 and purchasing a new one for installation on the K12. Both the old and the new were the "Part 67" (SML-S-CR-A) units with the toggle for turning the rear speakers on or off.

With the info provided on this forum, I had no problem re-installing the Pro 7 main unit on the K12; the power connections and placement were fine. I had no problem hooking up the PTT switch and cabling for bike-to-bike comms via a Kenwood TK3101. The intercom worked well, as did the bike-to-bike.

I am having problems--persistent ones--with the interface. I had purchased a new unit (same as the old one) and while in Wenachee in May, my friend and I attempted to install it. We were initially misled by the disparity between the illustration and the instructions surrounding them (the picture depicted a connection to a blue-grey wire while the text specified the blue-mauve wire).
When we corrected that, I could toggle to the top position, where the rear speakers (both of them) worked just fine (but there was no sound in the earphones); the other two positions gave me nothing at all.

I contacted Autocom America and we ran some tests: I can get input from a music source through the headphones, and of course the intercom and bike-to-bike work fine. Scott, the tech support guy, said that it must be a bad toggle switch and so they graciously sent me a new interface.

The bike's been in the shop for the last forty days (that's another story) and so today I attempted to reinstall the new interface. To be sure of myself, I called Scott and confirmed the wiring instructions (and those he gave me conformed to the positive/negative schematics in my Clymer). The results were the same: speakers work fine, the autocom controller accepts external music inputs and routes them to the headphones; the intercom and bike-to-bike all work. BUT I DO NOT GET ANYTHING FROM THE RADIO on the headphones in any of the three toggle positions.

So what have I done wrong?

Thanks to Chris (CWS) and an observation he made two years ago, the problem has been resolved, and the solution is worth noting for anyone who is attempting to install a switched interface between the radio and an Autcom unit.

While Autcom provides specific instructions for the K1200LT installation, they are faulty: the picture and the text differ on the wires to be cut or spliced (the picture shows a blue mauve while the text says blue grey); and it does not specify which side of the connector should be the site for these splices.

The critical point is this: there are three wires on each of the two leads from the toggle switch. The white one is soldered to the negative lead for each speaker (yellow and blue-grey). No problem there; check your Cylmer schematics for validation.

The connection of the other two leads, however, is critical: the black wire from the autocomm lead must be connected to the radio/source side of the cut yellow-blue and cut blue mauve wire while the red wire must be connected to the speaker side. This is made quite obvious in the instructions for the R-series bike on the previous page.

The black Autcomm wire is an input source, providing input either to the headphones through the lower toggle position or to the speakers thru the Autocomm red wire. The red wire is merely an output to the speakers.

If you connect them otherwise, the speakers will work fine in the up position because the circuit from the black to the red is complete (but backwards).
No input, however, will be provided to the headphones when the switch is toggled to headphones because the red wire circuit is opened (to disconnect the speakers in normal operation).

I'll communicate further with Autocom America's tech support on this issue, but until they clean up their instructions, folks need to be attentive.

Again, my thanks to Chris.