2010 voyager radio

[tooeagle]

I have a new voyager. I assumed when I bought this thing the radio was state of the art. But I'm really disappointed. Not only do I get really lousy am and fm reception (even from my own home in the city), there's not even a place to plug in a headphone. Is it true the only way you can make this work is to put out some 400 bucks for the iphone or ipod adapter? Has anyone done that? Has anyone had problems with am and fm reception? My dealer doesn't seem to have any idea and I'm not getting much cooperation from him on it. He said something about installing an antenna booster --- I don't get it though. This isn't the first year kawi has come out with a radio, is it? Is this a normal problem?
I'd like to get some feedback from anyone else who has a 2009 or 2010 voyager.

[garbal]

Radio... Nope,,, I have an 09 and the radio picks up stations from the moon... it's very good.
One complaint... Keep an eye on your antenna man... It will loosen up and fall off on it's own and it's a 135.00 replacement. Mine went on the first trip. My new one has a star washer and locktite on it. No problems yet. If you watch it while your driving the wind goes around the bike and causes it to spin counter clockwise.
I-Pod thing... available at your dealer in two options... 1/8" plug for about 60.00... I-Pod adapter 130.00... I bought one... and let me tell you... it's the only way to ride. Take care.

[tooeagle]

Thanks, Garbal - Where does the 1/8" plug attach? They must have fixed the antenna problem for the 2010 - the thing is ever so tight. I've got about 2,000 miles on it and no signs of coming off. I've heard a lot of complaints about that antenna on the 09's, but I don't think I've noticed any complaints on the 2010 model. Oh, and by the way, regarding your comment on watching the antenna spin counter clockwise - do you ride side-saddle?

[garbal]

the item is a plug that goes into the existing wiring harness... it uses only one of the plugs in that little cubby hole... then it plugs into your MP3 Players ear phone plug.
I hope they fixed that problem... one thing I did when Kawie finally replaced my antenna is pulled that rubber cap off of the top... with that thing on it really waggles around...
RE: Side saddle... ha ha ... after loosing my antenna... I found I was looking backward more than forward to make sure the little ******* wasn't coming off again... I ended up putting some white out on the top and the base to see whether it was loosening up at a glance... after the fight I had with Kawie... I don't want to loose another!

You know... it wouldn't hurt to put some loctite on it anyway... we did a 3000 km trip... Knowing there was a problem I'd check it every fill...
Wouldn't you know... the little ******* fell off somewhere in the last 150kms... I wasn't impressed!!!

[tooeagle]

They way you described this, it doesn't sound like it solves what I want to do. I want to be able to listen to the bike's stereo with headphones under my helmet. That connection you mention seems like all that does is allow you to listen to your mp3 player through the bike's speakers. You can already listen to your mp3 through headphones using the existing connection on your mp3 player with headphones. Is that right? Guess i'm a little confused. What I want to do is listen to the bike's stereo through headphones.

I went to the dealer parts guy today, to see if he had any idea. Looking puzzled, and saying "lets see", "HMM" "I don't really know".. I'm so tired of this dealers employees not being trained on what they sell. Every time I go there, other than sales, I get the feeling they don't have clue 1 how to service a bike correctly, or how to accessorize it.(except perhaps their own rice-rockets!) I don't understand how they can stay in business! Anyway, he showed me a connection cable ( from a catalog) similar to what you're talking about, but it had a round 5 pin connector on it it had a msrp on it of I think $69.00 and he didn't have a clue what it would do, or what it was for. I asked him what his price would be - he looked it up and said "$111.00! Having a sick stomach after that conversation - I left. Never to go back. I'm done! I won't mention names, but it's the only kawasaki dealer in my immediate area.

If what you have does allow you to listen to your stereo using headsets under your helmet, would you mind telling me what the kawasaki part number is?

And Even though that antenna seems tight as glue, I took your advice anyway and put some locktite on it. I hope they'll be able to get it off when they go to fix my reception problem!

[garbal]

Aaaaahhhh Ok, I get ya...
Yeah, sometimes the less we have to rely on our dealers the less frustrating it is... lets face it... they're not trained on every accessory out there... and you're right... they may drive Crotch Rockets...
That's why we as bike owners have the distinct pleasure of being able to do our own homework and dress our rides the way we want to... Forums are a great source of information I'm finding.
So... having said that... I think what you're looking for might take you one or two steps... although I'm not 100% sure... There's a speaker kit available for your helmet... Part number # : K10400-032
Here's the scoop: Helmet Speaker Kit

• Stereo helmet speakers with quick release cable clamp for rider or passenger use • Requires rider or passenger coiled cables (Entertainment or Communication), sold separately • For use with Premium Audio System when fitment of speakers in additional helmets is desired

You may also need a K10400-034... Which is a:

Rider Entertainment Cable

• Coiled cable for rider entertainment use only
• Allows rider to hear radio and other entertainment modes
• For use with Premium Audio System K10400-024 when replacement of only the cable is needed.
MSRP: $61.95
There's a whole gaggle of goodies you can buy to keep yourself entertained... you can also go bluetooth which I have seen covered elsewhere in this forum.

Here's the link to the Kawie Accessory page...

Product Sub - Kawasaki.com


All it takes is a little time... and a lot of money... but what the heck... who needs to eat when you have a bike to dress up right??

Another option*** If you have some buddies in the stereo shop... I'm sure Radio Shack may
have a 1/8" Female Plug for your ear buds to plug into ... just find the right wires in your left
cubby hole... tap into them and happy listening...
I'm sure you'd be able to knock that off for about 10 bucks... keep the other 130 in your
pocket... better in your pocket than Kawies!!!


BTW... Good choice on the locktite... I think it better to put in an ounce of prevention...

Good luck.

[Iceman1959]

Have a 2010 and the radion works great on all 3 settings am fm and weather,

Before I bought the bike I had them throw in all the parts for rider and passenger Communications . still cant get those to work !

[tooeagle]

Have a 2010 and the radion works great on all 3 settings am fm and weather,

Before I bought the bike I had them throw in all the parts for rider and passenger Communications . still cant get those to work !

So, I wonder why everyone else seems to get good reception, and I get lousy reception? I'm still waiting for the dealer to get back to me on this.

Curiously, can you tell me what you paid for yours and is it the ABS version?

[Iceman1959]

ABS 17200 out the door. Bought it on the last day of the quater and they made me a hell of a deal. They also threw in all the extra hardware for the Comm features which was as 400 bucks I believe,

[tsnack]

I have an 09 Voyager and wow, what a fiasco and expense to figure out what is needed to run an iPod. However, I can tell you first hand here is the minimum a rider needs from Kawasaki to use his OWN earbuds/helmet speakers and iPOD. Be confident that you will really have a stereo setup when all is done. Also, you will also want to get an 1/8" headphone splitter (if passenger going to listen too) and a 3' extension cable or two from China (avoid Belden extension cables from Walmart - they seem hefty, but don't last but a few rides) depending on where you locate the headphone jack. I put my under the seat in the tray and ran extensions to tankk bib/seat and one back between the seats for the passenger. It cost me a lot to do this whole project - even moreso because I didn't own an actual iPOD until I decided to do it. I can say that cost aside, the system sounds great in headphones and a special surprise...volume 3 or 4 in headphones is equivalent to 13-15 using the speakers! Talk about some sweet headroom! Let me know if questions. I went through al lot to figure this out myself so I'm sure I can answer anything about Voyager audio.

Item # : K10400-040 iPOD adapter kit
Item # : K10400-036 Headset connection kit
Item # : K10400-034 Rider entertainment kit

[djh3]

On your antenna issues. Taking a stab in the dark look to make sure the antenna has a ground. Probably a wire from the base to ground somewhere in the fairing. Maybe even ohm it out. COuld be a bad antenna all the way around, something internal. From the sounds of the other posts everyone else picks up distant stations and yours wont. By chance got an old car antenna around? Try that out and see if its better. Shoot go to Advance or Autozone and buy and inexpensive unit try it out by just plugging in and see if its better. Then take back. lol I know sorry a$$ way to troubleshoot but.......

[tooeagle]

On your antenna issues. Taking a stab in the dark look to make sure the antenna has a ground. Probably a wire from the base to ground somewhere in the fairing. Maybe even ohm it out. COuld be a bad antenna all the way around, something internal. From the sounds of the other posts everyone else picks up distant stations and yours wont. By chance got an old car antenna around? Try that out and see if its better. Shoot go to Advance or Autozone and buy and inexpensive unit try it out by just plugging in and see if its better. Then take back. lol I know sorry a$$ way to troubleshoot but.......

Actually, I did do that. I connected another antenna to the radio and it worked fine. Then I checked continuity back to the antenna through the disconnected cable from the front to the original antenna mast. Got no continuity. But when Icheck at the antenna base (mount) I do get continuity. There is a ground wire for some reason connected to the base of the antenna under the mount. The other end of the wire is connected to the frame under the trunk. I disconnected that ground wire at the mount, and now the radio works perfect. Have no idea what that ground wire is for, doesn't make sense. The antenna should be grounded through the radio, so an additional ground shouldn't be necessary (I wouldn't think). I have a service manual, and I can't seem to find any mention of this ground wire! Anyway, noticing also there is no continuity through the antenna mast itself (not metal), I've determined that the mast itself is actually probably for looks only and has absolutely no effect whatsover. The antenna cable apparently collects the signal with a small amplifier at the end of the cable attached to the mount (with the ground wire attached to it).

I'd really like to get an explanation from Kawasaki on this. Why is that ground wire there. And why doesn't that antenna mast have any apparent use? And why do they charge their customers so much (over 100.00) to replace such an inexpensive item when it falls off the mast?) And why, according to the dealers, does Kawasaki deny that there is a problem with antenna signal and why do some bikes seem to have good signals and others like mine no signal or very little signal (usually on AM). And why does Kawasaki not pay their dealers for proper troubleshooting of this? My dealer should have found this problem when I took it in the first time - instead of having me fiddle with it and have find it myself!? Instead, it makes the dealer look like they hire incompetent technicians that are poorly trained. It also makes the dealer and Kawasaki look like they just don't give a (%$#@ about their customer - and after paying as much as I did for this bike, that's really frustrating!

[djh3]

Well most new flexable antennas have a wire imbedded in the rubber. Which makes it all but impossible to check continuity on that part. If I read this right your disconnect the ground and it works better? Or does it work better with another antenna? If its the other antenna I would take it back again make sure they are making out repair tickets and show them the antenna is not working properly. Most states have a lemon law and if you have like 3 times you have taken it back for the same thing and nothing has been fixed then you can get arbitration in volved. You might write Kawaski and copy and paste some of these threads in your note to show Kawasaki how other are working. 3rd option is to make a really nice sign that says something about" we cant service what we sell cause we're stupid" and put it on your bike and ride around the block on Saturdays or something.

[runnerb0y]

...I went to the dealer parts guy today, to see if he had any idea. Looking puzzled, and saying "lets see", "HMM" "I don't really know".. I'm so tired of this dealers employees not being trained on what they sell. Every time I go there, other than sales, I get the feeling they don't have clue 1 how to service a bike correctly, or how to accessorize it.... I don't understand how they can stay in business! Anyway, he showed me a connection cable ( from a catalog) similar to what you're talking about, but it had a round 5 pin connector on it it had a msrp on it of I think $69.00 and he didn't have a clue what it would do, or what it was for. I asked him what his price would be - he looked it up and said "$111.00! Having a sick stomach after that conversation - I left. Never to go back. I'm done! I won't mention names, but it's the only kawasaki dealer in my immediate area.

tooeagle, Is that dealer in Vancouver? If it is, they did a number on my bike a couple of different times. If its the same dealer, they need to get the expertise/customer service portion of their business tuned up. I will never shop there again and I won't recommend them.

[tooeagle]

Well most new flexable antennas have a wire imbedded in the rubber. Which makes it all but impossible to check continuity on that part. If I read this right your disconnect the ground and it works better? Or does it work better with another antenna? If its the other antenna I would take it back again make sure they are making out repair tickets and show them the antenna is not working properly. Most states have a lemon law and if you have like 3 times you have taken it back for the same thing and nothing has been fixed then you can get arbitration in volved. You might write Kawaski and copy and paste some of these threads in your note to show Kawasaki how other are working. 3rd option is to make a really nice sign that says something about" we cant service what we sell cause we're stupid" and put it on your bike and ride around the block on Saturdays or something.

Yes. If I just disconnect the ground wire and leaving everything else stock, the antenna works fine - even while the engine is running, and seems to have good distance on it. Just like it's supposed to be. This is why I said the whole thing just doesn't make any sense! Kawasaki should already know about this - but my guess is that if they acknowledge they screwed up on this stupid little ground wire, and knowing the public now knows (if it's true) that the mast is just nothing more than a decoration, they are going to have to roll back the price on that mast to what it's really worth (about 5 bucks) and foot the bill for these dealer's "technicians" for want of a more descriptive word for "motorcycle mechanic" to spend the time to troubleshoot this problem and get it fixed! (Instead of putting the customer through hell on something so damned minor! (excuse my french everyone, but I'm ticked!)

I understand what you mean about the rubberized antenna, which is what this is. But there's not enough metal in it to show up on an ohm meter. I challenge a voyager owner to try it. Put a positive lead on one end of the mast (unconnected from the mount) and the other end on any other spot along the mast. No reading at all. The sample antenna I used is one that I've been meaning to mount in my boat.(similar to the one on my voyager except it works) It's a wippy rubber universal antenna mast made to ground against a metal body part in a car. If you do the same test by touching the leads in two places along the mast, (with the mast in your hand, not mounted) you get a ohm reading (continuity) which means the signal will reach the metal inside that rubber. But the voyager mast has no reading at all, meaning there's no metal in it, or it's a bad mast. I suppose it's possible that if the mast was a good mast, then the ground wire may be needed after all?????? Who the #$%^& knows? This is just so dumb!
Don't get me wrong, everyone, this voyager is a super awesome bike. And I don't regret choosing this over the harley, or even the honda goldwing. I think this radio is a joke (you have bo purchase so much more to make it do what you want) however, and with the antenna problem it just makes it so much worse. Like everything else or every other toy you buy, nothing's perfect! It's just so frustrating to see so many of these big companies "flipping off" their customers like this and acting like they need the money more than I do!

[djh3]

Friend it sounds to me like somehow you got a defective antenna. When the ground is hooked up it is actually shorting out your signal. Mount your boat antenna on it or one sort of like it or disconnect the ground and ride on. At any rate I would definatly write Kawasaki and keep writing guys there untill I got satisfaction. Start with aera service reps, I met one at Daytona this year during bike week and he was all ears when I was talking about the dealer I got mine from. I didnt find out untill after we talked for say 30 min or so he was a honco with Kawa.

[tooeagle]

Friend it sounds to me like somehow you got a defective antenna. When the ground is hooked up it is actually shorting out your signal. Mount your boat antenna on it or one sort of like it or disconnect the ground and ride on. At any rate I would definatly write Kawasaki and keep writing guys there untill I got satisfaction. Start with aera service reps, I met one at Daytona this year during bike week and he was all ears when I was talking about the dealer I got mine from. I didnt find out untill after we talked for say 30 min or so he was a honco with Kawa.

I have a letter in the making. I did see some posts in other forums about this as well. I'm definitely not th eonly one with the problem. But I think the reason it's not coming up more, is that too few people are actually listening to the radio on FM or AM, (probably not a whole lot of people listen to a radio mounted on a motorcyle) and since FM will give you a decent signal in some areas with or without an antenna, it just hasn't been noticed that there is a problem. I don't know why my antenna would be any different than others, but maybe it is??. The only reason I really noticed it is that I listen to talk radio often, and turned it on an AM station while at home and I couldn't get any signal at all - and obviously can with all other radios around the house and car. I do think if all voyager owners (09 and 10 models probably) checked, they likely will notice the same problem I do. (if anyone reading this does, let me know, I'm curious)

Anyway - thanks for the listening and advice.

[tooeagle]

tooeagle, Is that dealer in Vancouver? If it is, they did a number on my bike a couple of different times. If its the same dealer, they need to get the expertise/customer service portion of their business tuned up. I will never shop there again and I won't recommend them.

Sadly, I shouldn't specifically say. I say "sadly" because now that you asked though, no doubt there's more than one incompetent kawasaki service department out there! I don't know about you, but this doesn't bode well for my confidence in taking it in for any other problems that may come up! (one of the reasons I bought a service manual) - but some stuff I'm just not qualified to service myself ---- but now, who is?? Who can you trust to do it right?

[rbentnail]

Sadly, I shouldn't specifically say. I say "sadly" because now that you asked though, no doubt there's more than one incompetent kawasaki service department out there! I don't know about you, but this doesn't bode well for my confidence in taking it in for any other problems that may come up! (one of the reasons I bought a service manual) - but some stuff I'm just not qualified to service myself ---- but now, who is?? Who can you trust to do it right?

I know this won't make you feel any better, but it's not just Kawi dealers. 3 different Yamaha dealers have screwed something up on my bike.

[tooeagle]

Actually, yes it does. On the other hand, it is really sad though. As a retired manager I'm use to something that seems really unusual these days for big companies to do with their employees so they learn how to treat customers and fix things the way they're supposed to be fixed. It's called "training". Ever go into a Best Buy, or Fry's or some other so-called "specialty" store and asked them about the products they sell? Unfortunately they know usually less than you do. And they usually have some rude way of pointing that out! This is why on-line sales has gotten so popular, I think! Off the subject a little, but the point remains these dealers need to make sure their personnel know what the hell they are doing!