Sound on the CB1100

[Cormanus]

The back story to this post is two-fold. First, I've been battling with dealing with wind noise at highway speeds; secondly, I wanted to be able to use the TomTom installed on my iPhone when in strange places where a SatNav is helpful without going to the trouble of buying a bluetooth helmet kit that I mostly wouldn't use.

Pterodactyl recommended I solve the problem with a set of Bose Noise Cancelling in-ear headphones which he assured me both let you listen to things while riding (never a priority) and also cancel noise without listening to anything. So I bought some. They're not cheap—AUD$350—but they're fantastic. Put them in, switch them on and the background noise vanishes. I've tried them listening to music and I'm a convert. When I tried once before with ordinary ear buds I had the volume right up and could hear nothing worth while. With these things you can listen at a bearable volume and hear really well. Amazing. They are way better than ear plugs.

Anyway, it left me with a wee problem as I have mounted the phone on the bars so I can see it if necessary and wanted to be able to run the cord back to the seat without it flogging on the tank while I was riding. I was also a bit worried about the battery/noise cancelling box which sits down near the jack. I'd prefer to ride with that inside my jacket.

Here's the solution. Primitive, I fear, beside some of the more sophisticated work done by skilled forum members, but it works.

First I bought a 4-pole extension cord from eBay. It needs to be 4-pole so the switch gear in the headphones what controls volume/track skip etc can work. Ironically, there's a glitch in the phone software which means it often has to be restarted for any remote control to work, but that's another story.

I ran the extension cord along under the tank and used a cable tie to attach it to the bars.



For those interested, the phone is in a LifeProof case for which you can buy a handlebar mount that clips on and off easily. Because the case is waterproof, it has a headphone connector that screws in and seals. That's what the end of my cable connects to.

[url=http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy160/Cormanus/20140522-Wiring/DSCN1824Small_zpse2166ef5.jpg]http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy160/Cormanus/20140522-Wiring/DSCN1824Small_zpse2166ef5.jpg

The other end of the cable hangs out the end of the seat behind the tank so I can plug the headphones into it.



When I'm not using it, I simply drop it into the tool container out of the way.



When the handlebar end is not in use I'm protecting it with a female plug that I bought for a couple of bucks.



There's a bit of mucking around there, but I'll probably only use it on longer rides and in strange places when I need the SatNav. In the meantime I may look out for a small portable bluetooth connector I can plug the headphones into so I don't need the wire at all.