Installing a radar detector on my 1290

[FFlash]

I think I've finally figured out most of what I'll need to do in order to install my Valentine One detector on my 1290. Here's my plan. Holler if you have advice!

1. I'm using this mount. installed it today, looks good.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H2X ... UTF8&psc=1

2. Weatherproof mounting box. The 1290 is a naked bike which provides no protection for our expensive non-waterproof detectors. This box takes care of that problem.
http://legalspeeding.com/products.htm#radarbox

3. Plug and play System that gives me a visual alert within my helmet when my Valentine squawks.
http://legalspeeding.com/HARD-System.htm#.U5eOPe8U83F

I have photos that I'll post when I figure out how.

[Superduke]

#2 and #3 links are the same.

[FFlash]

Thanks for catching that Superduke, link fixed.

[johnnyjs1]

May have one of these laying around (have to dig)....Much smaller and neater than the legalspeeding one. Made em for the Escort 8500 and the V1.
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=648666

[Doon]

May have one of these laying around (have to dig)....Much smaller and neater than the legalspeeding one. Made em for the Escort 8500 and the V1.
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=648666

If you have one for the escort x50 and angle connection I would be interested, shipping to NZ
CHEERS

[kylezx10]

I, thinking of mounting my V1 under the headlight with the squealer or may change to a led warning light

[FFlash]

... thinking of mounting my V1 under the headlight with the squealer ...

I'd worry about blocking the V1's rear facing antenna and thus losing the ability to pick up radar behind you. Let us know how it works if to do set it up that way!

Also, what's a 'squealer'?

[kylezx10]

a 90 desibel horn that squeels when pigs be near

[FFlash]

I think I've finally figured out most of what I'll need to do in order to install my Valentine One detector on my 1290...

Well, I was wrong! I hadn't really spent the time to understand exactly how I use the V-1 in my car. It turns out that I use the V-1's sound signal as my primary alert! And, as you all know, you can't hear anything much of anything from a bar mounted speaker above 50 mph.

In the car, what I do when the V-1 sounds off depends on how much over the limit I'm traveling. A little over and I'll look at the V-1's light signals to get more information before deciding my next step. If, however, I'm traveling at a painfully illegal speed, I'll immediately whack the brakes to get down to legal and then check the V-1's lights to see what's going on.

The end up was that I found two serious problems with the LED light in the helmet system I described in the first post.
1. No sound = a critical loss of important information.
The V-1's sound signals tell you what type of radar it is OR tells you that it's Laser. The speed of the beeps gives how far away the radar signal is.

2. I often did not immediately notice the bright red LED in the helmet!
That doesn't seem possible but it happened. Either my mental focus when on the bike is so strongly aimed at down the road that I ignore the light OR I just don't have the LED in the best position. What I do know is that a split second of indecision at way-too-far-over-the-limit could be very costly.

So, I needed to get sound into the helmet. Luckily I have a Sena SMH10R headset. I found that adding a Sena SM10 Bluetooth transmitter and plugging the headphone output of the V-1 Remote Audio Adapter into it gives me sound. The Sena headset plays the V-1 sound alerts any time the V-1 alerts. I suppose you could find a cheaper method but I wanted something as plug-and-play as I could get. I've no mental energy for futzing around trying to get things to work.

The other issue I found is that it's tough to see the LED alerts on the unit itself because of where the V-1 is located. Those LEDs give you the location of the radar (ahead, off to the side or behind) and the strength. This is vital info! The problem is that the V-1 itself is located right above and a little behind the bars. Looking down to see it takes your eyes too far off the road for me to be comfortable. Added to that is that the angle makes the LEDs even harder to see. My fix was to add the Concealed Display which I can put a little farther forward AND angle up. Makes it quicker to see and thus interpret.

Sena SMH10R
Sena SM10
Valentine One
Valentine Remote Audio Adapter
Valentine Concealed Display

Pictures to follow.

[steveberde]

I also use the Tech Mount system (have used it on every bike I've owned) very nice mount.
I've also used the HARD System from Legal Speeding and frankly I can't live without it.

Its saved me inumberable tickets over the years - I had one from the year Aaron developed it and am now using his latest version.

My question however, is the hard wiring of the detector on a new 1290 SDR - I've had one my 08 SD and my 690 Duke 4 but haven't touched
the wiring on the new bike.
Any wiring tips appreciated and I'll ask at the risk of being slammed - whats the direct way into the wiring harness to hook the telephone
plug wire (also want to wire my soon to arrive heated grips) and where is it located?

Thanks

STeve

I think I've finally figured out most of what I'll need to do in order to install my Valentine One detector on my 1290...

Well, I was wrong! I hadn't really spent the time to understand exactly how I use the V-1 in my car. It turns out that I use the V-1's sound signal as my primary alert! And, as you all know, you can't hear anything much of anything from a bar mounted speaker above 50 mph.

In the car, what I do when the V-1 sounds off depends on how much over the limit I'm traveling. A little over and I'll look at the V-1's light signals to get more information before deciding my next step. If, however, I'm traveling at a painfully illegal speed, I'll immediately whack the brakes to get down to legal and then check the V-1's lights to see what's going on.

The end up was that I found two serious problems with the LED light in the helmet system I described in the first post.
1. No sound = a critical loss of important information.
The V-1's sound signals tell you what type of radar it is OR tells you that it's Laser. The speed of the beeps gives how far away the radar signal is.

2. I often did not immediately notice the bright red LED in the helmet!
That doesn't seem possible but it happened. Either my mental focus when on the bike is so strongly aimed at down the road that I ignore the light OR I just don't have the LED in the best position. What I do know is that a split second of indecision at way-too-far-over-the-limit could be very costly.

So, I needed to get sound into the helmet. Luckily I have a Sena SMH10R headset. I found that adding a Sena SM10 Bluetooth transmitter and plugging the headphone output of the V-1 Remote Audio Adapter into it gives me sound. The Sena headset plays the V-1 sound alerts any time the V-1 alerts. I suppose you could find a cheaper method but I wanted something as plug-and-play as I could get. I've no mental energy for futzing around trying to get things to work.

The other issue I found is that it's tough to see the LED alerts on the unit itself because of where the V-1 is located. Those LEDs give you the location of the radar (ahead, off to the side or behind) and the strength. This is vital info! The problem is that the V-1 itself is located right above and a little behind the bars. Looking down to see it takes your eyes too far off the road for me to be comfortable. Added to that is that the angle makes the LEDs even harder to see. My fix was to add the Concealed Display which I can put a little farther forward AND angle up. Makes it quicker to see and thus interpret.

Sena SMH10R
Sena SM10
Valentine One
Valentine Remote Audio Adapter
Valentine Concealed Display

Pictures to follow.

[FFlash]

My question however, is the hard wiring of the detector on a new 1290 SDR - I've had one my 08 SD and my 690 Duke 4 but haven't touched
the wiring on the new bike.
Any wiring tips appreciated and I'll ask at the risk of being slammed - whats the direct way into the wiring harness to hook the telephone
plug wire (also want to wire my soon to arrive heated grips) and where is it located?

Here's a link to a discussion! viewtopic.php?f=18&t=23411&p=290059#p290059

[steveberde]

Many thanks all for prompt response - set up the Tech Mount bracket (not a whole lot of maneuvering room on that bar). Took a whole but it looks clean and
doesn't interfere with anything. Will address the actual wiring this week along with install of heated grips.

As I mentioned in passing in my earlier posting over the years I've tried every kind of warning system using a detector on a bike. As you all have said trying to watch for the signal
on the detector is a waste of time and is high risk as things that go wrong go wrong very quickly -

I've also used speakers in the helmet and they all require hard wiring (at least as of now) no wireless speaker system that I've found that gets wired into a helmet, plus I have one very weak ear
and always wear ear plugs.

Consequently for me the HARD System from Legal Speeding for 175.00 (US) is the best system I've ever tried - I wouldn't ride without it. I have several helmets that I use and several bikes so I have purchased
separate receivers which are installed in a few helmets. I have saved literally thousands of dollars in ticket avoidance and I have never ever gotten a speeding ticket while wearing the HARD System. I swear by it.

And no, I am not in anyway connected to the company that makes them.

I know each person likes what they like and I get it - As an aside I am still using the same Escort X 50 (8500) that I've had for at least 10 years - its slid down the road when I hit a deer on my Super Duke 990 and has never missed a beat.

Whatever works for you works and thats what one should use.

Steve

[FFlash]

I've also used speakers in the helmet and they all require hard wiring (at least as of now) no wireless speaker system that I've found that gets wired into a helmet, plus I have one very weak ear
and always wear ear plugs.
Steve

Things have changed!

Armed with a Valentine One + Valentine Remote Audio Adapter hard wired to a Sena SM10 Bluetooth transmitter that sends the Valentine audio signal to a in-helmet Sena Bluetooth Headset I hear my Valentine's alerts just as I do in my car.

It's pretty much plug and play, the only hard part is hanging and wiring
all the pieces on the bars.

[steveberde]

Nice - As a guy who wears ear protection for me the heads up display from Legal Speeding works great - but i do get the idea of a speaker it works great for some - Seeing the application on a Harley with a ton of chrome
I can't see that on my bike but everyone likes to have their own design. For a few bucks more you can get a system that is very easy to live with.

Steve

[steveberde]

I've had a detector on every bike I've ever owned - The Escort ( or Valentine if you prefer ) with the HARD System from Legal Speeding has saved me literally thousands of $$$$ in tickets over the years. The photo increases the size of the box on the bottom - it appears very large yet its only about an inch sq.



The dectector is not water proof but I generally don't speed if its raining so I tuck the detector into my jacket or pocket - the HARD system is waterproof both the transmitter and receiver

[grommet]

There is a way to get the audio out of the V1 and into your helmet without much cost if you are willing to tinker a bit.

The power cord on the V1 has the audio signal included on one of the wires. You can tap that line and run it into a Bluetooth transmitter, which you then pair with a Sena headset or similar. Only small trouble is that the audio line has +5V on it when there is no audio signal. Putting a 10uF capacitor in series with the audio signal line before it gets into the BT transmitter will remove the DC part of the signal but will let the audio part come right through. Here is a schematic of the setup:



I do the connections to splice in the cap and the audio jack line to the phone line on a small piece of PCB breadboard, so that the solder connections are clean and strong. Then I wrap it in heat shrink tubing and some of the stretchy rubber tape to seal it up. Has been working great.

Any BT transmitter can be used, like this one.