Cicada Audio front stage, Soundstream HDHU.V2 and a Maestro RR — fitted at home, by a bloke who’d never pulled a Harley fairing before. With his tips for anyone about to do the same.
We didn’t do this install. Chris did — in his own garage, over a couple of evenings, with a couple of tools and a bit of patience. Our part was specifying the system, preparing it so it would land plug-and-play, and answering his questions as they came up.
We’re running it anyway, because this is the install a lot of you are quietly weighing up. You’ve got the bike, you’ve got the kit picked out, and the only thing standing between you and a proper front stage is the question can I actually do this myself?
Chris’s answer, in his own words:
“I’m no Harley mechanic, but I’m mechanically minded, so I decided to tackle the install myself. With a few YouTube videos, some trial and error, and a bit of patience, I found the whole process surprisingly straightforward — even though it was my first time pulling the front fairing off a 2017 Road Glide Special.”
Better still, he wrote down what he wished he’d known before he started. That list is at the bottom of this article, and it’s the most useful part of it.
If you’re still working out what belongs on your bike, our 2015–2023 Road Glide audio upgrade guide covers the options and the order to do them in. This is what one of those options looks like once it’s on a bike.
The bike and the brief
A 2017 Road Glide Special running the factory Boom! Box 6.5GT radio and factory fairing speakers. No Boom! amp — just the head unit driving the standard speakers, a very common starting point on these bikes.
Chris wanted the foundation done properly: a real amplified front stage, a bigger screen, and wireless CarPlay. What he didn’t want was to hand the bike over to a shop for a week.
It’s not a maxed-out build, and it isn’t trying to be. There’s no sub and nothing in the bags. What it is, is a strong foundation — enough system to do what Chris wanted now, with room to add to it later. The FLX500.4 is running only two of its four channels, at 125W RMS a side into the 2Ω CX65.2s, so channels three and four are sitting there ready for bag speakers whenever he decides he wants them.
“Nate asked all the right questions, worked out what suited my needs and budget, and matched me with a system that genuinely delivers.”
What went in
- Cicada Audio 14FLXCX-4X2 (Road Glide fitment) — the FLX500.4 4-channel amplifier, a pair of 2Ω CX65.2 6.5″ fairing speakers, the 8 AWG fused power and ground kit, Harley-specific Molex® input and output harnesses, the Road Glide amp rack and Cicada kidney grilles. The complete Cicada front-stage hardware in one box.
- Soundstream HDHU.V2 — 8.3″ plug-and-play head unit with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, mounting in the factory radio location on OEM hardware.
- iDataLink Maestro RR — the interface module that keeps the handlebar controls, the bike data and the factory wiring talking to the new head unit. We pre-configure these to the specific model before they ship, so it arrives ready for the bike it’s going on.
- MAA high-level amp harness — our own loom, made to plug straight into the HDHU.V2 and carry both the amp feed and the speaker returns in a single run. It doesn’t come in the Cicada or Soundstream boxes; it’s the piece that turns this from a wiring job into a plug-in job, so ask us for it when you order.
No fabrication, no splicing and no factory wiring cut. The head unit uses the factory radio location, the speakers use the factory fairing positions, and the amplifier mounts on the model-specific Road Glide rack that comes with the kit.
What you’re actually taking on
That’s the honest picture of a Road Glide fairing job. It looks like a lot. It is a lot of small fasteners and connectors, but the job is mostly methodical rather than technically complicated, and nothing behind it needs cutting.
Behind the fairing
Every factory signal and speaker connection in Chris’s fairing is handled through matching plugs — the bike’s original loom hasn’t been cut or spliced anywhere. If he ever wants to return the bike to the factory radio, there’s no cut factory loom to repair first.
The head unit sits in the factory radio aperture, its heatsink chassis facing back into the fairing. The Molex® harnesses supplied in the Cicada kit are terminated for the factory Harley radio, and Chris wasn’t keeping his — so his amp runs off a harness we make ourselves. It plugs straight into the HDHU.V2 and does both jobs at once, carrying the high-level signal down to the amplifier’s inputs and the amplifier’s outputs back up to the fairing speakers. One loom, both directions, nothing to make up on the bench.
On a Road Glide the amplifier mounts directly beneath the radio, on the model-specific amp rack supplied in the kit. The black rack is most of what you can see in the photos, with the silver FLX500.4 mounted underneath it — power, ground and the remote turn-on lead landing on its terminal block.
The loom routing is the giveaway that Chris took his time. Nothing’s pulled tight, nothing’s sitting against a sharp edge, and the factory connectors that aren’t in use are still clipped and tucked rather than left swinging. That’s not a first-timer’s wiring job — that’s someone who read the instructions twice.
What Chris asked us along the way
Chris emailed a few questions through the build, and we gave him a call partway through to make sure he was getting on alright. Two are worth publishing, because we field them on nearly every DIY Road Glide.
“Do I need to do anything with the factory radio configuration?”
Not on Chris’s bike. His Road Glide had the standard 6.5GT and no factory Boom! amplifier, so the old head unit simply came out. Bikes running factory amplified Boom! systems need to be handled differently, which is why we confirm the original audio configuration before supplying a system rather than after.
“Should I run the firmware update?”
Yes, worth doing. Soundstream released one the day after his unit shipped — Murphy’s law being what it is. Not mandatory, but there are worthwhile changes in it, and it’s a few minutes’ work.
Chris’s tips for anyone doing the same install
We asked Chris what he wished he’d known before he started. This is his list, in his words — with one wiring description tightened for clarity.
Remove speaker pods first — fit them last. Taking them out early gives you more room to run wiring, secure the Maestro, and access the two bolts that hold the amp bracket to the fairing bracket.
Test-fit the amp. Use the supplied industrial Velcro but make sure the headlight doesn’t foul on the amp before you bolt anything down. I also double cable-tied the amp to the bracket and closed the bracket opening so it fits tight on the fairing frame. No rattles, no vibration.
Protect the Maestro. I double-bagged it in Ziplock bags and mounted it under the right-hand side of the fairing bracket. Keeps it dry and secure.
MAA note: Chris used bags because they suited where he chose to mount the module. Where there’s room for it, we’d use the proper weather-resistant Maestro enclosure.
Cicada amp remote wire. The blue remote turn-on wire lands on the amp’s REM terminal — the small terminal sitting between the main positive and ground connections.
Microphone placement. I mounted mine behind the right-hand speaker. Good for voice-to-text entering addresses into the GPS and other voice commands at idle.
Fuse access. I secured the main amp power fuse behind the right-side cover for easy access.
Cable-tie everything. Once you’re happy with the wire routing, cable tie it all down neatly. I must have wasted 20 cable ties in the process.
Cicada speaker screws. The OEM screws are too short. I ordered M5 x 20mm Pan Pozi (PZ2) HI-PLAS Plastite screws from boltandnut.com.au and they fit perfectly.
One note from us on that last one
The Cicada speakers mount using the bike’s factory screws, and we’ve fitted a lot of these without running short — so don’t go hunting for hardware before you start. Chris found he wanted more thread than the factory screws gave him, and if you’d rather have longer ones sitting on the bench than discover you want them halfway through, they cost a couple of dollars. Ask us and we’ll tell you exactly what we’d use on your bike.
The result
The 8.3″ screen fills the fairing aperture properly, and the factory gauges stay exactly where they were. Wireless CarPlay connects on start-up, so navigation, music and calls all come across from the phone in his pocket without a cable.
The screen below is the one we always point people to, because it’s the part that gets forgotten when everyone’s looking at CarPlay. That’s the Maestro RR feeding live bike data to the head unit — on this page, road speed, RPM, intake temperature, battery voltage and throttle position, all read off the bike itself. The V2 will show up to 10 gauges at once, chosen from more than 50 available parameters, depending on what your particular bike makes available.
That’s the Maestro integration doing more than simply replacing the factory radio — the new head unit is also talking to the bike. It’s the difference between an aftermarket radio bolted into a Harley and a system that behaves like it belongs there.
Should you tackle one yourself?
Chris had never worked on a Harley before this. He’s mechanically competent, he took his time, and he asked when he wasn’t sure — and the result is as tidy as anything that leaves our bench.
These kits are designed so the audio integration doesn’t require cutting into the factory loom or working out the Harley wiring from scratch. If you’re comfortable removing a fairing, routing power properly and following instructions, this is a very achievable home install.
Either way, ring us before you order rather than after. The five minutes it takes to confirm your model, year and whether you’ve got a factory Boom! amp is what makes the difference between plug-and-play and a weekend you’d rather forget.
Thanks to Chris for the photos, the tips, and for letting us publish the build.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I install a Harley head unit and amplifier myself?
On a 2014 to 2023 Touring bike, yes, if you are comfortable removing the outer fairing and following instructions. The audio integration is designed to be plug-and-play: the head unit uses the factory radio location and OEM mounting hardware, the speakers use the factory fairing positions, and the amplifier mounts on a model-specific rack supplied in the kit. No factory wiring is cut. The work that remains is mechanical — a lot of small fasteners and connectors, done methodically. Chris had never worked on a Harley before and completed his over a couple of evenings.
Do I need a Maestro module for a 2014 to 2023 Road Glide?
If you want to keep the factory handlebar controls and display live bike data on the new head unit, yes. The iDataLink Maestro RR is what lets the head unit talk to the bike’s CAN bus — road speed, RPM, engine and intake temperature, battery voltage, gear position and more, with up to 10 gauges shown at once from over 50 available parameters. Without it the head unit still works as a head unit, but you lose the thumb controls and the vehicle data. We pre-configure every module to the specific model before it ships.
Does adding an amplifier mean cutting the factory wiring?
No. Every factory signal and speaker connection is handled through matching plugs, so the bike’s original loom is untouched. That matters for two reasons: it keeps the install reversible if you ever want to return the bike to the factory radio, and it removes the most common source of problems in an aftermarket audio install. On Chris’s bike the only additions were power, ground and the remote turn-on lead to the amplifier’s terminal block.
How many speakers can the Cicada FLX500.4 run?
Four. In this build only two channels are used, driving the CX65.2 fairing speakers at 125W RMS a side into 2Ω. Channels three and four are unused and available for saddlebag lid speakers later, without changing the amplifier or re-running the power wiring. That is why a front-stage-first build like this one is a sensible starting point rather than a dead end.
Thinking About Something Similar?
Running a factory Boom! Box and wondering what a proper amplified front stage would look like on your Touring bike? Tell us your year, exact model and whether you have a factory Boom! amplifier, and if you are installing it yourself we can supply it pre-configured and plug-and-play, the same way we did for Chris.
Get in Touch →Shop this system
- Cicada Audio 14FLXCX-4X2 front-stage system (Road Glide fitment)
- Soundstream HDHU.V2 8.3″ head unit
- iDataLink Maestro RR interface module
- MAA high-level amp harness — ask us for it when you order
Or browse the full Cicada Audio range.
Or see everything that fits the 2015–2023 Road Glide.
Not sure what fits your bike? Contact Motorcycle Audio Australia with your year, exact model and whether you have a factory Boom! amplifier, and we’ll confirm the right parts →
More reading: our 2015 to 2023 Road Glide audio upgrade guide, and more completed systems in Harley Audio Builds.
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