Get rid of the eye pokers??

[woodmnctry]

Thinking of substituting the shorter 19" or aftermarket 13" radio and cb antennas for those eye-pokers on the tourpak --- my concern is diminished performance --- would appreciate input from those that have made this switch ---- really getting tired of the factory antennas poking me every time I walk by the bike.
Thanks
GW

 

[Rod69]

Have had the shorter antennas on for several years now. Haven't noticed any difference what so ever. Installed XM radio module with separate antenna and listen to it most of the time now. CB still does the job you want. Good luck, I would change.

 

[Sloufoot]

Thinking of substituting the shorter 19" or aftermarket 13" radio and cb antennas for those eye-pokers on the tourpak --- my concern is diminished performance --- would appreciate input from those that have made this switch ---- really getting tired of the factory antennas poking me every time I walk by the bike.
Thanks
GW

I have changed over to the 18" antennas. The range for the FM/AM is somewhat less, but still quite usable. I use mostly MP3"s anyway. The CB is still usable also, but I can't give you a range because I usually only use it for short distances in a group. I have used it to talk a few miles, but terrain can affect it also.
I bought mine off EBay not the ones from HD. It would take me a while to find the people I got them from.

 

[tom w]

have the "in faring" antenna went to 13inch on the back. works ok . I don't use it much.

 

[GARYD]

I had a set of J&M shorties on my 03 Ultra. Worked fine for me. Like Sloufoot said I only used the CB for group riding - don't know how far they reached and only listened to CD's.

 

[screwball]

Put the 'shorties' on both the '11 and '13 when I parked too close to the garage door and broke 1 on each bike. Can't hear any difference from the long ones. Like others above, usually listen to CD's or XM most of the time. The CB is good for at least a mile, we don't use it to "10-4 good buddy", only to keep in touch with the others riding in our group. The shorties do look better
Good Luck

 

[Lizard]

Ok, after seeing all the replies saying go with the shorties, I have to chime in. Assuming you never use your CB, shorties are fine. You WILL have decreased reception on all bands (except XM if equipped), but depending on how you use the radio, that may not matter. The CB is a different matter. An antenna and CB should be matched together. Back in the 70's when CB's were big, I used to install them, now I work on electronic equipment of all types. If you just arbitrarily change to a shorty, you run the risk of high VSWR, basically RF feeding back into the radio. This can and does eventually blow the finals out of the radio, which is quite expensive to repair. Now if you never use the radio to transmit, no worries. If you get on the radio and talk 10 seconds every 2 weeks, again, no problem. If you get on there and hold conversations.....worries. To ensure the antenna is a good one, you must use an SWR meter to check it. Regardless, shorter antenna means shorter range.

My stock antenna from Harley had a bad match. It was over 2:1 at it's best spot, and over 5:1 at the worst. That means, at the best spot in the range, 1/2 the power was feeding back into itself. I replaced the antenna with a spare I had, and it had a good match....1.5:1 at the worst spot.

 

[GARYD]

Lizard, I always wondered about all these shortie antennas everyone is selling with no regard to any readjustments.
I do remember back in the day when you had to use a SWR to check your antenna. I didn't have one so I took it to an actual CB Radio Store - they were everywhere. :laugh:
I had a CB from Radio Shack that looked like a telephone. Still have it in the garage - tried it a month ago - didn't work. The looks I got when I used it was priceless.

 

[woodmnctry]

Ok, after seeing all the replies saying go with the shorties, I have to chime in. Assuming you never use your CB, shorties are fine. You WILL have decreased reception on all bands (except XM if equipped), but depending on how you use the radio, that may not matter. The CB is a different matter. An antenna and CB should be matched together. Back in the 70's when CB's were big, I used to install them, now I work on electronic equipment of all types. If you just arbitrarily change to a shorty, you run the risk of high VSWR, basically RF feeding back into the radio. This can and does eventually blow the finals out of the radio, which is quite expensive to repair. Now if you never use the radio to transmit, no worries. If you get on the radio and talk 10 seconds every 2 weeks, again, no problem. If you get on there and hold conversations.....worries. To ensure the antenna is a good one, you must use an SWR meter to check it. Regardless, shorter antenna means shorter range.

My stock antenna from Harley had a bad match. It was over 2:1 at it's best spot, and over 5:1 at the worst. That means, at the best spot in the range, 1/2 the power was feeding back into itself. I replaced the antenna with a spare I had, and it had a good match....1.5:1 at the worst spot.

Well that pretty much took the fun out of this part of the project :xzqxz:

 

[Sloufoot]

Ok, after seeing all the replies saying go with the shorties, I have to chime in. Assuming you never use your CB, shorties are fine. You WILL have decreased reception on all bands (except XM if equipped), but depending on how you use the radio, that may not matter. The CB is a different matter. An antenna and CB should be matched together. Back in the 70's when CB's were big, I used to install them, now I work on electronic equipment of all types. If you just arbitrarily change to a shorty, you run the risk of high VSWR, basically RF feeding back into the radio. This can and does eventually blow the finals out of the radio, which is quite expensive to repair. Now if you never use the radio to transmit, no worries. If you get on the radio and talk 10 seconds every 2 weeks, again, no problem. If you get on there and hold conversations.....worries. To ensure the antenna is a good one, you must use an SWR meter to check it. Regardless, shorter antenna means shorter range.

My stock antenna from Harley had a bad match. It was over 2:1 at it's best spot, and over 5:1 at the worst. That means, at the best spot in the range, 1/2 the power was feeding back into itself. I replaced the antenna with a spare I had, and it had a good match....1.5:1 at the worst spot.

I thought about that also, but I can't find a cable that will match with the one on the Harley. Not an adapter for the antenna into the meter. Any ideas?

 

[Sloufoot]

--

 

[Trent]

The short antennas that HD sells work the same as the long ones that come from the factory. The mistake that guys make is installing the radio antenna on the CB post, and the CB antenna on the radio post. They are two differently made antennas and if you mix them up, they will not work correctly. It tells you on the package and I think on the side of the antenna which one is which. Just make sure they are on the correct side and they will work just fine. They are one of the first things I replaced on mine 34k ago and they still work great. They look better and don't bounce all over and poke out eyes like the original ones. Just do it.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

The short antennas that HD sells work the same as the long ones that come from the factory.

Do not agree. Very well explained in a prior post. Especially for the CB antenna. Even the long antennas need to be matched to the radio via use of a SWR meter. I usually tune mine and others to the lowest ratio possible on the channel each person uses the most. The rest will not be much different.
The best one can hope for using a CB on a motorcycle(not much ground plane) is TX of a couple miles during "noise" time(usually after noon) to maybe 5 miles during "quiet" times(usually after sun set). You will also receive from greater distances than you can transmit. Stronger radios with better antennas and even stronger home units.
Your FM range will also suffer w/shorter antennas.
Neither CB nor AM/FM, long or short antennas fair to well in mountainous areas!
I also sold and installed CB's back in the day. Have been tuning SWR on various vehicles for many people since that time.
I remember my dealer telling me "Yes, we set the SWR when we install the CB/antenna on the GoldWings". When I got it home and checked it myself it had one of the highest SWR's I'd ever seen!!!!!! Means they "hooked" it up and never checked anything!!

 

[Trent]

Do not agree. Very well explained in a prior post. Especially for the CB antenna. Even the long antennas need to be matched to the radio via use of a SWR meter. I usually tune mine and others to the lowest ratio possible on the channel each person uses the most. The rest will not be much different.
The best one can hope for using a CB on a motorcycle(not much ground plane) is TX of a couple miles during "noise" time(usually after noon) to maybe 5 miles during "quiet" times(usually after sun set). You will also receive from greater distances than you can transmit. Stronger radios with better antennas and even stronger home units.
Your FM range will also suffer w/shorter antennas.
Neither CB nor AM/FM, long or short antennas fair to well in mountainous areas!
I also sold and installed CB's back in the day. Have been tuning SWR on various vehicles for many people since that time.
I remember my dealer telling me "Yes, we set the SWR when we install the CB/antenna on the GoldWings". When I got it home and checked it myself it had one of the highest SWR's I'd ever seen!!!!!! Means they "hooked" it up and never checked anything!!

Yes, I read that, and you are correct. I remember back in the CB good buddy days of doing all that adjustment stuff. I honestly just don't know any riders that I associate with that bother to do that anymore. They just use them how they are and everybody's seem to work fine. I have a feeling if someone took their bike in to my dealer and told them they wanted the antennas metered, they would get a blank stare and a "huh?"