 or
some riders, the sound of a V-twin’s throbbing exhaust and the
rush of the wind are all the music they need out on the road. For others,
however, there’s nothing like a musical soundtrack for the ride–a
little Steppenwolf, for example, or some Garth Brooks, or even National
Public Radio. But the problem isn’t so much what to listen to
as it is how to bring the tunes along for the ride.
There are kits that
mount bulky car stereos to your bike, but they’re
so big and clunky that you won’t want to look at your bike, much
less listen to it. What’s really needed is a compact, bolt-on
sound system for motorcycles that doesn’t look like a jukebox
bolted to the handlebar. Finally someone makes just such a system–2
Wheel Tunes.
Ed Files started 2 Wheel Tunes after working
in the car audio electronics business for 16 years. A year and a half
ago he bought his first Harley, and it was only natural to start thinking
about ways to apply his experience to “tuning” it up. Edison would be proud of the early prototype
sound system Files cobbled up. “I took a couple of Evian bottles
and cut them in half so they looked like little spouts,” he says, “and
I glued some speakers into them, cut some holes in the bottom, and
hooked them up to a radio.” Eight months later, “We had
the world’s first two-inch aluminum dynamic driver that put out
50 watts x 2.”
But the
job wasn’t done yet, not by a long shot. “The
biggest problem in this venture was to find the ‘sweet spot’ of
the average mp3 player,” Files says. “In the mp3 industry
what you have to look out for is the millivolt output. The Apple
iPod has a 20-25-millivolt output, so when you plug it into your
2 Wheel Tunes amplifier, it’s going to have a loud, clean sound.
But if you buy an off brand $29.99 mp3 player, the millivolt
output of that is not as good. So I took my amplifier and built a
pre-amp into it to give it that additional audio push.”
Next
came the problem of mounting the system not just to Files’ own
Harley, but to as many bikes as possible. “When I invent things,” Files
says, “I try to find the most universal thing that every bike
has to have.” What do all street bikes have in common? Mirrors,
almost all of which are mounted to the handlebar control modules.
Using that as a starting point, Files developed a mounting bracket. “Now
I have two sets, a Harley set and a metric set, and they fit almost
every bike in the country.”
 The
2 Wheel Tunes sound system is not only ingenious, but it looks great
on the bike too! It’s available in either chrome or powder coat
to suit the customer’s preference.
The
universal 2 Wheel Tunes kit comes with two speakers, a universal mount,
an amplifier and all the hardware needed to install the system.
The
key to the 2 Wheel Tunes system’s great sound is a trade
secret, but Files will say this much. “There are companies that
go out and buy these big lamp housings and put Pioneer or Kenwood speakers
in them and try to amp them up.” But this parts-bin approach
to assembling a music system doesn’t often work as well as Files’ method,
which is to start from scratch and make every part so it complements
every other part. “We manufacture the speakers, the amplifier,
and the product itself around a focused idea. We call it geometrical
tolerancing, the idea being that everything works around a constant.”
An
important part of the system is the UV- and water-resistant speakers,
or as Files calls them, directional drivers. “Our basic speaker
grill has over 200 perforated holes. The speaker pushes the sound wave
toward the center channel of the tank.” That concentration of
sound makes it possible to get great clarity even at highway speeds. “I
invented the system as a boulevard cruiser, for 30, 40 mph riding around
town. But I have Vance & Hines Long Shots with no baffles on
my own Harley, and I can hear it fine at 65 mph.”
The
universal 2 Wheel Tunes sound system kit comes in chrome or powder
coat, and contains two speakers, a universal mount that attaches
to any handlebar, an amplifier, and all the hardware you need to
install it on virtually any motorcycle–Harley
brackets, metric brackets, hook-and-loop, connectors, T-taps, wire
ties, the works. All the customer needs to add is an mp3 player,
iPod, or XM radio.
The
basic kit comes with perforated speaker grills, but you can upgrade
to grills with different designs–skulls, flames, tribal designs,
and many more–that replace the perforated grills in seconds.
2 Wheel Tunes even makes turn signal lenses that match its speaker
grills. “We manufactured the same speaker grill that’s
actually a turn signal grill so you can pop off the Harley lens,
pop on our grill, and have a decorative chrome turn signal grill
that matches the speaker grill.”
Ed
Files started out wanting better music on his own bike, and wound
up creating a sound system that works on just about any bike, ATV,
or quadrunner, for that matter. As a result you can have your rock,
your country, or your classical music whenever you ride. And 2 Wheel
Tunes makes sweet music in dealer parts departments too–the
ringing of the cash register. Contact your Drag Specialties rep
for more information.  |
