he first thing most Harley riders do is bolt on a new set of pipes. They’ll switch from those whisper-quiet factory originals to a louder, free-flowing exhaust. When that change is happening on a Harley with a factory radio the very next step should be a set of Hogtunes speakers. Loud pipes need matching speakers if there’s to be any hope of hearing that radio again. Hogtunes speakers are the answer.      At $99.95 a pair they’re direct, drop-in replacements for the factory speakers and they belong right up on the counter along with any new exhaust system. Consider it part of the package.
     Hogtunes speakers were born of necessity. Mike “Pez” Pesdirz is a rider with over 20 years experience in the Mobile Audio & Home Theater industry. He’s worked with the Canadian leg of a major U.S. car audio brand for 15 years and still has several home theater products he helped design sold across North America. “We’re an audio company in the bike business,” he says, “not a bike company trying to be in the audio business.” Faced with the need for better audio on his own motorcycle he searched the speaker industry for something louder and came up empty handed. All the premium automotive speakers he tried didn’t do the job on a motorcycle. “The only real cure,” Pez says, “was to design and build a new speaker from scratch, specifically for this application.” That’s Hogtunes, offering lots more volume and a better bass and better treble than the stock speakers could ever muster. It’s all been custom sound tailored to cut through a motorcycle’s exhaust tone and the wind noise. With no changes to the factory radio Hogtunes speakers make that radio much easier to hear at highway speeds.
     The Hogtunes improvement is an easy installation. The speakers are a perfect, direct replacement fit and come with the same connectors as the speakers they replace. Riders get to keep their factory radio, put in the Hogtunes and immediately hear the improvement–even over their new, loud pipes. Hogtunes speakers are a simple change that works.
     All of the Hogtunes speakers are in stock at Drag Specialties and there are replacement speakers for all the Harley models needing them. The Hogtunes #0914 front speakers (4405-0032) and #1120 rear speakers (4405- 0078) fit all the 1998 through 2005 bikes. For the 2006 and later Harley-Davidsons with the “Advanced Audio” system and its 2-Ohm factory speakers there’s the Hogtunes #0902-AA fronts (4405-0093) and the #1017-AA rears (4405-0094). Hogtunes has even color-coded those late-model speakers to match the silver cone of the Harley-Davidson speaker from 2006 on. Besides making the replacement look right that color coding makes it easy to pick the right speakers for the right bike, early model or late.
     “If there’s one message that needs to get out,” Pez says, “it’s that riders need to look at their stock speakers like they looked at their stock exhausts. They’re quiet and they hinder performance.” Changing to Hogtunes lets a Harley radio play louder and sound better. Most customers change their exhausts. They need to think about changing their speakers, too. Like the Hogtunes ads say, “Loud pipes need louder speakers.” Here they are, and with the holiday season approaching it’s not a bad idea to keep a few pairs around. They make great gifts and at $99.95 it’s almost an impulse buy for someone looking to add something to his bike over the winter. Drag Specialties has Hogtunes in stock now.