[BrownXC13]

Ive been wanting to put speakers in my lids for a while and decided to make it into a project, buying the parts one at a time over time, but I had an idea pop in my head and was wondering if anyone has done it. The idea: is to buy flush mount 6x9 speaker adapters and cutting out the holes in my lids (only downside side, if I mess up then I’m down lids aka riding). Has anyone else took this upon themselves and cut their own holes or taking it to someone (professional) to cut and do the body work for them. Pictures and ideas or advise would help. Thanks for your time and input

 

[slickvic]

Check out Vtwin audio’s kit for bad lids.

 

[Borinquen Veteran]

Ii just completed this project myself. I cut the holes with a dremel and mounted 6.5 speakers on a speaker ring through the inside of the lid with a 5.25 cover on the outside. I'll pay the materials i used and pictures soon.

 

[Borinquen Veteran]

View attachment 508191 View attachment 508193 View attachment 508195 I used JB Plastic weld Putty to bond the speaker rings to the lid. Its easy to use and strong. You can mold it easily, can be sanded, painted, can be drilled into to further support the screws you put in for added strength. I used 5.25 speaker covers because they fit right in between the lid angles perfectly, they bend easier without snapping ( this is highly dependent on the cover used), they will bolt onto the lid, into the lid and Plastic weld putty material. The covers do not bolt onto the speaker mount ring. The first part of the process is measuring the interior diameter of he cover (not the speaker or speaker mount ring) and tracing it inside the lid. You want to use the speaker cover to trace your cut not the speaker mount because you want you hole slightly smaller so that the bolts used and the plastic weld have more surface to bond to. I used a dremel tool with a guide attachment. if you want to use a dremel i can get you the part numbers for the attachments and bits i used. sand the area inside the lide, the speaker mounts both inside and around with 60 grit. This will allow more adhesion between the lid and Plastic Weld putty.

 

[Borinquen Veteran]

Before I secured the speaker ring to the lid I danded/grinded the ring to somewhat counter the interior of the lid. It doesnt have to be perfect since you will bead up a thick amount of plastic weld to each lid and mount the ring to it later. I measured bolts that I mounted in the speaker ring wit lock washers and nuts, epoxied them to further secure them and prevent them from loosening. That bolt will secure the speaker with another lockring and a nut. Put enough plastic weld putty so that its puched into every crevice and also onto the interior and exterior of the ring. Mold the putty onto the side of the ring. View attachment 508197 View attachment 508201 View attachment 508203 View attachment 508205

 

[Borinquen Veteran]

View attachment 508207 View attachment 508209 View attachment 508211 more pics

 

[13SicVic]

A pic of the outside with the bag closed would be cool too when you get a chance.

 

[Borinquen Veteran]

Allow the lids to cure about 2 days, then mount the speakers. Once the Putty is dry you can make the speaker cover lid holes fro the screw that will hold the lid. Pay special attention to the rubber around the speaker rubber edge cone and make sure that it doesn't touch the ring otherwise you'll have to grind it some more. Here are pics of the finished product. I already had the speakers from a previous project so I reused them. I have a tour pak with 2 speakers in it so I jumped the connections from there. My amp goes down to 2 ohms so I wired 2 - 4 ohm speakers per rear channel which dropped it down to 2 ohms confirmed by my multimeter. I can also send you pictures of the wiring if you want to see what I did. The install turned out great considering I spent less than $100 in parts. I used up about 8 of the JB Plastic Weld Putty tubes. I used around 3- 3.5 tubes per speaker on the initial placement of the ring. Once it dried I further touched up and reinforced the mounts and exposed screws with some more. All thats left is to sand the putty smooth and paint it. You can only see it from the inside of the lid. Its barely noticible from the outside. The little bit of exposed putting will dissapear once I paint it black. The liquid JB Weld Epoxy was used to dab them on the screws I used for the speaker mounting ring so that they will not loosen. View attachment 508213 View attachment 508215 View attachment 508217

 

[BrownXC13]

Allow the lids to cure about 2 days, then mount the speakers. Once the Putty is dry you can make the speaker cover lid holes fro the screw that will hold the lid. Pay special attention to the rubber around the speaker rubber edge cone and make sure that it doesn't touch the ring otherwise you'll have to grind it some more. Here are pics of the finished product. I already had the speakers from a previous project so I reused them. I have a tour pak with 2 speakers in it so I jumped the connections from there. My amp goes down to 2 ohms so I wired 2 - 4 ohm speakers per rear channel which dropped it down to 2 ohms confirmed by my multimeter. I can also send you pictures of the wiring if you want to see what I did. The install turned out great considering I spent less than $100 in parts. I used up about 8 of the JB Plastic Weld Putty tubes. I used around 3- 3.5 tubes per speaker on the initial placement of the ring. Once it dried I further touched up and reinforced the mounts and exposed screws with some more. All thats left is to sand the putty smooth and paint it. You can only see it from the inside of the lid. Its barely noticible from the outside. The little bit of exposed putting will dissapear once I paint it black. The liquid JB Weld Epoxy was used to dab them on the screws I used for the speaker mounting ring so that they will not loosen. View attachment 508213 View attachment 508215 View attachment 508217

So you didn't mount the speaker to the lid, just the speaker ring adapter? And with the JB Weld and Plastic Weld its strong enough?? I was thinking about doing something kind of like that, but i was gonna mount the speaker on the outside and possibly add a speaker grill over that. I am going to get the saddlebag covers from victorythings.com so all of my work is going to be covered up regardless. I was gonna use the adapter to mount on the inside to give it more strength (if that makes sense) it does in my head. So the only thing i would have to use putty for would be the inside to try and make it watertight. That way I'm able to use the adapter a guide cutting guide for the size of the whole. And what is the filter under the seat for? is that the case breather? or whatever they call it...

 

[Borinquen Veteran]

The problem with mounting the speaker on top of the lid is that the lid is curved. The speaker isn't curved and will not conform to the lid. You would need another speaker ring to shave it to conform to the lids curve. As for the putty I made a test batch of JB Plastic Weld puddy on the lid where i was going to cut with another sturdy piece of plastic cooking straight out. I let it dry for 12 hours. I couldn't pull the plastic apart. I even tried using a flat head screw driver tip leverage and pry it. I couldn't break the bond. Because the speaker ring is hollow the putty gets in the ring and around the ring. Yes the filter is for the crank case breather. I have it bypassed so that i can prevent oil from getting into the throttle body.

 

[BrownXC13]

The problem with mounting the speaker on top of the lid is that the lid is curved. The speaker isn't curved and will not conform to the lid. You would need another speaker ring to shave it to conform to the lids curve. As for the putty I made a test batch of JB Plastic Weld puddy on the lid where i was going to cut with another sturdy piece of plastic cooking straight out. I let it dry for 12 hours. I couldn't pull the plastic apart. I even tried using a flat head screw driver tip leverage and pry it. I couldn't break the bond. Because the speaker ring is hollow the putty gets in the ring and around the ring. Yes the filter is for the crank case breather. I have it bypassed so that i can prevent oil from getting into the throttle body.

Gotcha that makes sense, didn't think that far ahead yet, im kind of a figure it out as you go guy lol...Im gonna have to find some 6x9 speaker adapters like you used to do mine, i like it though it looks good, especially with the speaker grills on there it covers up the "imperfections". I just have to find a long weekend that I can do this on, so i have enough time for the bond to set up. I appreciate the info and pictures, helps out a lot. To bad you didn't live closer, to where you could help me out.
Does the case breather help the bike run any better? or is it just to not get the oil in the throttle body? How did you put that on?

 

[Borinquen Veteran]

I cut the crank case breather hose and bought a k&n filter on Amazon. I secured the hose with a zip tie.