BRP Satellite Radio Kit Installation / Entertainment Harness Questions

[SpyderGTL]

My wife has a 2011 RT Limited. I could have sworn that it came with the entertainment harness. Does anyone happen to know if the 2011 Limited came with the entertainment harness as standard equipment?

I got her the BRP satellite radio kit for Christmas. The installation was straight forward and everything went fine until the last step - plugging the satellite unit into the harness. Right where you'd expect there to be a harness connector to plug in the satellite radio connector, there is a harness connector, but it doesn't match the satellite radio connector. (The bike's harness connector appears to be plugged into a connector cap of sorts...)

The obvious questions are: 1) do I need to get the entertainment harness? 2) if so, any idea what the existing connector is for? See the pictures below...

Satellite radio connector and harness connector cap mounted to bike.



This is the bike's harness that plugs into the "cap" (middle left of the picture).


The last picture shows the real connector from the bike's harness connector on the right and the satellite radio's connector on the left.


One more piece of data... There is only one harness plugged into the back of the radio. The second connector has the plastic cap over it. Does that indicate that the entertainment harness is not present?

Thanks for the help!

 

[stevedfive]

It does NOT come with the entertainment harness, you have to purchase it separately. The entertainment harness has always been a separate item to purchase. The Entertainment Harness is absolutely needed for the BRP Satellite XM radio and the BRP CB Intercom Communications System to connect to the bikes radio system. There are several different Entertainment Harness part numbers so make sure you purchase the correct one for your model year bike.

 

[billybovine]

The entertainment harness is what plugs into the second connector on the radio so you obviously do not have the entertainment harness. Sorry.

 

[SpyderGTL]

Shopping for a harness

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I'll be shopping for the entertainment harness tomorrow. I figured that might be the case, but was surprised to see a harness connector right where one needed to be.

 

[billybovine]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I'll be shopping for the entertainment harness tomorrow. I figured that might be the case, but was surprised to see a harness connector right where one needed to be.

That connector I think is for the GPS harness. Finless was/is I think, working on homemade harness for this. Maybe send him a PM a see if he has a lower priced option to the entertainment harness.

 

[finless]

I am not making a alternate ENT harness. Yes the GPS connector is in every RT and that is what is shown in the pictures. I do show a video to make your own GPS cable.

FYI to the OP. The ENT harness is not easy to install. You have to remove the entire rear end of the spyder.

Bob

 

[SpyderGTL]

Tell me about it! At least I learned how to take off the back end of the RT! The downside was that the cable that I had to plug into the passenger Comms plug didn't seem to be getting the signal to the SM10. Will have to troubleshoot that tomorrow and if that works, relocate it under the Tupperware and run the cord end into the trunk.

 

[SpyderGTL]

So it looks like I got a bad entertainment harness, relative to the additional communications pigtail. The harness works fine for the satellite radio - the satellite radio plays just fine through the speakers. But plugging in the Sena 7 Pin to 3.5 mm cable into the added passenger communications port does nothing - no line input audio to the SM10. I know the Sena 7-pin DIN cable works, as I checked it with an ohm meter and I was able to tap off of the left rear speaker leads and get the line audio signal through the cable to the SM10 and to the Sena headset. SM10 unit also works with the line audio input from my iPhone. Do you recommend that I try to build my own cable (or ask Bob to build one) and pull the audio off of one of the unused CB connectors instead? [edit to add the following question] Is there anything that needs to be done to activate the passenger communications port through the bike's audio system menu? I saw something regarding headset settings in the menu. Note that changing the headset setting in the menu didn't seem to make a difference, but I certa may not have had the right combination of settings.

 

[finless]

I cannot say if the Sena SM10 will work through the passenger wired helmet com jack. Also about the ENT harness. BRP has had at least 3 revisions to this cable. So for your 2014 you should have made sure you got the latest cable. It's quite possible the older cables wont work fully.

The way to hook your SM10 to the radio with the ENT harness is different than the basic BT cable for when you don't have an ENT harness.
If you want I can make you a cable but I will need the dead plug end off the ENT cable (the CB side) to do that.

Bob

 

[SpyderGTL]

I cannot say if the Sena SM10 will work through the passenger wired helmet com jack. Also about the ENT harness. BRP has had at least 3 revisions to this cable. So for your 2014 you should have made sure you got the latest cable. It's quite possible the older cables wont work fully.

The way to hook your SM10 to the radio with the ENT harness is different than the basic BT cable for when you don't have an ENT harness.
If you want I can make you a cable but I will need the dead plug end off the ENT cable (the CB side) to do that.

Bob

Thanks for the offer, Bob! I'll give it a go based on your wiring definition in your DIY cable thread. I'll see if I can get the connector pins locally, and if not, order them. If that doesn't work, then I'll be sending you some parts!

As far as the entertainment harness goes, this one has me a bit stumped. I've seen that there have been multiple part numbers for the harnesses, but I think they've all said that they're backwards compatible. (My wife's Spyder is a 2011) It works just fine for the satellite radio kit. Sena sells the 7-pin DIN cable for the Spyder (and two other bikes), and I know I got the right one based on it's pin outs. The one thing I haven't seen in any BRP literature is for this specific scenario, where you have the satellite radio and you want the bluetooth with the Sena SM10. BRP doesn't appear to sell the Sena 7-pin DIN cable, and it's not mentioned in either the satellite radio kit instructions or the entertainment harness kit. Strange... If anyone out there has installed both the satellite kit and the SM10, I'd love to hear how you got the audio signal to the SM10 without building your own cable!

 

[finless]

The Sena DIN cable is for bikes with wired helmet comm systems. I have not heard of anyone hooking a SM10 to the passenger comm wired helmet connector. I have heard that you can when connected to the driver comm connector. Alas, I have no working knowledge of this setup. So again I cannot help there.

Not trying to brag but when it comes to hooking a SM10 to the Spyder I am pretty much an expert on it now for the way BRP offers it.

BRP offers their SM10 kit which is over priced. In that kit they give you 2 cables.
1) A long cable that goes from the SM10 that is mounted in the Frunk and plugs into the ENT harness to one of the CB connectors.
2) A dongle cable that connects to the long cable and plugs directly into the second connector (RD0-2) on the radio. This is so if you do not have a ENT harness you can still get BT. This is what many refer to as the "dongle cable".

Now some more facts:

1) As you know the Sat radio and/or CB requires the ENT harness. This harness does 3 things:
a) Allows connection of the BRP XM radio to the input of the main radio.
b) Allows connection of the BRP CB to the main radio.
c) Provides the passenger WIRED helmet comm connection.
2) You can in fact have the BRP SAT radio (with ENT harness) and the Bluetooth cable with SM10. This is in BRP literature but not very well explained!
3) You cannot have CB and Sena SM10. The reason is if you have a ENT harness the BT cable plugs into one of the CB connectors on the ENT harness. So you cannot have both.
4) For full WIRED helmet comms you need - ENT Harness, Driver comm harness. The driver comm harness also enables the "push to talk" button through the main harness to the radio. Just a note, this could be WHY you cannot get audio out of the passenger harness jack as your still missing the other cable (driver) that tells the radio this is all connected! Just a guess though but this makes a little sense to me as to why your having nothing out the passenger comm jack.

Now just a word of caution about making your own cable using my post. The cable I show mostly in that thread is for the BT cable for when you do NOT have the ENT harness! That last few posts I made in there with pictures shows the wiring to make a BT cable for when you DO have the ENT harness. So be careful and make sure that if your going to make your own cable, you make the right one.

If you do want me to make you a cable (I do it for free just cover my own out of pocket costs), I will need the dummy end plug off your ENT harness on the CB side. I order the pins and use that dummy to make the full cable.

Hoping this is making sense so far?

Bob

 

[billybovine]

Before you abandon the Sena cable. Double check your audio settings. I think there is something in there for headset. If I remember correctly, (I don't always). Since the entertainment harness activates the passenger volume control. Make sure the passenger volume is not too low or muted.

 

[finless]

Before you abandon the Sena cable. Double check your audio settings. I think there is something in there for headset. If I remember correctly, (I don't always). Since the entertainment harness activates the passenger volume control. Make sure the passenger volume is not too low or muted.

Well the bottom line is having the SM10 connect through the passenger comm connector is not the best way.
Too many connectors, etc. Direct connect to the radio's output is really the best way.

Bob

 

[SpyderGTL]

Before you abandon the Sena cable. Double check your audio settings. I think there is something in there for headset. If I remember correctly, (I don't always). Since the entertainment harness activates the passenger volume control. Make sure the passenger volume is not too low or muted.

Before I tear the body panels off for the third time, I'll check the passenger audio volume. There are some headset setting options through the main display on radio, but I haven't seen any description of what those settings mean. I hadn't played with the passenger controls, either.

Bob - I agree that connecting through the passenger Comms connection isn't the most straight forward way to go, primarily since there's no "plug and play" connection approach to the SM10 in either the trunk or the frunk. It could be that BRP intends it to come off of the driver's Comms connection in order to make you buy another harness ang go to their preferred frunk location. I just haven't seen that wiring diagram written down anywhere. On the other hand, you theoretically wouldn't need the Comms connectors since you could assume at least one rider is using a Bluetooth headset (wouldn't need the SM10 otherwise).

In looking at the pictures of the two harnesses that come with the BRP dongle kit, any idea if the harness with the line audio connector and power connector plug into either the entertainment harness at one of the two CB connectors or the supplied harness that plugs into the radio where the entertainment harness plugs in? That may be their standard method when you do have the entertainment harness - plug the second harness into the CB connector and toss the short harness that plugs into the radio.

Thanks for for the reminder on using the CB connector. Do you know if it matters which one? I seem to recall that you had pics of both.

thanks for all the help and advise!!

 

[finless]

In looking at the pictures of the two harnesses that come with the BRP dongle kit, any idea if the harness with the line audio connector and power connector plug into either the entertainment harness at one of the two CB connectors or the supplied harness that plugs into the radio where the entertainment harness plugs in? That may be their standard method when you do have the entertainment harness - plug the second harness into the CB connector and toss the short harness that plugs into the radio.

Thanks for for the reminder on using the CB connector. Do you know if it matters which one? I seem to recall that you had pics of both.

thanks for all the help and advise!!

That's what I said. The BRP SM10 cable (long one) plugs directly into one of the CB connectors of the ENT harness. If you don't have the ENT harness then you connect the small dongle to the radio (RD0-2) and then the long cable plugs into that smaller cable. This is why there are the 2 cables in the BRP kit.

On the right side of the bike in front of the right saddle bag and up top near the passenger grip, there will be 3 connectors. One of them is not part of the ENT harness. This is the GPS connector and is on every RT. Then you will see 2 connectors snapped together. These are the CB connectors. One of them has a lot of yellow wires. You don't use that one for the BT cable. The other has more blue and grey wires. That's the one the BT cable connects to.

Picture below shows the back side of these plug.




FYI there are 2 mistakes in this pic. Top row far right pin should be labeled Pin 6 not pin 5.
Only wire on the bottom row should be labeled pin 5 not pin 4.




Bob

 

[Dgdecker]

2014 RTS GPS installation

That's what I said. The BRP SM10 cable (long one) plugs directly into one of the CB connectors of the ENT harness. If you don't have the ENT harness then you connect the small dongle to the radio (RD0-2) and then the long cable plugs into that smaller cable. This is why there are the 2 cables in the BRP kit.

On the right side of the bike in front of the right saddle bag and up top near the passenger grip, there will be 3 connectors. One of them is not part of the ENT harness. This is the GPS connector and is on every RT. Then you will see 2 connectors snapped together. These are the CB connectors. One of them has a lot of yellow wires. You don't use that one for the BT cable. The other has more blue and grey wires. That's the one the BT cable connects to.

Picture below shows the back side of these plug.

View attachment 100546


FYI there are 2 mistakes in this pic. Top row far right pin should be labeled Pin 6 not pin 5.
Only wire on the bottom row should be labeled pin 5 not pin 4.




Bob

Thanks for all of the great info. I am installing my Zumo 550 I've had for years on my 2014 RTS. I purchased the GPS harness kit 710002182 and can't find the mating connector near the radio. Does the 2014 use this harness? I do see the audio connector near the fuel tank.

 

[finless]

Thanks for all of the great info. I am installing my Zumo 550 I've had for years on my 2014 RTS. I purchased the GPS harness kit 710002182 and can't find the mating connector near the radio. Does the 2014 use this harness? I do see the audio connector near the fuel tank.

As Mr. Bovine stated. The 2014 comes with the cable. That cable connects to the connector where I stated. You have to remove the right side panel to get at that connector which is in front of the right saddle bag and up top near the passenger hand grip.

If you want to see where it is on my 2011, this post I show a video of making your own GPS cable and where the connector is.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...IY-GPS-mount-and-hookup-with-12V-outlet-video


But on your 2014 you do not have to do that because you have the audio and power connectors already at the gas tank.

Bob

 

[stevedfive]

The 2014 RT does not use the harness that comes with the GPS mount kit. Feel free to PM me and I will send you my phone number. I have installed a GPS on a 2010 and a 2014 RT.

 

[SpyderGTL]

Let There Be Music!

Finally got the line audio to the Sena SM10 in the trunk. I had to take a slightly different tack from adding wiring pins to the existing CB connector cap. Reason why is that the connector cap that came with the entertainment harness is covered with epoxy (see picture). I also didn't want to wait on a new connector to show up. Based on Bob's wiring information, I just cut the appropriate wires from the CB connector and spliced them to the line audio cable going to the SM10. Second pic is of the wiring connection for the line audio cable prior to getting everything covered up. All's well that ends well! Thanks for the help!!

 

[finless]

Finally got the line audio to the Sena SM10 in the trunk. I had to take a slightly different tack from adding wiring pins to the existing CB connector cap. Reason why is that the connector cap that came with the entertainment harness is covered with epoxy (see picture). I also didn't want to wait on a new connector to show up. Based on Bob's wiring information, I just cut the appropriate wires from the CB connector and spliced them to the line audio cable going to the SM10. Second pic is of the wiring connection for the line audio cable prior to getting everything covered up. All's well that ends well! Thanks for the help!!

Glad you got it but I have to say that sucks that BRP is now doing that!
When someone asks me to make them a cable, I ask them to remove that end plug and send it to me. Seems BRP is now doing this Epoxy thing to stop people from making cables! Or possibly to save money instead of paying for the rubber hole plugs. Either way this puts a damper on DIY!!!!

Can you tell if the epoxy is covering the green rubber hole plugs or are the plugs not there at all?

First time I have seen this but I also have not done a BT-ENT cable for a 2014 or the newest ENT harness.

So now I either have to go find that plug part on Mouser (shouldn't be too hard) or I wonder if you could tap out that epoxy blob using a small jewelers screw driver from the other side.

Thanks for the info.
Bob