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Trunk mounted antenna kit

7K views 36 replies 14 participants last post by  Springfield Central 
Indian has come out with a trunk mounted relocation kit for the stock antenna (2889596). Not surprisingly it requires a new liner (2889606). When I first heard of this I checked it out and there were no instructions to look at beforehand. They are there now. I'm really thinking of getting this but then I had a thought.....what about a cover? Is the antenna movable to a horizontal position?

The instructions aren't clear on that aspect. I'm thinking worst case I could do one of two things. One, just unscrew the antenna before putting the cover on or two, make a hole in the cover and use a metal grommet to neaten it up.

Indian says it is not compatible with the following covers: 2884460, 2883889, and 2884459. Two of those covers are for the Challenger and the other is universal. I would think though, that any cover on the trunk would be 'incompatible' with the antenna being on the trunk.

Indian isn't saying anything about reception but I would doubt any improvement in that.

Trunk Trunk Mounted Antenna | Indian Motorcycle
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I had dual trunk mounted antennas on a previous bike.Pain in the a$$ to live with.
I am thinking of adding this unit or one like it and get rid of that funky muffler bracket mount and long cable.These fit in the fairing and out of site.Installs right at the radio.Pretty cool.Sorry to hijack the thread but I think this is good info for a few of us.
Regards,TK
 
It's ugly!
Never heard back from the dealer. That might be a miscommunication on my part though. Never did get a chance to call them last week. Anyway, I was able to get the holes drilled using the provided ground plane. Used that for the drilling template. Drilled from the inside instead of drilling from the outside. In checking fitment of the new two piece case inserts (the side facing the seat is identical as far as I can see. Mine fit a bit better so I used mine instead of theirs.), I decided that the new one with the bump out fits way better than trying to use the original. With the antenna connected to the ground plane it pushes out the right top side enough that it shows a significant gap. Took the seat off to work with the wiring. Found the antenna connector and disconnected the original wiring to the lower right side of the bike. I added the extension antenna wire to the seat itself so it stays with the seat when it comes off. Just another wire to disconnect when removing the seat. I will say though, that the connector was a bugger to disconnect... I'll worry about that the next time I remove the seat. Everything hooked up ok and I tested the reception in the garage. It picked up ok. Will have to get out on the road to know for sure if there are any significant improvements.

Had a :oops: DOH! moment after it was done. Forgot I left the antenna screwed in and it snapped off like a dry twig when the garage came down...sigh. Interesting observation between the new antenna compared to the old. The new antenna is about a 1/3 less tall than the original. I thought that it had to be an even number like 50% or 25% in order to keep the same gain as the original length. One of two things... 1, The old antenna was not the correct length to begin with. 2, Indian made up the length just because. Thankfully the old antenna is the same mount so I can use that until the replacement gets here. Note to everyone, this is not a foldable antenna. It's fixed position! I've been looking for an attachment to the mount to make it foldable but no luck yet. So someone using a cover will either have to unscrew it each time or make a hole in the cover and use a metal or plastic grommet to allow for it.

Side note. While I had the seat off I decided to clean and tighten the battery terminals. Both terminals had this gunky substance on them which I cleaned off. The positive wire had some green crusty on it which I did clean off. It wasn't a lot but it did raise an eyebrow. The ground connection to the frame was different from what I remembered on my 16. It is now a major grounding connection point in addition to the actual ground wire. There are two additional eyelets with multiple chassis ground wires from who knows where. At least you can get to them easily enough if you need to trouble shoot anything. The real kicker to this is the physical connection to the frame. I think it was just a bolt that screwed in from the inside using internal threads on my 16. Now its a cap screw with a nut to tighten it up. I found this out when the nut wouldn't come loose. The cap screw is an antitheft type....WTF!!!! Why, Indian, why???? Couldn't find my antitheft screw kit but I eventually got it out and replaced with an exact stainless cap screw without antitheft... Geez. How many thieves are going after ground cables?
gunky:dielectric grease
 
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