Bob, Wouldn't I need the harness to reinstall in the new Spyder?
I hate leaving all the accessories I paid for in the bike when they don't give me anything for it on the trade. I can reuse or sell them.
You can use the old entertainment harness on the new bike for the CB. You will, however, have to get a new driver headset harness. The old one is about 18" long and plugs into a connector on the left side near the motor. The new one has a male (I think it is) connector instead of a female like the old and is about 3' long and plugs in under the passenger seat. If you're really handy you can make an adapter cable to use the old harness, or modify the old one. The CB radio itself should work OK but I would suggest you get a Firestik no ground plane antenna and not use the OEM one. I wrote quite a bit about CB radio issues last spring. If you can't find the threads let me know and I'll search for them.
If you're into group riding with a bunch of others who use CBs then you'll want to stick with a CB, either the OEM one or a handheld, for group communication. Group communication via BT still doesn't cut it compared to CB, IMO.
My suggestion would be to go ahead and transfer the CB and GPS to your new machine. If it turns out they don't work like you want, then consider moving to Bluetooth. I'm not much of a BT fan yet, but it sounds like the systems are pretty decent nowadays. The downside, such as it is with CB and BT is you will have to use a handheld CB. That will be a bit of clunky hanger on up in the cockpit area but if you can tolerate that then no problem. I don't know what the range of a handheld is compared to the on board unit, but an NGP antenna will help the OEM CB have better range. You will have a different PTT button for the handheld mounted on the handlebar. No one has come up with a solution yet to use the bike PTT button for a handheld.
You may have to do some cutting and splicing to use the old GPS harness on the new bike. I believe the power cable configuration has changed but the audio cable is the same.
There is also a kit to modify the installation configuration of the CB to the newer bikes. You should still be able to order it. BRP sells them cheap, like for a buck or so. I can get the part number for you if you need it.
In summary, you can use the old CB but the entertainment harness has changed, the driver headset harness has changed, the mounting of the CB has changed.
