The Process
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Final Preparations

  1. Your files are actually ready to go and configured in an MP3 format.  I don't expect to explain how to obtain, get access to or convert an MP3 music file even though I will provide some information about this subject.
  2. Your files are organized into a series of files and folders.
  3. Your files may or may not have a specific naming convention.  While this is an unnecessary aspect of this project in it's entirety, it is extremely helpful that you consider a specific file naming convention.
  4. The software you downloaded is working fine.
  5. Your computer hardware is working fine.
  6. You have access to the Harley Davidson and the Harman Kardon radio interface.

Motorcycle Radio Prep

Since my FLHX is relatively new, I know the default firmware for my radio is good.  In case your system is older, you will want to make sure the radio's firmware is up to date.  The OS / HW / SW / ID3 page has access to Harley Davidson's Advanced Audio System page with software update instructions.  If you use the Do-it-Yourself instructions page, Step 2, item #3 states that you need to burn the two files to a CD.  This CD is then used to update the firmware on the radio.

You may use the IMGBURN software to do this.  Even if you aren't going to do this, if you watch this quick video tutorial, you will see how to use the IMGBURN software effectively.  This video tutorial is hosted on YouTube.

Name and Tag Manipulation

So, this is the good stuff.  I have software that can capture a song from a streaming source.  I also have software that rips songs from CDs I own.  My files are set to encode at 112kb.  They may not be the absolute best, but it's good enough - especially when you are behind the bars of a motorcycle.

I manage my MP3 files at the filename level.  In other words, I make sure my songs are saved in the following format...

   ARTIST - TITLE.MP3

I always  make sure that there are always three characters in between the artist text and title text for each of my MP3 files...
  1. A space
  2. A hyphen
  3. A space

This way, my filenames are padded with tags that I will populate with my ID3 Tag editing software.

Ultimately, you want to use the MP3TAG program to manipulate the ID3 tag contents versions.  In order to get your radio display to show you the Song Title on top and the Artist Name (temporarily) on the bottom, you will feed the artist text into the %title% tag and the title text in the %artist% tag.  This video walks you through the entire process of managing the MP3 files and the associated ID3 tags.

Data CD Burn Process

The last step of the process is to use the IMGBURN application to create the data CD that will hold your MP3 files.  With the proper tuning mentioned above, you will be able to play these songs on your stock Harman Kardon radio unit and see the title and artist when the song is initially selected and will continue to show the name of the song on the top part of the display for the duration of the song.
This video (hosted on YouTube) walks you through these final steps to make your data CD.