Harley Bagger Audio for San Gabriel

We are not in San Gabriel. AMS Pods is the Harley bagger-audio side of Audio MotorSports, 22025 S Avalon Blvd Ste A, CA 90745. From San Gabriel take Valley Boulevard or San Gabriel Boulevard to the 10 west, then the 710 south — 20.4 miles, thirty-five to forty minutes. Street Glide, Road Glide and Road King, built around the Hertz Neo speaker and a crash-bar bracket that comes with the pods.

San Gabriel is 20.4 miles from the Avalon pin. Valley Boulevard or San Gabriel Boulevard toward the 10 west, then the 710 south toward Avalon. Thirty-five to forty minutes on a bagger. The alternate is Las Tunas Drive west to the 710 south, then Avalon. Ride in or trailer in — either is normal at this distance. Maps pin 22025 S Avalon Blvd Ste A, CA 90745.

San Gabriel riding splits cleanly in two. North of town, Angeles Crest and the Mount Wilson road are close enough to be an ordinary Saturday, which means sustained climbing, cold air coming down off the range and a full helmet on for hours. South of town, the 710 is a freight corridor where a bagger sits in the noise of trucks for the whole run. Those are two of the loudest environments a motorcycle audio system can be asked to work in, and they are loud in completely different ways — one is wind against the helmet at a constant speed, the other is low-frequency truck noise that masks everything underneath it. A system tuned for one is usually wrong for the other.

AMS Pods start at $649 a pair. Chrome or gloss, crash-bar bracket and screws included, built to order in-house, about three weeks. Nothing gets invented beyond $649 a pair — the rest of a build is quoted on your bike at the counter, because what a Street Glide needs and what a Road King needs are not the same job. A full bagger build is usually up to about ten business days in the shop.

Richard makes them in Carson, in-house since 2003 and in the trade since 1998. Hertz Neo goes inside — a small neodymium magnet, weatherproof, and clear at volume rather than merely loud. The clarity is what actually survives both of the San Gabriel conditions: wind masks the top end, and truck noise masks the bottom, and a speaker that stays composed in the middle keeps working through either. Street Glide and Road Glide take a fairing amplifier and a tank pull. On a Road King the pods carry the job and the amplifier lives in a bag on a carpeted board with an AMS quick disconnect, so the bag still comes off in seconds.

Street Glide, Road Glide and Road King. Harley radios in the shop are Diamond Audio, plus Sony and Soundstream. If your bike does both the Crest and the 710 regularly, say so at the counter — the setup gets biased toward mid-range clarity rather than toward peak output, because peak output is what riders reach for when clarity is missing and it does not solve the problem. If the bags are doing bass as well, that is cut lids, concave drilling, carpeted spacers, inverted speakers, soldered quick disconnects and lock ties.

The usual reaction to either kind of noise is to buy more power, and it does not work for the same reason in both cases. Wind noise and truck noise are broadband — they raise the floor everywhere — so raising your own level raises the music and the distortion together and the ratio between them barely moves. What changes the ratio is putting the speaker closer to your ear, which is a geometry fix rather than a power fix. A pod on the crash bar is perhaps three feet from your head where a fairing speaker is five or six, and that difference is worth more than doubling the amplifier.

Music you can still follow climbing the Crest with a full helmet on, and music that survives a run down the 710 next to a truck. Mid-range clarity rather than peak volume. Weatherproof pods that handle cold mountain air and valley heat equally. Nothing showing along the frame. Bags that come off in seconds. And a finish — chrome or gloss — that stands up to being looked at when the bike is parked on Valley Boulevard.

Valley or San Gabriel Boulevard to the 10 west, then the 710 south — 20.4 miles, thirty-five to forty minutes. AMS Pods from $649 a pair, chrome or gloss, bracket and screws included, about three weeks built to order. Clarity beats power in both of the conditions you ride in.

Same bay, same trip. Car audio is LA Car Beats at lacarbeats.com — a Lexus with factory premium audio keeps its factory screen. Window tint is LA Car Tint at lacartint.com — 3M Authorized Dealer, hand-cut on a glass board, valley heat with no coastal break. Vehicle security is LA Car Alarm at lacaralarm.com — keyless entry and relay theft on newer German sedans.

Monday through Saturday, 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM. Sunday closed, walk-ins welcome. Pods are about three weeks built to order, so the first visit is a measurement and a conversation rather than an install. Nick writes the quote, Zack runs the floor. A Payment Plan is available at the counter once the bike is quoted. Google shows 4.8 from 654 reviews.

If you ride the Crest one weekend and the 710 the next out of San Gabriel, more power will not fix either — closing the distance to your ear will. Call or text (310) 513-8800 and ask for Nick. 22025 S Avalon Blvd Ste A, CA 90745.