Yes... use a USB 2.0 or higher flash drive...you can plug it in the front cubby or in the truck and it should play.

 

Thanks for the swift response.

How do you "play" the files on the thumb drive - is there an option in the menu to play them?

Do you happen to know what the limits on size of the drive are? For example, using a greater than 32GB USB drive through my Garmin 590LM used to be "problematic" not to mention so slow!

 

when you plug the usb in you will see usb in the menu for sources ie. fm sxm,usb, bluetooth. I do not recall how big a drive it will handle, I believe I'm using a 64Gb. I think it's possible that you get a better result when it comes to control using a compatible audio player. I just loaded music onto the thumbdrive and let it play all it will. If I select an album then it only wants to play that album and then waits for me to select another. The section in the owners manual is lengthy but should answer your questions about file sizes, drive sizes, number of files and subfiles. That's why I think it might be easier to plug in a compatible player. I don't happen to own one and don't want one enough to go buy one.

 

I have a couple of old iPods kicking around - I wonder if they are compatible? I shall have to find out. Worse case, I will do as you say and just let them play.

 

I just put all my music on my iPhone and play it from there.,.....I always get a 256GB phone so space isn't a concern for my 70GB music collection.
I did not have a lot of luck with using a USB flash drive......flakey at best for me. I tried several sizes and drives before I gave up on it.

Also, unless you add another USB port to the audio system, you use the only wired port for the USB flash drive so you can't have CarPlay at the same time.

 

I just put all my music on my iPhone and play it from there.,.....I always get a 256GB phone so space isn't a concern for my 70GB music collection.
I did not have a lot of luck with using a USB flash drive......flakey at best for me. I tried several sizes and drives before I gave up on it.

Also, unless you add another USB port to the audio system, you use the only wired port for the USB flash drive so you can't have CarPlay at the same time.

Ah, the things is I don't want to put my phone in the trunk/topbox - I prefer to keep the phone with me at all times. If I could do wireless Carplay, that would be great - but I dont think that's an option with the big Honda.

 

I use a older 'freebee' usb.
(Same one I used on a 2014.)

It's a 16gb, with about 4gb of files -- resulting in about 40 or 45 hours of audio.

What is disappointing is that the 1833's will not play the songs in 'album order'.
This is fine for some, but if you prefer to listen by album, in the original song order you will be disappointed.


From 2018 Owners manual:
USB flash drive Standard USB 2.0/3.0
File systems -- FAT32 (recommendation), FAT16, HFS+
Storage capacities -- From 256 MB to 64 GB
Maximum hierarchies -- 8 hierarchies
Maximum folders --- 512 folders
Maximum files -- 65,524 files (same limitation in one folder)
Maximum file/ folder name size -- 255 characters
Maximum file size -- 2 GB (in single file)

 

I use a older 'freebee' usb.
(Same one I used on a 2014.)

It's a 16gb, with about 4gb of files -- resulting in about 40 or 45 hours of audio.

What is disappointing is that the 1833's will not play the songs in 'album order'.
This is fine for some, but if you prefer to listen by album, in the original song order you will be disappointed.

USB flash drive Standard USB 2.0/3.0
File systems -- FAT32 (recommendation), FAT16, HFS+
Storage capacities -- From 256 MB to 64 GB
Maximum hierarchies -- 8 hierarchies
Maximum folders --- 512 folders
Maximum files -- 65,524 files (same limitation in one folder)
Maximum file/ folder name size -- 255 characters
Maximum file size -- 2 GB (in single file)

I've lots of 1GB and 2GB USB drives kicking around - I'll spend an hour filling a few up and keep them on the bike. Thanks.

 

Congrats on your new wing!

 

Thanks. I had a 1977 GL1000 a few years back and made a cafe racer out of it with my Dad before he passed away. Even though the GL1000 was technically a Goldwing, it's really only these behemoths I consider the real thing as they are akin to the flight deck of the space shuttle compared to the GL1K.

 

What about the USB plug in the left saddlebag? I have a USB plunged in mine and sometimes play music.

 

Hi to all. The front cubby (non-airbag) is the only USB access point for carplay/android auto. Note that you have to have a bluetooth helmet or a bluetooth dongle also connected to access carplay/android auto.

if you have a second USB plug connected that port will only act as a charging port or music USB hub, it will not do carplay/android auto.

Maximum size for USB stick? not sure. I do know a 64gb will work.

How to select the USB stick? - Use the source button on the left handlebar cluster. NOTE: if you are using a large capacity thumb drive it may take a bit for the bike to index it and display it as a source option. So don't expect it to immediately show up right after you start the bike. Also, large drives may not be selected as a source when you start the bike up even though you had just been using it. Have to give the bike a chance to see it.

For those with two USB inputs - when cycling through the sources the dash display will show USB1 and USB2 only if you actually have a thumbdrive / music player plugged into them. Otherwise that selection will not be available.

For those of us with a large music collection on our phone and don't want to deal with plugging it into the bike, then use the bluetooth on the phone. The handle bar music song up/down control will work. NOTE: you may have a low volume when using bluetooth. The newer phones have a volume limit function to nanny protect your hearing. You may have to initially manually raise the bluetooth volume on the phone to get adequate sound output from the phone so you don't have to manually crank up the bike volume to 20 to hear your music.

For a USB thumbdrive, you can use WMA, MP3 and WAV files. It will not play Apple or other files without them going through a music player first (iPod, iPhone, etc).

To select repeat, random, etc.. With the audio screen showing on the main display, press and hold the enter button on the multistalk control on the left handlebar or the center console joystick. On the main display along the top center you will see the graphic for the different selections. (Page 97 of the manual).

 

Hello I've written on the forum before, but I bought my 2025 50th anniversary model bicycle. With airbag tour. There are two usb ports on the bike, 1 on the rear bag and 1 on the left bag. It says you cannot use usb and mp3 with the slot in the rear bag but you can use usb memory with the slot in the left bag. I couldn't make it until I read your article. Then what you described made sense and I joyfully came to my bike. I plugged in the usb. (Fat 32 and 16 gb) folder and directly put the song in mp3 format. And I energized my bike. But there was no change even though I waited 20 minutes. When you plug your phone into both ports, it both charges and android auto works. So the slot is intact. The usb memory is also getting a little warm so the signal is coming. But somehow usb is not active on the screen. ((((

 

I have figured out how to get albums to playback in the order that they were originally recorded in when using a USB drive on a 2021 wing. What you need to do is update the MP3 title tag (not the Windows file name) with a leading digit to get the album to playback in the order you want. For example, to get the Beatles Sgt Pepper album to play in the order it was recorded in I added a leading digit to the each track's title tag in File Explorer. Please note the Honda software does not read the digits in numeric order,(it will read them in this order 1,11,12,2,3,4...9,91,92...) In this example the titles are prefixed with the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,91.92,93,94 to get the songs to play in their original order for this album. To edit the MP3 title tag in Windows you need to right click on the music file in Windows File Explorer and select Properties and then select Details, in the Details tab you then click the Title to edit the Title tag and add a leading number. Also, by the default the Windows File Explorer does not display the Title column so you may not see the Title column when opening the File Explorer. See the examples below: I know this is a lot of work, but to me it is worth it to get an album to play it the proper order.

Another example of an album with 23 tracks so you can see how the Title tag needs to be prefixed to get the tracks to play in order.

 

I have figured out how to get albums to playback in the order that they were originally recorded in when using a USB drive on a 2021 wing.

Yes, perhaps but when you've got 20GB of songs at mp3 320 size, you can't "batch" anything. No way I'm going to edit every album on my USB. Unless someone's found a way, on a Mac.

 

Just plug the thumb drive into your USB port in the cubby, select AUX in audio, and it will play. Easy.

 

iPods will not last, it’s cheaper and safer to use thumb drive.

 

The iPod works prefectly with this bike..no trying to fiqure out work arounds with playing the music like you want it..the iPod just works with this bikes system prefectly.

I still have a iPod mini from 2004 that has a mechanical hard drive and it still works great...the latest iPod I use today has no moving parts and should last even longer.

 

I had a 160 gb drive. Which developed issues after a year or so. Charging issues mostly. Since iPod is getting harder to get a thumb drive for 20$ ain’t bad for a flash/thumb drive.

 

The OP has a 1TB cell phone and does not want to use CarPlay or tether his phone to the bike………
Bluetooth the iPhone to the bike with the music on it and your done…….not sure why we’re even discussing flash drives or iPods as a solution when he already has a solution in his pocket?

 

Because OP asked in original post if he could use a Flash or USB drive.

 

Understand what Brian is saying using bluetooth to play ebooks or music, but suppose you are on a road trip and you lose your phone or it craps out or gets damaged, then you have nothing. Maybe have the USB as a back-up.

 

I have used a thumb dive on my 2018 since day one. It holds all of my music and gpx files.

 

Same here. I have a Gorilla ruggedized USB flash drive. It’s five years old and I’ve never had a problem with it.

 

Welcome from Los Angeles!

 

If your bike is 2021 and you have to connect your phone in the trunk, then this means you have the Airbag model. Anyway, look inside your left saddle bag. At the top left corner of the inside of the saddle bag, you should see your usb 2. Connect your flash drive to it and it will appear on your bike screen !

 

I just purchased the 2025 50th Anniversary Goldwing, my first Goldwing. Question, when I listen to music on my USB everything plays just fine. However, when I turn the bike off and then back on the USB resets to the very first song on the USB. Any way to have it start where it left off?

 

Welcome to the group Sean and congrats on your new bike.

Certainly, the 2018 to 2024 models can/will remember what was playing on the USB when the bike was shut off. But I can't comment on the 2025 which has an entirely new audio system.

Could this be another bug or oversight on the part of Garmin? There is a growing list of (mostly minor) things that didn't carry across from earlier Harmon Kardon units. I'm guessing that Garmin got told to provide a system the mimics everything from the previous system but a few features got missed along the way (and I'm not talking about Navigation!).

I would expect that a firmware update could be released to address the problems but owners might need to send feedback to Honda to get it happening.

 

Welcome!

 

I have my music on Windows Media Player. 4GB download on thumb drive. I think drive has to be set at fat 32? Plug into cubby select source on left handgrip. Sometimes it takes a couple minutes for bluetooth to find each other. Cardo Freecom 2 headset. 24 GW.

 

Thanks for the advice. I will check and see if it is formatted to Fat 32

 

This is for the 2018.
I'm gonna guess the 2021 is the same.

 

Yes just plug it in your front pocket that opens without the fob and as you scroll through your music options it will appear as usb

 

Copy that, I have it playing with no problem. Just select the USB and the music plays. My problem is I will be listening to a song on the USB then I turn off the bike. When I turn the bike back on it is still on "USB" but it resets to song #1 on the USB, it does not pick up where I left off when I turned the bike off.

 

I've got an iPod 30GB Video which is not listed above, however it does work! I just replaced the battery in it myself.