By James Chevrette
Hogtunes was founded in 2004 by Mike “Pez” Pesdirz, who spent his earlier career as a sales rep. He watched as Pioneer, Alpine, Sony, and Kenwood dominated the car audio market through a steady, repeatable deck and speaker replacement business. Pez wanted to apply that system to motorcycles. “Why can we not do three or four bikes a day with quick in and out installs, just like a deck and four?” asked Pez. That question became the foundation for Hogtunes over the past two decades.
Start With What’s Breaking
Back then, factory Harley-Davidson speakers were built with mediocre performance, paper cones and surrounds that would simply disintegrate over time. Riders needed a fix, and nobody was offering one at a price that made sense. So Hogtunes launched with a replacement 5.25-inch 6-ohm speaker for Harley models from 1998 forward, priced at $99 USD with a factory style speaker connector.
This design philosophy was never about doing a full custom build or impressing someone in the parking lot. It was about getting the bike in the garage, doing the upgrade, and getting the rider back on the road the same day, ideally in a couple of hours.
Bike Audio is Not Car Audio
One of the more practical ideas Hogtunes brings to the market is a clear understanding of the motorcycle charging system.
The average Harley-Davidson carries a 55-amp charging system. The bike itself consumes roughly 15 to 20 amps under normal operation, leaving approximately 35 amps of available current, which aligns with what Harley’s own service manual specifies: 35 amps of charging at 3,000 RPM.
But in 2014 Harley switched from incandescent lighting to LEDs across its lineup. That transition freed up roughly eight amps of current, opening the door for amplifier installations that simply were not practical before without stressing the charging system.
Hogtunes amplifiers include low voltage protection, shutting off at 10 volts to ensure the battery can still start the motorcycle. As Pesdirz puts it, “We do not want any part of the sound system to compromise the bike or leave the rider stranded.”
A recurring theme in how Hogtunes approaches product development is a focus not on the traditional 12-volt shop, but on the riders and mechanics. Many Harley mechanics grew up adjusting carburetors, changing tires, and doing traditional maintenance. Hogtunes products are designed with that person in mind: straight forward installs that do not require specialized knowledge or tools and do not interfere with the bike’s ecosystem or safety systems.
It’s All About the Details
Hogtunes also took a hard look at how competitors were designing cut-in kits: the adapters that fit speakers inside saddlebags. Many designs have speakers facing upward, earning them the informal label of rain catchers, while others face away from the rider entirely.
Hogtunes watched the industry move toward forward-facing speakers, a step in the right direction, but noticed water management was still being treated as an afterthought. Hogtunes incorporated drain holes into its speaker designs as a standard feature, and this approach is being adopted slowly across the industry.
On the distribution side, Pesdirz drew on his background in sales and distribution management to think beyond the product itself. When Hogtunes began working with larger distribution centers, the focus extended to making life easier for warehouse staff through smarter product identification, packaging, and inventory management. It is a detail most manufacturers overlook, but one that matters to the people moving product every day.
Today, Hogtunes has grown from a single $99 speaker supplier into one offering a full product line distributed across Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia from its base in Barrie, Ontario, Canada.
