Installing SpeedHut gauges

[chamberlin]

How large is the GPS receiver, and where could one tuck it in on a Sport?

Docc, there's a few shots of it in my thread and videos, but here's a quick one for you showing the size and where I decided to place it.

 

[Scud]

When I talked with a someone at Speedhut, they said it was ok to stick it behind the fairing - so long as it is not directly under metal. The LeMans fairing has more than ample room to hide it out of sight. I think it could also be easily hidden behind the smaller sport fairing.

[docc]

Oh, ok - looks to be about two inches square? And there is not a "this side up" orientation?

[chamberlin]

Oh, ok - looks to be about two inches square? And there is not a "this side up" orientation?

 

Just measured it, and it's about 1.6" by 1.9". The longer side is the one with the wire coming off of it.

 

Yes, the orientation does need to face "up", as pictured. The bottom side is flat and, whereas the "skyward' side is contoured.

 

The reason I placed mine on the top yoke is because I've done so many GPS antennas, satellite radio antennas, and other RF installations over the years, that I've just become sick of trying to skillfully hide the antennas only to find out the signal level suffered. So this time I said screw it, here you go little GPS speedo, have at it, the sky's all yours.

I've even had problems getting signals through carbon fiber fairings (such as garage door openers), so I didn't want to bury this antenna behind the gauges.

[docc]

Thanks for that, chamberlin. Signal connectivity would be Priority One.

 

I'm still on the fence whether to to simply source a "local" signal, as in Kiwi_Roy's simple reed switch . . .

[chamberlin]

"Local" is fine Docc, but as long as there's the 24 operational GPS satellites still floating around up there, I'm going with the wireless/mechanical-less option! I also like the fact I was able to reduce the amount of hard cables (or wiring) going to the transmission (or wheels). Just helps clean up the bike.

[docc]

I love the technology!

 

and hate it

 

 . . . love it

 

. . . hate it  

[Scud]

ah technology... it either frees us or freezes us.  I've gotten very comfortable with GPS navigation on my dirt bike, in fact, used the handheld Garmin on the handlebars as a speedometer.

 

Anyway, I've been trying to figure out how to use the stock gauge cover, because I'd prefer not to cut it down. Here's what I've got so far:

 

A bracket made from home-electrical parts - the stuff that is supposed to be used to mount lamps in ceiling boxes.  I cut the ends of the bracket and ground them round-ish to fit inside the cover.

 

 

Here's how I think I can glue the brass cap nut to the gauge, then screw in the whole assembly to replicate the base of the stock gauge, where the rubber vibration dampers screw in.

 

 

With the threads to adjust the height, and some play along the grooves in the bracket, I should be able to use the cap nuts to secure the whole assembly.  I suppose I'll need to cover that huge hole like Roy did, but for now, it's nice to see how everything fits.

 

 

I also ordered some 80mm O-rings to place around the gauges between 1) gauge and dash, and 2) dash and plastic cover.  I think these may do the job of the rubber bushings that go around the stock gauges - to keep them from rattling in the dash.

 

Comments or suggestions to improve?

 

 

 

[Kiwi_Roy]

The housing on my gauges was a bit ratty where the PO had slammed into a car so I had no problem chopping 3/4" out of it, I used a single bolt in the center as it takes all the hassle out of lining the bolts up. I just used a scrap of extrusion I had laying around.

I like your strap solution but the cover won't fit, at least mine wouldn't.

 

 

 

 

Don't power the gauges (lights ok) from the Red/Black idiot light circuit because it goes dead every time you press the Start button, this is a bit annoying.

 Looking at my manual it shows the Neutral light is fed by an AR-BLU wire (BI at the light) which comes straight from the ignition switch that would be a good source of power if the key is on it will be On. Perhaps add a common in line 5A fuse in case you get a short in the dash.

The lights for the gauges could remain on the Red/Black Idiot light feed although I would try them on the neutral light feed first

 

I don't think any of the spine frame bikes put a lot of load on the ignition switch so it's probably ok to measure the Voltage at the same AR-BLU wire.

 If you find it's not the best another good spot is after the ECU relay 87 contact. it is lightly loaded and close to the battery the problem is you would need a new wire. If you decide to do that send me a PM

 

One minor annoyance with the Speedhut Tach, if you turn the key Off it stays in place because it has no power to motor back to zero. This doesn't happen if you use the kill switch otherwise just turn the key back on momentarily.

 

The little inverter puts out a high voltage so be careful to keep the wires dry

Did you get one inverter per gauge, I only found one for my pair but I may have tossed the other with the packing.

[Kiwi_Roy]

So far Chamberlins is by far the best installation, stunning IMHO

[Scud]

Thanks Roy. Seeing your and Chamberlin's (agreed stunning) installations gave me the confidence to try these gauges. But despite Chamberlin's meticulous photo-documentation, I didn't see how he secured the gauges to the dash.

 

Straps:  The ones I made from metal roll-strap and split vacuum hoses are only for the smaller volt and oil gauges, which are add-ons - I'm not using that type with the speedo and tach - trying to keep as stock-looking as possible for those.

 

Wiring: Thanks for the tip on connecting the volt meter.  I wonder if the same logic applies to the red wire from the ITI tach plug (in hand in photo in post #13).  I'll test that this evening. It would be nice to re-use wires that are no longer needed.

 

Inverter: One inverter can power 7 (IIRC) gauges - and it comes with a daisy-chain with plugs that go to each gauge (the black box and black wires with a red zip tie pictured at left in post #14)

[Kiwi_Roy]

Yes I think the Neutral light supply could be used to power up everything as I said with a small in line fuse fuse so there's no chance of loosing the supply to the headlight relay, stand relay and ECU relay if you get a short in the dash.

This is based on my 01 VII Sport manual - Other VII wiring might be a little different - Unplug the headlight relay and look for a wire that's alive with the ignition switch On

As I mentioned anything on the headlight relay goes down with cranking.

With a Voltmeter you need to be a bit more careful as you don't want to monitor a point with significant Voltage drop so measure it first.

[chamberlin]

Thanks for the good words guys! It's MUCH appreciated.

 

Although after Scud gets done with his setup, I don't think I'll be on top of the SpeedHut heap anymore

 

Regarding my installation, it was quite simple really, with my only concern being the ECU tach line (yellow wire) and whether or not the resistor was to be used. I don't recall now, if I used it or not - do you remember Roy? EDIT: see page 1 of this thread LOL !!! I also don't remember where I got power from either, but probably through the original dash lighting. I do however remember wiring in the Guzzi high beam and turn signal lights with the SpeedHuts, so they all come on together (see photo below).

 

The one major thing that made my installation easy was that I ditched the original plastic buckets all together. I just dropped the gauges into the new black anodized Guzzi twin bezel and screwed on the back ring nuts until hand tight. Obviously if I was running the bike without a fairing, this would not be an option. But with the tinted front windscreen, you can't see too much of the wiring. I bought some more tint spray to darken the plexi the next time I have the fairing off. I also used water proof (heat shrink) butt connectors and heat shrink tubing where possible. I also asked SpeedHut to weatherproof for motorcycles, but I'm not sure what that entails exactly. Fortunately for my location and riding habits, this bike will likely never see a drop of rain, but I have high doubts that there'd be any issues if it did.

 

Here's the first start-up video from last year when I first put gas in the bike. A few things have changed since this video was made, but you can see the SpeedHuts pretty good, as well as the brief view through the lightly tinted windscreen at the wiring and bulb holder. I also noticed that the gauges turn off during cranking.

https://youtu.be/ssChZUKYc8I

 

 

[Scud]

Unplug the headlight relay and look for a wire that's alive with the ignition switch On

 

 

Good advice. To supply the signal to the voltmeter, I ended up using another one of the yellow wires that went to a dash light; these are alive with the key on and headlight relay removed. I was able to get a correct reading on the voltmeter. I also now see what you mean by the stepper motor. The voltmeter must use the same type of stepper motor, because the needle stayed up at 12v after I turned off the ignition switch. The voltmeter needle returns to 0 as part of it's startup routine, so a well-timed on-off gets it to rest at 0. I'm really glad you mentioned that, because I would have been puzzled otherwise - and probably would have assumed that I messed up the wiring. Cheers to Kiwi_Roy! 

[Kiwi_Roy]

Does it really matter if the Voltmeter stays where it was, that's an un-advertised feature, "Voltage Memory" Next time you ride the bike you would know how much it lost while you were away