| Author | Message | ||
     Al_lighton  |
On the way up to see Erik Buell at the Peterson Auto Museum on the Love Ride weekend, my S3 stranded me on the inside shoulder of I5 in peak rush hour traffic (first time a Buell has stranded me). Stator had died, I was running on a total loss electrical system. The FI bikes don't run very well when the voltage drops to a certain level, and the whole bike kinda goes nuts, and you don't get a lot of warning or time that it runs afterwards. And it just so happened to me in one of the sections of the freeway where the commuter lane is completely walled in by Jersey barriers. It was a very unsafe breakdown, I was lucky to make it to a place where I wouldn't be killed on the shoulder. Ebear rescued me (Thanks, Eric!), but I got to spend about two hours in the middle of the freeway in the dark. I just put the new stator in, but decided that I wanted a voltmeter on it. If I'd had that info, I would have made it off the road sooner and would have waited for my rescue in a nice cozy restaraunt somewhere. Kuryakyn makes this cool little LED voltmeter, it is easy to mount on the dash, is relatively inconspicuous, has a self test at startup. I've added it to our catalog (part number 16076, $32.95), it'll be up on the website this week. Comes with more wire than you need, cut a little off, crimp on some ring terminals from radio shack  Attach them to the black and orange/white terminals on the speedo to get a switched electrical signal from the battery rail  Drill a 1/4" hole in the dash  It comes with double sticky tape on the back, just sticks right on. This is a very clean location for it, right next to all the other idiot lights on an S3.  I think I'll put one on all my bikes. Al (Message edited by al_lighton on January 09, 2005) | ||
| Wyckedflesh  |
Hey Al, let me know when you figure it out for the XB. I can already see putting it above the dash on the Fairing Support and running the wire straight under the dash...since I too fell vic to the dead stator syndrom. Fortunately my early warning came from the smell of fried Mobil 1 synthetic gear lube. | ||
| Road_thing  |
Al, I've got a similar gadget on my Road Pig, but it's a single LED that shows green for "OK Voltage" and red for red for "Low voltage. Trouble is, I bought it on ebay for about $10 and I don't remember who the seller is. It's been on the bike for three or four years, works like a champ and it's a real clean installation--just one hole in the dash for the led to shine through. Definitely worth having. rt | ||
| Road_thing |
This might be the one I've got. http://www.signaldynamics.com/products/Modules/HUVM.asp rt | ||
| Rek  |
here's one for around ten bucks. http://www.futurlec.com/CarBatteryMonitor.shtml | ||
| Reepicheep  |
That is a great idea Thing... I did a quick schematic on a napkin, and I am thinking 7 parts, most of which are very cheap, all are at Radio Shack. Anyone have an opinion on a Buell specific "good versus bad" voltage threshold? For that matter, anyone know if the factory ECM does not already do this for us on the XB's? | ||
| Road_thing |
>>I did a quick schematic on a napkin<< Reep, I stand in awe of your ability to "do electronics" on a napkin. All I can do on a napkin is wipe my mouth. The only course I ever failed in my entire academic life was "Electricity and Magnetism" my sophomore year in college. That's when I ceased being a Systems Engineering major and commenced being a Geology major. I like my "single LED" setup because its so unobtrusive. Just one little hole in the dash, and a plastic bezel with a LED in it. I failed to mention in my earlier post that, when the battery voltage is hovering on the raggedy edge between "OK" and "not OK" the LED glows orange. I assume that it's actually fluctuating rapidly between red & green and the eye sees it as orange. rt | ||
| Al_lighton |
The thing I like about the little Kuryakyn one is the amount of info it has in a clean little package. It not only provides the actual voltage reading (granted, a bit coarse granularity), as well as the red warning light for both below 10V and above 15V (the little round LED on the right side), all in an easy to mount package that is 1.75" x 1" x .5" thick. The circuitry is sure simple enough, and components cheap enough, but then you have to package it. This took care of everything with minimal fuss. That $10.00 kit above is OK, but you have to consider the time it takes to build the circuit up and put it in a clean reasonably weather proof package. But wasting time is what hobbies are for, right?  RT's single LED monitor is pretty cool for how little space it takes on the dash, though. I'm surprised the electronics module back behind it is so large, though (2-1/4” x 1- 5/8” x 5/8”). Al | ||
| Reepicheep |
Agreed. Let me back up Al's statement with a response to Road Thing... Schematics on the back of napkins are the best, nothing to them. They don't have to work, all parts are in stock, the packaging is never an issue, connectors always work, nor do they ever let the magic smoke out. | ||
| Bluzm2  |
Al, How is the brightness? I've seen some LED displays that are distracting at night. Brad | ||
| 99x1  |
I made a battery monitor a while ago (I think I posted it to BadWeb?). It uses a bi-color LED, and flashes RED about 1 per second when the key is off (pseudo alarm). It goes out when the voltage is OK - details / diagram /source code at Battery Monitor. | ||
| Al_lighton |
Good point, Brad. Perhaps a tad bright, but not overly so. I haven't ridden with it yet, but I just went out in the warehouse where I'm workin on the S3, turned out all the lights, and turned it on. It'd be distracting if it was running at 16 volts (i.e. ALL the LEDs glowing) but didn't seem too bad at 12V. Al | ||
| Court |
>>>All I can do on a napkin is wipe my mouth. That's not an entirely accurate statement. Al, when will these be available? I'd be in for one for the S-2. I run lots of electrogadgetry and used to use a similar device on the KLR which had a lacking charging system, to let me know when to shed load. Court | ||
| Al_lighton |
Court, I'll have a small quantity of them in a week or less. It'll be up on the web site today, just do a search on 16076...or call me, 760-727-2333. Al | ||
| Al_lighton |
It's up on the web site, see here Retail is $34.95, I'd said $32.95 earlier. Mention the $32.95 in the comments section of your order, I'll honor it. Al | ||
| Josh_  |
The FJR guys like these: http://www.fjrtech.com/getdbitem.cfm?item=8 Not sure where to buy them tho, daytel.com isn't a retail site. I just switch my Escort 8500 over to "display Voltage" | ||
| Drfuyutsuki |
Cant recall off hand since I havent seen my bik in like 5 months... will something like the items mentioned above work on a 97 S1? | ||
| Al_lighton |
Yes, it should work just fine on a 97S1, though I haven't fit one on an S1 Dash yet. I'll be putting one on my S1W when I get it back on the road. The S3 is back on the road, and this little voltmeter is cooler than I thought. The little round hole that is just to the right and down from the number 16 is not a red warning LED, it is an ambient light sensor. When it is in bright sunlight, the LED lights are quite bright. When in dark or shade, the LED's dim automatically. Pretty cool! Al | ||
| 5liter |
Got mine yesterday. Now I have to wait til it warms up to put it on. Thanks Al | ||
| Al_lighton |
Jim, Thank YOU!! Make your wires just a little bit longer than what I show in my picture at the top of the thread. The extra slack is nice during fitting so that it can go around the back of the speedo cup and in thru the opening that the other wires come in thru. Mine reached, but barely. Al | ||
| Sparky  |
I have an adjustable thermostat for use with electric vests & such on my S3. The unique feature about this one is that it has a voltage detector, an LED indicator (looks like the SignalDynamics LED RT mentioned) & a relay that cuts current to the vest when input voltage drops below 12 V. You can see it go red at idle with the vest connected and green with RPMs above idling. I used the thermostat's indicator once when I suspected the battery was not being charged and the LED was red all the time without a vest connected. Sure enough, the bike died before I could get it home. The culprit was a fried stator. As a sidenote, I don't run redline oil in the primary anymore. The thermostat is a custom unit made years ago by an enterprising friend. I wish he was still in the business. Sparky | ||
| 5liter |
Finally warmed up enough to put it on. Slick! I did break the clock removing the dash. Damn!!! A little Super Glue did the trick on the clock. I hope it dims a little at night. It's pretty bright. | ||
| Zrx1100 |
Just hooked up the meter, but the sticky side will not adhere to the dash of my cyclone. (i tried mounting just above oil/neutral, etc indicators. also tried 3M adhesive tape, other adhesives, they just wipe off from the dash. It is like its made of teflon. appreciate recommendations. thanks |
