Wiring In A Volt Meter

[ReycleBill]

Last summer, after replacing the entire charging system on my XS650, I decided to buy a handlebar mounted volt meter. Today I found the cute little volt meter in a box of parts and decided it's time I finally hooked it up. The instructions are as follows:

"can be easily wired into any point in the system (before a switched load is best)."

My question is: while it can be easily wired into any point in the system and preferably before a switched load, where do you believe is the best place to hook the wire into the harness?

For example, should I wire it at the fuse box, the wire that supplies power to the headlight switch, the wire that powers the low beams, the wire leading from the key switch to the ignition system, the wire that supplies power to the starter button, the wire that feeds the kill switch or where?

Thanks for your help.

 

[jayel]

any light brown inside the headlight shell (right off the key switch)

 

[ReycleBill]

Thanks! I was kinda leaning in that direction but not yet that brave.

 

[retiredgentleman]

On these bikes, a voltmeter is your best friend. Its similar to measuring your blood pressure. Actually, now that I think about it, installing a blood pressure device on the bike, would allow a rider to know when he is pushing the envelope to hard.

 

[jims428]

Thanks. I needed that same information. Saved me from having to ask it.
BTW - That meter from MikesXS is niiiiice, and as said, it is very useful.
Jim

 

[Classic]

A volt meter was the first modification I made to my motorcycle back in the day. I ran it back to the fusbox and grounded it to a turn signal bolt. Mine usually ran 12.3v at idle, 13.8v at 3800rpm and right about 12.1v above 5500rpm.

 

[rwingsfan]

I get my volt meter from Harbor Frieght.....a whopping $10

 

[ReycleBill]

I get my volt meter from Harbor Frieght.....a whopping $10

Can you give us a link? I've got 13 of these bikes I'm building so I'm going to need 12 more volt meters.

 

[jayel]

I got mine from a auto supply shop, nothing fancy, tried a digital and got tired of watching it read the flucuations of the system (to sensetive with the old mech regulator) had to go analog, haven't tried a digital with the solid state reg/rec conversion

 

[rwingsfan]

Here you go, they work great
http://www.harborfreight.com/in-dash-voltmeter-95779.html

Can you give us a link? I've got 13 of these bikes I'm building so I'm going to need 12 more volt meters.

 

[ReycleBill]

Here you go, they work great
http://www.harborfreight.com/in-dash-voltmeter-95779.html

I saw those at Harbor Freight earlier but passed them up for the time being. Couple of questions:
1. What happens if they get wet? Are they waterproof?
2. How did you go about mounting yours?

That's not to say I won't pick one up later-- I just decided today I'd rather buy their truing stand.

 

[retiredgentleman]

Here's a pic of the voltmeter mounted on my bike. I used a piece of aluminum to mount the gauge. Rubber hose was wrapped around the handlebar first. A piece of steel was then "tie-wrapped" to the rubber. The steel was drilled and tapped for machine screws to mount the gauge.

I've been using it for about 4 years now, and it works perfect. I have never yet been caught in the rain, so can't say if its waterproof.

 

[angus67]

mine jumps around like crazy. I'll go get another.

 

[rwingsfan]

Well like retiredgentleman I have not really run it in the rain a whole lot, but has never bothered it as of yet. I have a mini speedo and just fabbed a bracket to hold t next to it. The only problem I have had with mine is the illumination bulb seems to go out frequently. Don't know if it is this vibes or what, but for $10 what do you expect?

I saw those at Harbor Freight earlier but passed them up for the time being. Couple of questions:
1. What happens if they get wet? Are they waterproof?
2. How did you go about mounting yours?

That's not to say I won't pick one up later-- I just decided today I'd rather buy their truing stand.

 

[XSLeo]

I have a Harbor Freight gauge. My bike gets rode in the rain. If I am 20 - 1oo miles from home when it starts raining, I get wet, so does the bike. It has sat out in the rain at work.
The gauge works good. The needle does bounce around. The bulb blows alot. I think an LED will hold up better.

 

[littlebill31]

So I could just wire one to my running light (blue) wire?

 

[jims428]

See post #2.
Wire it to one of the light brown wires in your headlight bucket. A plus to that is your connection is protected from the elements
Jim

 

[littlebill31]

If I had a light brown wire I would.

 

[jims428]

If I had a light brown wire I would.

Ah, so there's the rub huh
If your blue running light wire is hot I'm sure it would work.
Jim

 

[XSLeo]

Any wire after the switch thats is hot when the key is on will work. The closer to the switch the better. There is a three wire bundle coming from the key switch down into the headlight bucket. It will have a red wire, a brown wire and a blue or blue/yellow wire. The red is hot from the battery. The blue or blue/yellowwire is power to the tail light. The brown is power to everything else. Hook the + side of the volt gauge to the brown wire. Hook the - side of the gauge to a frame ground. On the wires for the bulb, hook one to the blue or blue/yellow wire, the other to a frame ground.
Hooked this way when you turn the key on the meter will display the voltage and the light will light up.
Hokking the meter + to the blue or blue/yellow wire will just tell you the voltage in the tail light circuit. Hooking the meter to the brown wire tells the voltage of all the rest of the electrical system. Much better that way.