Electronic Tach?

[Dot Heton]

I'd like to get rid of my mechanical drive tach, what options do I have?

 

[Samuraiace]

Here's a company that makes several universal units, I'm not sure how compatible they are but I'll keep looking for Xs usable units.

http://www.kosonorthamerica.com/new/?s=tach&post_type=wpsc_product

 

[Samuraiace]

Here's a few more. It's worth a few minutes of googling, there's too many sites to pull from.

http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vinta...o-speedometer-tach-tachometer-19-2853-bk.html

http://motorcycle-accessories.cruis...sitechampion&utm_medium=sli&utm_source=google

 

[jetmechmarty]

I'd like to get rid of my mechanical drive tach, what options do I have?

Here's a nice one, but not cheap.

Acewell 2853 Black Digital Speedometer/Tachometer

 

[rbjenterprises]

Mikes had one. Both an electronic tach and speedo. I googled around and never found any feedback on theit quality.

 

[75jazz]

I used Danmoto. Works really well, a lot cheaper than the other options. I used the Streetfighter SP2, but you might like another style. They have a retro style available now.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=danmoto&_dmpt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&Part%2520Type=Gauges&rt=nc

 

[jetmechmarty]

I used Danmoto. Works really well, a lot cheaper than the other options. I used the Streetfighter SP2, but you might like another style. They have a retro style available now.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=danmoto&_dmpt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&Part%2520Type=Gauges&rt=nc

Like this?

www.dan-moto.com

 

[75jazz]

that the new "retro" line. Wish they had different fonts available. I went with this one

tach, turn signals, fuel warning light, oil temp light ODO, trip meter, top speed...
all kinds of stuff I"m not using.
Mount the sensor to the back wheel and the forks stay reaaaal clean. Tach connects to the coil.

 

[DanW]

Not to hijack but-- if you were sticking with the old school points (72xs650) and not going to an electronic ignition-- would any of the options listed work or do you have to have an upgraded ignition?

 

[75jazz]

They all would work. Turn signals, neutral, hi beam, odometer and all that would wire up as normal. You could even come up with custom ideas for the oil temp and the fuel guage.
The tach just connects to one of the coil terminals (+ I think) with a small resistor in line. We actually used a terminal connector off a VW that allowed us to put one spade connector on the coil that split and allowed two wires to connect, one to the plug and one to the tach. Point or electric ignition doesn't change the set up.

 

[jetmechmarty]

Not to hijack but-- if you were sticking with the old school points (72xs650) and not going to an electronic ignition-- would any of the options listed work or do you have to have an upgraded ignition?

From the descriptions, it looks like they'll work fine with wheels, ignition coil, and 12V power supply. I am making assumptions since I don't have one.

 

[grizld1]

I've used the Acewell for several years; it was a lot cheaper when I bought it (around $115). The tach function is programmable for either points (dual coil, 1/2 pulse per revolution) or electronic (single coil, 1 pulse per revolution). A little tweaking is usually needed to prevent tach spiking; hook the pickup wire to the coil and add a 2 megohm resistor in the line. It's a very nice instrument; it's very durable and easy to read, the speedo can be hooked up to the OEM drive if you order the right unit, and it's programmable to the nearest 1 mm. of tire size.

 

[Dot Heton]

Nice stuff, lots of price ranges, i wonder if there are any negatives to going cheap, anyone have any failures?

 

[75jazz]

Acewell is superior, but I know a handful of guys with the Danmoto and they haven't had any problems. I think one guy mentioned some hazing at the edge of the lens after a couple of seasons but the digital readout was still fine. Mines been running a couple of months, and I run the night time back light all the time. No problems yet.

 

[rude]

Here's a pic of ACEWELL fitted to mine, I just had to make the bracket to also hold the ignition switch, it looks great imho and has all the indicator lights you need
the tacho does bounce around (I'm hooked straight to No 1 coil) but that's not important to me. With direct middle of the day overhead sunlight and flicking shadows the digital read out is hard to see.
My current project I have one of the DANMOTO units with analogue speedo only, going back to basics

 

[Samuraiace]

Rude- thats a pretty sick setup, I'll have to nab a couple ideas from that pic of your bike.

 

[75jazz]

looks a lot like the danmoto. We mounted to the headlight bucket.

 

[glennpm]

Looks good! Any more details on the headlight bucket work required to do this?

 

[Austblue]

Does anyone have experience with Danmoto guages on bikes with Pamco ignitions? I installed the nano guage on the weekend and it worked at first then after a short ride the tacho had stopped working but the backlight and idiot lights continued to work fine and I have begun discussing with Pete and Danmoto seperately and seem to have some disconnect as their advise differs. Pete has advised the following:

Be aware that any electronic ignition, including the PAMCO produces a higher voltage on the negative terminal when the transistor opens the circuit. In the case of the PAMCO, that voltage will peak at 420 Volts. A typical points system will only peak to about half of that, so it's important that your tach is made for an electronic ignition system.

And Danmoto has said the following:

Our gauge uses a 12V input signal for the rev counter, as this is what's
standart on most bikes(with electronical ignition)

Bikes with the older mechanical ignition normaly run on the same, except
some very old 6V systems.

I think there is a missunderstanding here between the "hot" side of the
coil(which creates the spark) and the control circuit, which transmits
the signal from the ignition to the coil.

The control circuit runs normaly on system voltage(in this case 12V) and
then open/closes against ground to create a signal.
The created voltage( on the "hot" side) is much higher than system voltage.

After my recent (unrelated) experience with the bad earth I will need to do a more thorough check to be fully convinced the wiring is 100% but initial checks came up clear.

Any advice on experience would be appreciated as I'm 4hrs away from my bike for the next fortnight

 

[rude]

Mate, you are talking to the right people, I'm running pamco and hot coils using the acewell tacho, no probs, so you've hooked it up wrong or (maybe) got a crook unit, I doubt if the danmoto works any different to the acewell
as a check I "think" you can coil the tacho wire around a spark plug lead to see if the tacho works