How I added a GPI behind the tech.

RedBusarider

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I hope this is OK - I Did post this under the Winter/Spring projects thread I stated.
I decided to add it here ON the Gen I Board as it basically is for Gen I owners only
And SOME people are lucky enough to be able to ride all year so may never look at the Winter/Spring thread
But still might be interested in this Mod.


OK I have added a Gear Position Indicator behind the tachometer and this is how I did it.
I know there were some people that were afraid to open up the speedometer thinking they might do damage to it.
I do not consider myself to be an electronic whiz by any means - so if I can do it, most of you could do it too.

Yes there is a little prep work and the nose fairing needs to be removed to get the speedometer gauges off the bike.
Once the nose fairing is off there are 2 screws holding it down and a couple of pointed studs that are held in place by rubber grommets that just pull out.
Remove the plug and your all set.

You will need a Phillips screwdriver, some wire cutters, needle nose pliers a soldering iron and solder and desoldering braided wire or a desoldering bulb.
Electrical tape and a few wire connectors. Nothing too major - many will already have most if not all of these things on hand.

So here we go.

Start by removing the seven screws on the back of the speedometer - then remove the back.
1Remove7screws_zps9724744e.jpg


Once the back is off this is what you will see.
These 4 clips need to be bent straight up.
2Firststepafterbackisoff_zps123591c6.jpg


I used small needle nosed pliers to do this and it worked fine.
3Bendbacktabs_zps8a4df119.jpg


Then using a soldering iron I heated the 4 pins so as to remove the solder.
4Desolderingbraid_zps887edd31.jpg


I had to go over them a couple of times but it was no big deal and the solder came up easy.
5Desolderingbraid2_zpsde3dd3f8.jpg


There are three screws that need to be removed and when I did, the tech was easy to gently pull away from the board.
So this is what it looks like with the tech off the board.
6Techremoved_zpsd53a2a47.jpg


This is what the back of the tech looks like.
7BackofTech_zps72ddba39.jpg


The LED's fit over 2 of the attachment points where the screws were removed just prior to the tech coming off the board.
8LEDsinplace_zps7ed1068e.jpg


Before you reassemble everything this dust cover needs to be removed.
9RemoveDustcover_zpsae23eeba.jpg


Then this hole needs to be made larger for the wires to fit through.
10Thisholeneedstobelarger_zps329a8241.jpg


I used a step drill bit and opened up the hole 2 steps, which is about right for the connectors and wire to go through.
11Enlargehole_zps7701d590.jpg


The wires need to be routed gently around the back of the tech and around LED"S so as not to bent any of them out of position.
12Wirescomeoutbehindboard_zps82573667.jpg


Then the wires are pulled through the back cover.
13Wiresthroughback_zpse33ddeaf.jpg


This plug need to be wired up after the wires are pulled through the back cover.
14WiringplugfromLEDs_zpscb31b670.jpg


Here is the plug all wired up.
15PlugfromLEDs_zps53d00887.jpg


And here is the Speedometer ready to go back on the bike. See that wasn't too hard of a job to do.
16Readytogoonbike_zpsa0a8f697.jpg


I might have preferred to have wired the plug up after I had mounted the speedometer back on the bike.
As there is a hole that I would more then likely have used. If any of you do this Mod then you might want to do this
17Wouldhaveprefered_zpsecfc6bf4.jpg


He you can see that I zipped tied the cable in place - so I'm OK with it this way I guess.
18Ziptied_zpsbfea6d89.jpg


Then instruction said to use the red wire from the ECU on the smaller of the two plugs.
I looked at a wiring diagram and decided to find where that red wire went as the wires at the ECU are bunched together pretty tightly and
harder to get at to get a splice. I found this wire for 5V of power and it looked a lot easier to get to.
19Thiswire_zpsd273742c.jpg


So I spliced into it for my power.
20Tappedforpower_zps8deea208.jpg


Don't know why Suzuki never added this feature to the Gen I bikes as there is a Gear Position Sensor already on each bike.
Basically just unplug that connector and plug in the wires from the harness and your good to go.
21GearSensorplug2_zps05581b39.jpg


Here is a quick image of the LED showing 1st gear.
22FirstGearshowing_zpsf6d2251a.jpg


And here is one of second gear with the engine running. I assume that when the bike is outside (it's in the house now) there will be no glow around the other numbers.
Especially because I usually ride this bike more during the day then I do at night - but that's just me. I have another bike if I want to ride at night. :whistle:
23SecondGear_zpsb0439abc.jpg


Many thanks to Echobase. Because I'm colorblind I did need to send him an image so he could confirm that I had the right wires in the right
place while putting the pins in the plug. His instructions were/are even more detailed then what I'm showing here. So I felt this was an easy mod to do and
maybe one of the best that I have done so far. I really like the clean install of this vs the box that many have on there bikes. No one would ever
know this mod was on my bike unless they rode it. So no one is going to steal something they cant see. :laugh:

I would do this mod again and I hope that I have relieved any fears about doing this to anyone that doesn't have but would like to have a GPI behind the tech.
Hopefully never again will I look for 7th gear. :laugh: Or try to take off from a stop in second. :laugh: I'm sure I'm probably the only one that has ever done that, right?

Now I'm really ready for Spring as I really want to try this out on the road. :race:
I guess there is still time for anyone wanting to do this.
 
Really great job.. I like the way they utilize the tach numbers as indicators. very clean looking.
 
Pretty cool idea, and a very nice walk-through! Your camera shots are very good! You are definitely not afraid to open things up. :thumbsup:
 
Btw where did you get the led kit? If I was to do this. I have the tools. What products do I need to buy to make this work. And where can I get them?
 
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