IG.
Registered
I had those on my Kat, and while I was doing some maintenance this week (oil/filter, coolant), I spent 6 hours installing those. Until 4 a.m. Why it took 6 hours? I don't know. Didn't want to screw anything up, so I was very careful and slow, tested circuits a few times, did quality soldering, quick connectors, drilling the upper (black) panel, etc.
Now, the interesting part. Voltmeter is connected straight to the battery, so it's always ON. It's analog from RadioShack (15V range, extremely low electricity consumption - less thean 1 mA), but I calibrated it with my digital one, so it's very accurate now (0.1V accuracy).
The reason I like to see voltage is that it lets you spot potential battery/charging system problems way ahead of time. Normal voltage on running bike seems to be around 14.5V. But, what I noticed that at idle, it tends to be a little higher. I am guessing this is not accident. This is so that the battery gets charged even at idle.
Now, the headlight switch. There are 3 reasons for that. When I do track days, it's easy to disable the headlight. Another reason, if your batter is weak, and you cannot start the bike, disconnecting the headlight helps a bit. And, the third reason is that I turn the headlight off when I ride on divided highway, with very light traffic, and excellent visibility. Why? Because when a cop seats by the road and sees a single bright light half a mile ahead, he knows exactly who is coming, and has plenty of time to get ready. He is very likely to not notice me until the last moment, but by then it's gonna be too late. And, I will take "no headlight" ticket any time instead of speeding ticket.
Wanted to install extra loud horn additionally to the stock one (I had similar setup on my Kat), but damn how tight the space is. Simply no place to put it. I guess I will figure it out some time later.
Now, the interesting part. Voltmeter is connected straight to the battery, so it's always ON. It's analog from RadioShack (15V range, extremely low electricity consumption - less thean 1 mA), but I calibrated it with my digital one, so it's very accurate now (0.1V accuracy).
The reason I like to see voltage is that it lets you spot potential battery/charging system problems way ahead of time. Normal voltage on running bike seems to be around 14.5V. But, what I noticed that at idle, it tends to be a little higher. I am guessing this is not accident. This is so that the battery gets charged even at idle.
Now, the headlight switch. There are 3 reasons for that. When I do track days, it's easy to disable the headlight. Another reason, if your batter is weak, and you cannot start the bike, disconnecting the headlight helps a bit. And, the third reason is that I turn the headlight off when I ride on divided highway, with very light traffic, and excellent visibility. Why? Because when a cop seats by the road and sees a single bright light half a mile ahead, he knows exactly who is coming, and has plenty of time to get ready. He is very likely to not notice me until the last moment, but by then it's gonna be too late. And, I will take "no headlight" ticket any time instead of speeding ticket.
Wanted to install extra loud horn additionally to the stock one (I had similar setup on my Kat), but damn how tight the space is. Simply no place to put it. I guess I will figure it out some time later.
