BrittC

Scratch this idea! I washed the bike the other day and barely got the LCD screen wet... and suddenly it's showing that my bike is only putting out 9 volts. Once it completely dried out, it consistently shows that it's getting over 15 volts. My multimeter tells me that my custom voltmeter is lying to me... Oh well, it was a $30 learning experience!

In a quest for a little more comfort, I was researching grip options and found that many sport-tourers are installing BMW Sport Grips (BMW part numbers 32721458395 & 32721458396) I ordered them from bikebandit.com and they arrived nice and quick. Installation was simple - remove bar ends, cut off the old grips, and use hairspray to slide the new grips on. One little catch was that the BMW grips are longer than the OEM grips, so I had to trim a little off the end. In my opinion, it's impossible to notice. I could have modified my switch housings to move them inward on the bars to make room, but I didn't want to. Because of all the snow I have not ridden with them yet but they feel much better than the Pro Grip gel grips I had on there. The fit fine over my Symtec grip heaters and the heat seems to come through these thicker grips just fine.

I've been looking for a voltmeter, and ran across a BMW owner who built his own that I liked a lot..... so I figured I would replicate his work. I rarely ride in the dark so I don't need an LED unit. I was interested in LCD, and the Datel works great for my needs. And I didn't want to cut up my dash so it had to be a surface mount unit. I bought a BUD Potting Box (part number: 563-PB-1558).... .... a BUD potting box cover (part number: PBC-1558-CN).... ..... and a Datel LCD digital panel meter (part number: 20LCD-1-DCM-C). All were from from Mouser Electronics and arrived extremely quickly - www.mouser.com I carefully measured and using a razor, cut an opening for the unit in the potting box. The Datel unit slipped right in. I used 5 minute epoxy around the edges of the Datel unit to hold it in place as well as waterproof it. I took a charger from an old Nokia phone, cracked open the transformer to get at the wires, cut off the other end, and wired that to the terminals on the Datel unit. I used my multimeter to compare voltages at the battery and used the adjusting screw on the Datel unit to calibrate it. Cut a slot to fit the cord through, epoxied it in place, and then epoxied the potting box cover on the back of the potting box. I am fairly confident that water cannot get into the box. I mounted the box to my dash with 3M Dual Lock velcro. Here is the meter with the engine warmed up and idling: Here is the meter at 3000 RPM: I have found my voltage readings to be very consistent at any RPM over idle (pretty much 14.7 volts at any RPM above idle). I purchased a VFRness but have not installed it yet. Maybe I won't need to but now I feel better about being able to keep my eye on my electrical system. Credit for this project goes to: Surface Mount Datel LCD Voltmeter Install Thank you!

Thank you to HS for your writeup! A few weeks ago I pried my old tires off and took care of my wheels just before having new rubber mounted. I used a Mothers PowerBall with some Honda metal polish, and I love the way they came out....