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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Aftermarket gages - what works and what to avoid
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Message started by TheSneeze on 05/29/22 at 18:42:44

Title: Aftermarket gages - what works and what to avoid
Post by TheSneeze on 05/29/22 at 18:42:44

I want to go with a speedo and tach that mounts in front of the bars, and ditch the stock set up in the tank. There are so many options on the web I am interested in who has used what, and the experiences (good, bad, broke too quick?).

Analog or digital?
Speedo/tach combo or separate gages?

I would prefer to run a GPS speedo and not hassle with a wheel sensor. There are a lot of options that talk of ratios with the non-GPS units. What ratio works with the Savage? I don't want to run the stock since I have changed the diameter of both wheels, and converted to chain/sprockets. I would love to hear some experiences from the group.

Title: Re: Aftermarket gages - what works and what to avo
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/29/22 at 19:38:18

Rife it. You will eventually see your don't need a tach. The speedo is something you only need in the school zone.
I Wanted a tach,too, but by the time I found one,, meh,just didn't really Need it. It's a really old design ,it's rude and crude, get comfortable with it. It's great, straight off the showroom floor.

Title: Re: Aftermarket gages - what works and what to avo
Post by SpamyToo on 05/29/22 at 20:41:19

The GPS gauges work great as long as you arent always in a heavy tree area.

The antenna needs to be mounted in a place that isnt too hidden. I have had them in the light bucket, on the bottom triple, and under the gauge housing and those locations have worked fine.

Some have mounted them on top of the brake master cylinder for maximum view of the sky, but personally I dont like the look of it and have found good results on less obvious locations.

It just needs 12v power and your good to go pretty much.

If you get one with a tach it will get the signal off of the ground on the coil. Its usually the falling voltage of the 12v coming from the points to the coils for firing signal that they read. Usually they can be programmed according to how many fires its seeing per engine revolution. Therefore you can program the tach for pretty much any amount of cylinders, even 2 stroke bikes. Like 2 pulses per stroke, or 0.5 pulses per stroke. They vary between bikes but its pretty simple to program.

Title: Re: Aftermarket gages - what works and what to avo
Post by wheelbender6 on 05/30/22 at 06:27:02

I have used one of these combo gauges with good results. Speedo connects to your stock cable. Cheap and it works, but no GPS. I plug in my Tomtom nav unit from my car to get GPS speeds.
https://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Speedometer-Keenso-Waterproof-Tachometer/dp/B07MP386VW/ref=sr_1_15?crid=12W9B0YADAT7L&keywords=motorcycle+gauge+cluster&qid=1653916659&sprefix=motorcycle+gauge+%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-15

Here is a GPS speedo for well under $100. I have not tried it myself.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=motorcycle+gauge+cluster&crid=12W9B0YADAT7L&sprefix=motorcycle+gauge+%2Caps%2C126&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_17

Title: Re: Aftermarket gages - what works and what to avo
Post by Gary_in_NJ on 05/31/22 at 13:06:52

I have an Acewell unit on my Street Tracker and just love the unit. Check out their instrument clusters, you'll see something you like.