When installing a Ryca Mini Tach to my bike, I found a lot of useful information on SuzukiSavage.com, however the information is scattered throughout some old posts and can be difficult to fish out. I decided to compile the information here for anyone looking to install one. I’ve also added some information that I picked up along the way.

I think the Ryca Mini Tach is a good choice for three reasons:

1. It looks good, is of good quality, and looks as stock on our bikes as any aftermarket product could look.
2. It is an electronic tach. It reads off the ignition coil as opposed to a cable, so it’s simple to install.
3. It has a range up to only 8000 rpm (as opposed to the 13k and beyond of many other tachs). Our bikes generally run in the 3k to 5k range.

This is what the tach looks like:



Here is a link to the Ryca product page:

http://shop.rycamotors.com/mini_tachometer.html


Mounting  the Tach

As for mounting the tach, Ryca sell a bracket (I think it costs too much for what it is, and I don't like the mounting position). Or, you can make your own bracket from aluminium plate. Here is a link to a thread that references two methods to make a homemade bracket.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1409022095/1#1
T140V’s Method:

These methods were created by forum-users Todd James and T140V (I used Todd’s method). Unfortunately, many of the image links in the thread are broken but the following images will give you an idea of how they look:


Todd James Method:


T140V Method:



Connecting the Tach

For this method you will need to remove the tank to get access to the area where the wires from the tach will be connected. Instructions for removing the tank are here:

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1487500580/11#11


The tach has four wires.

Green – this wire supplies the input for the tach’s display. It gets connected to the bike’s ignition coil.

Black – this is the ‘ground’ wire. It gets connected to the bike’s frame.

Red & Blue – these provide power to the tach. They both get connected to a power source that is switched when the key is on. In this case we’re using the power supply to the bike’s horn.


You don’t need to cut and splice any wires if you don’t want to. All the points we are connecting to have spade connectors (plugs). It’s possible to simply disconnect the plug in question, then insert the end of the wire from the tach into the connector, and ensure the wire is wedged between the male and female connectors. I ran it like this for a couple of months and it worked fine.


The following two images show the connection points:

 

Nice one Todd  

Thanks for the help. I found it after I posted. Tach installed again. Much more useful on the s40 than the c50 Lehman trike.