Which wire is what?

Hello gents, need some expertise. I want to hook up one of those Kuryakyn voltage meters. I was hoping to tap into the turn signal wires because of their proximity of where I'm mounting the gauge. There are 2 clips, one white and one blue. Which is for the running lights? And if I tap into the 2 wires feeding the clip it should work, right? I'm assuming 1 is pos and the other neg.

BTW it's a 2006 1300.

I don't like tapping into wires. Use one of these plugged into a switched circuit in the fuse block.
https://www.amazon.com/Circuit-Inline-Holder-Assortment-circuits/dp/B014K93ROM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1491750149&sr=8-11&keywords=mini+fuse+tap

Close but nope. The single green wire, single wire clip is the ground. The two wire clip is running wire and turn signal wire.
You may want to take an idiot light or even the voltmeter and one wire to ground and the other wire to test which of the two wires is the right one.
Remember that most volt gauges if you hook it up backwards it will stay off, show nothing. Reverse the wires and it should work.
P,S. I'm sure you could find a better place just hook the wires into.

I believe the wire with the stripe is for the running light (constant 12V). Ground the black terminal of your meter and try the red. You won't hurt anything.

By tapping into that wire you may experience a small voltage drop which would make your reading inaccurate reading lower than it should.

Run a wire from the meter's + lead to the battery for comparison. If the reading is accurate use what's convenient for you. If it's an LED meter gauging accuracy might be a little more difficult.

Whooshka said:

Hello gents, need some expertise. I want to hook up one of those Kuryakyn voltage meters. I was hoping to tap into the turn signal wires because of their proximity of where I'm mounting the gauge.

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The turn signal/running lamp circuit(s) are not the best circuit to use to monitor vehicle voltage, unless you enjoy watching the voltage rise and fall as the signal lamp flashes, and the running lamp goes out.

Whooshka said:

There are 2 clips, one white and one blue. Which is for the running lights?

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The color of the connectors is probably okay to identify a circuit, however the color of the individual conductors, is a better method to identify electric circuits. See the available wiring schematic here on ST-Owners.

Whooshka said:

And if I tap into the 2 wires feeding the clip it should work, right? I'm assuming 1 is pos and the other neg.

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Oh No. Surely you know what they say about assuming....! Go to the wiring schematic that you downloaded from the link above, trace those conductors, and you'll see why this is wrong.

Whooshka said:

BTW it's a 2006 1300.

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That's like the one I have, good choice!


The voltage meter would probably be of most use when it is connected as directly as possible to the battery, as the battery/alternator combo is the voltage source. Tapping into any other circuit, will influence the accuracy of the voltage reading, due to many factors; voltage drop over length of conductor, resistance at connectors, resistance of switches, resistance of relay contacts, resistance of the circuit back to ground.... The list goes on & on.

OK so I went out there this morning and started poking a test light into the connectors. Yes the white connector with the green wire is the ground. I forgot which color the running light wire is in the blue connector. I didn't connect to the battery because I didn't want the gauge running all the time. This will work just fine, I don't intend to have my eyes glued to the gauge. Fractions of a voltage drop are not going to indicate an issue.

BTW thanks for all the help and advice. I can handle a wrench but electronics intimidate me.

Whooshka said:

I didn't connect to the battery because I didn't want the gauge running all the time.

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Understood. My mention was for comparison only. And the reason I mentioned that voltage drops can exceed fractions of a volt. Also agreed fractions wouldn't bother me either. Looking at a gauge when not using the blinker is pretty easy to manage.

Pics of your install would be appreciated.

I am curious also about where you are installing this. Pictures please.

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Dave.David said:

I am curious also about where you are installing this. Pictures please.

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So I have not mounted it permanently yet. I stuck it in where the vent above the warning lights on the right side of the dash are.

After a couple of rides if I like it there, I'll cut a slot to "recess" it. Not flush but not looking like a stick-on either. Sorry, no idea why the image rotated.

Is that one distracting at night? The single LED ones like the Clearwater or Signal Dynamic can be very bright even 30% dimmed. 5 lit LEDS would need a piece of tape!

dduelin said:

Is that one distracting at night? The single LED ones like the Clearwater or Signal Dynamic can be very bright even 30% dimmed. 5 lit LEDS would need a piece of tape!

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Don't know yet. Haven't ridden it since the install. That's why I don't mount anything permanently until I'm comfortable with it.

dduelin said:

Is that one distracting at night? The single LED ones like the Clearwater or Signal Dynamic can be very bright even 30% dimmed. 5 lit LEDS would need a piece of tape!

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I had one mounted on my batwing fairing and loved it. Auto dimmed also

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