YAI/GIT (Yet another instrument/gear indicator thread)

[STRider]

So as the arctic extended it's chilly tendrils across North America in mid-February I decided to finally pull my instruments and send them to BLUEGAUGES.COM for an LED upgrade. I weighed the pros and cons of doing it myself. If my workplace were unrestricted I'd have both ready access to the equipment as well as skilled and willing accomplices to perform the work. But I figured Scott Woodruff needs to eat so I decided to give him my business. Though he was a little slow to respond at first, and his answers to my questions were terse, he was in no way rude or abrupt and in the end he did what I requested.

I ordered white LEDs all around except amber for the turn indicators and red for the needles. They arrived Sunday via USPS Priority Mail a day ahead of the scheduled delivery (am I alone in still being taken aback by mail delivery on Sunday? LOVE the USPS )

I also ordered via Amazon a gear indicator that explicitly list the 2008-2015 ST1300. It's a blatant copy of the GIPro except less than one third the price at $44.50 with free shipping. Sadly, they even stole their installation and setup instructions nearly word-for-word. I feel so unclean.

But it works. I temporarily connected it to the ECU port under the seat and performed the set up. It's really weird running the bike up through the gears on the centerstand. Frankly in 45+ years of riding and wrenching I don't ever recall having done this for any reason. Yet there I was with my new ST in the garage running it in 5th gear at about 3,000rpm. What a Farmers Insurance commercial that would make if it rolled off the stand!

So here's where I look to the collective for some opinion, advice and help.

I've looked at the work others had done to mount their gear indicator like mine in the instruments. I've seen one or two who inserted it into the blank space above the ST1300 logo in the right indicator section. I've seen another where the LED module was so big that it displaced the logo entirely. And I've seen countless others that mounted outside the pod in various location on the dash, handlebars, center triple clamp cover, etc...

But I'm not sure I've seen what I have in mind - please point me to posts if I'm wrong.

I intend to place it within the meter assembly case, directly on the face of the speedometer in the empty quadrant in its lower right to the left of the LCD display, almost directly below the MPH label.

I'd secure it with VHB tape to the gauge face and then route the wiring down to the bottom edge of the gauge, pass through to the back and then up and out of the case assembly through the opening for the two main connectors for the meters.

I'm certain I'll need to make a small notch in the lower edge of the meter face, the white frame which holds the face, the edge of the circuit board and finally the edge of the rectangular opening for the connectors. My plan is to cut the lead and install a three conductor Hitachi style connector just outside the instrument assembly so when I do have to pull the instruments, I don't have to rip out the wiring all the way back to the ECU diagnostic port.

Unfortunately the length of wire supplied won't reach from the face of the speedo, over the river and through the woods, so before I'm done I'm going to have to splice some length of suitable gauge wire between that Hitachi connector and the remainder of the original wire, because as delivered it has the terminals for the Sumitomo connector already crimped on. I thought about buying some terminals from Beaver Power, after all they are only 14¢ ea for the terminal and 9¢ ea for the weather seal, but then they require a $10 minimum order and though I see myself buying a few items from them in the coming years, I'm not ready yet. So butt splices it is for this project!

Comments? brickbats?

Here's the instruments getting their smoke test before final assembly later this week. Everything lights as it should. The FI light stays on only briefly after the ignition is turned on so I wasn't able to catch it and the turn indicators on at the same time.




Here's the "GFYSHIP for Honda GL1800 Goldwing F6B 2013-2017, ST1300 Pan European 08-15, Motorcycle LCD 1-6Level Gear Indicator Digital Meter (Red)" Works fine in the garage. But that "HONDA" logo has to go. Dremel buffing wheel and toothpaste might do the trick.


Something like this location.




There's adequate clearance between the clear cover and the instrument face. I think.



This is where I would notch the instrument white frame and circuit board - yes, I know the circuit board is a sensitive thing to modify, but that's right where the breakaway tabs are for removing the non-rectangular board from its surrounding frame. There should be enough clearance to remove that excess without damaging any traces on the board and still slip the cable through. My goal is not to do anything to the instrument case that could compromise its watertightness, except at worst where the cable emerges beside the existing connectors.



And this is a VERY rough idea of how the cable would route out behind the back of the meter assembly on its way to the opening where the connectors are.

 

[STFlips]

I like it and the LEDs look great on the dash

 

[SupraSabre]

Glad to see you got the lighting done!

As for mounting, I have often thought about doing the same thing. Of course, the wiring isn't long enough, .

Good luck with the install!

 

[Larry Fine]

It would look neat if you could hide the module behind a little tinted window somewhere.

 

[STRider]

It would look neat if you could hide the module behind a little tinted window somewhere.

I agree Larry. But my experience with my other vehicles with gear position indicators is that I need it to be right where the action is - in the middle of the tach and speedo. The location above the logo has been executed to perfection by others, but is far from where I want my eyes to be as I'm glancing at the clocks while ripping up through the gears.

And at the urging of Scott from BlueGauges, I did not pull the needles on my end so I've relied on the excellent teardown photos Bob has on his website to know what's under the speedometer. Unfortunately I am not game for placing the gear module directly on top of the meter circuit board at this point.

Thanks for the encouragement! Stay tuned.

 

[STRider]

Okay, so I'm ready to button up this seemingly simple addition to my instruments and I've run into a perplexing problem with solutions I'm not quite happy with.

I'm adding a device (gear indicator) to the interior of the instrument pod with its own wiring. I need to get that wire out of the pod. The only means of accessing the internals is through the two main electrical connectors which have their own rubber boot that makes a weather proof seal with the back of the pod.

For the gear indicator I've run a length of four conductor cable from the ECM (I'll only be using three of the wires) up to behind the instrument pod where I've added a Hitachi connector. My plan has been to route the gear indicator cable out of the pod and terminate it with the matching connector so in the event I want to remove the pod from the bike in the future it's just another connector to detach.

But how to get that cable out of the pod? I can't go through the OEM port without messing up the existing rubber boot.

I could drill a hole in the case, pass the cable through a grommet and then add the connector, but then the back half of the pod will be forever tethered to the electrical guts of the instruments. If I had to I could cut off the connector and then replace it afterward. It's not like I intend to get inside that thing on any regular basis, but then again...

I've also thought of cutting a slot along the mating line of the back half of the pod to allow the grommet to slide into place and then the open slot would be covered by the overlap of the joint. It allows me to 'de-tether' the electronics from the case, but compromises the weatherproofing of the pod more than I'd like.

So I'm open to suggestions, but I'd like to hear from others that have added things inside their pods.

How did you get your wiring out?

 

[ST Gui]

decided to finally pull my instruments and send them to BLUEGAUGES.COM for an LED upgrade

First– the white LEDs for the tach and speedo look great as do the white letters and numbers in the LCD info panel. I'd prefer the background color to be darker but IIRC that's not an option. The red needles look great as well.

I'm curious/confusde about your mention of:

I ordered white LEDs all around except amber for the turn indicators and red for the needles. They arrived Sunday via USPS Priority Mail a day ahead of the scheduled delivery...

Are you referring to the dash assembly here being returned from BlueGauges? And about the turn indicators on the dash – weren't they amber all ready? Were they bulbs and not LEDs?

Can't wait to see how you fare with the GPI under glass. I wanted to mount one the same way be lack the fortitude (and space) to even pull the dash to send to BG let alone open the assembly up. Much good luck to you and look forward to pics of the final assembly!

 

[STRider]

First– the white LEDs for the tach and speedo look great as do the white letters and numbers in the LCD info panel. I'd prefer the background color to be darker but IIRC that's not an option. The red needles look great as well.

I'm curious/confusde about your mention of: I ordered white LEDs all around except amber for the turn indicators and red for the needles.


Are you referring to the dash assembly here being returned from BlueGauges? And about the turn indicators on the dash – weren't they amber all ready? Were they bulbs and not LEDs?

Can't wait to see how you fare with the GPI under glass. I wanted to mount one the same way be lack the fortitude (and space) to even pull the dash to send to BG let alone open the assembly up. Much good luck to you and look forward to pics of the final assembly!

There are discrete LEDs for the turn indicators, speedo and tach back lighting and the needle backlighting. Yes, the turn indicator LEDs are amber already, as are the colored covers in the panel, but I wanted to be sure Scott at BG replaced them with brighter LEDs as well. It's not obvious in his service listing that those are included. Same with the red LEDs for the needles; I wanted them upgraded too.

Well, after reading your message and not hearing other recommendations I went ahead and finished the instrument wiring along with the gear indicator.

I drilled a 17/64" hole in the back half of the case right at the meeting of the main section and the control buttons and headlight adjustor. I left an ample length of cable attached in the event I ever need to dig into this part of the bike again. I hope I never need to. I attached the mate to the Hitachi connector I had already installed on the bike and routed to the tailsection where the ECM diagnostic port is located. It turned out pretty well. I'm confident it's as weatherproof as any OEM solution. Looks good too.

Now that the instruments, gear indicator, and mirror LEDs are done I'm pretty close to buttoning this up. I have switchbacks for the front on order and the lenses already in hand. Looking through the LED headlight threads and still unsure what I want. I'd prefer a 6000K over 6500K output, but I'm not seeing it and I'm in no great rush at the moment.

 

[ST Gui]

There are discrete LEDs for the turn indicators, speedo and tach back lighting and the needle backlighting.

Yeah I'm aware of the 28 or so LEDs for the gauge backlighting and the service performed by BG. There've been several threads about his work. One member here has also used red LEDs for the needles.

What I didn't know is that BG also uses brighter LEDs for the turn signal indicators. Of all the members who've had the conversion done I don't recall seeing one mention those getting upgraded. That's an interesting tidbit.

Will you remove the text on the GPI as earlier mentioned? It looks to be a very clean installation!

 

[STRider]

Well you see, that's the thing. I don't know if Scott at BG would replace the turn indicators or needle backlights without specifically requesting that service.

If you look carefully at pictures of the bare circuit board you can see that the LED color is printed next to many of them. The ones in the center of each gauge that illuminate the needles say red, etc... I suppose you could make those any color you like if you ask. From my email exchanges with Scott, I imagine he's a guy with a the skills and the equipment to work with the SMD LEDs and has piles (actually, probably reels of tape) with various colors that he pulls from for each customer's order. I don't think one or two extra make any difference to him if you can be specific about what you want.

As for the logos... Once I removed the protective film I discovered that text is not printed on the out side as I hoped, but rather is on the material that's potted with all the other components. Oh well.

 

[leonides]

So as the arctic extended it's chilly tendrils across North America in mid-February I decided to finally pull my instruments and send them to BLUEGAUGES.COM for an LED upgrade. I weighed the pros and cons of doing it myself. If my workplace were unrestricted I'd have both ready access to the equipment as well as skilled and willing accomplices to perform the work. But I figured Scott Woodruff needs to eat so I decided to give him my business. Though he was a little slow to respond at first, and his answers to my questions were terse, he was in no way rude or abrupt and in the end he did what I requested.

I ordered white LEDs all around except amber for the turn indicators and red for the needles. They arrived Sunday via USPS Priority Mail a day ahead of the scheduled delivery (am I alone in still being taken aback by mail delivery on Sunday? LOVE the USPS )

I also ordered via Amazon a gear indicator that explicitly list the 2008-2015 ST1300. It's a blatant copy of the GIPro except less than one third the price at $44.50 with free shipping. Sadly, they even stole their installation and setup instructions nearly word-for-word. I feel so unclean.

But it works. I temporarily connected it to the ECU port under the seat and performed the set up. It's really weird running the bike up through the gears on the centerstand. Frankly in 45+ years of riding and wrenching I don't ever recall having done this for any reason. Yet there I was with my new ST in the garage running it in 5th gear at about 3,000rpm. What a Farmers Insurance commercial that would make if it rolled off the stand!

So here's where I look to the collective for some opinion, advice and help.

I've looked at the work others had done to mount their gear indicator like mine in the instruments. I've seen one or two who inserted it into the blank space above the ST1300 logo in the right indicator section. I've seen another where the LED module was so big that it displaced the logo entirely. And I've seen countless others that mounted outside the pod in various location on the dash, handlebars, center triple clamp cover, etc...

But I'm not sure I've seen what I have in mind - please point me to posts if I'm wrong.

I intend to place it within the meter assembly case, directly on the face of the speedometer in the empty quadrant in its lower right to the left of the LCD display, almost directly below the MPH label.

I'd secure it with VHB tape to the gauge face and then route the wiring down to the bottom edge of the gauge, pass through to the back and then up and out of the case assembly through the opening for the two main connectors for the meters.

I'm certain I'll need to make a small notch in the lower edge of the meter face, the white frame which holds the face, the edge of the circuit board and finally the edge of the rectangular opening for the connectors. My plan is to cut the lead and install a three conductor Hitachi style connector just outside the instrument assembly so when I do have to pull the instruments, I don't have to rip out the wiring all the way back to the ECU diagnostic port.

Unfortunately the length of wire supplied won't reach from the face of the speedo, over the river and through the woods, so before I'm done I'm going to have to splice some length of suitable gauge wire between that Hitachi connector and the remainder of the original wire, because as delivered it has the terminals for the Sumitomo connector already crimped on. I thought about buying some terminals from Beaver Power, after all they are only 14¢ ea for the terminal and 9¢ ea for the weather seal, but then they require a $10 minimum order and though I see myself buying a few items from them in the coming years, I'm not ready yet. So butt splices it is for this project!

Comments? brickbats?

Here's the instruments getting their smoke test before final assembly later this week. Everything lights as it should. The FI light stays on only briefly after the ignition is turned on so I wasn't able to catch it and the turn indicators on at the same time.




Here's the "GFYSHIP for Honda GL1800 Goldwing F6B 2013-2017, ST1300 Pan European 08-15, Motorcycle LCD 1-6Level Gear Indicator Digital Meter (Red)" Works fine in the garage. But that "HONDA" logo has to go. Dremel buffing wheel and toothpaste might do the trick.


Something like this location.




There's adequate clearance between the clear cover and the instrument face. I think.



This is where I would notch the instrument white frame and circuit board - yes, I know the circuit board is a sensitive thing to modify, but that's right where the breakaway tabs are for removing the non-rectangular board from its surrounding frame. There should be enough clearance to remove that excess without damaging any traces on the board and still slip the cable through. My goal is not to do anything to the instrument case that could compromise its watertightness, except at worst where the cable emerges beside the existing connectors.



And this is a VERY rough idea of how the cable would route out behind the back of the meter assembly on its way to the opening where the connectors are.

Do you have a pic of the connector where you plug it,
(My knowledge of electronics are O )
thanks

 

[STRider]

Do you have a pic of the connector where you plug it,
(My knowledge of electronics are O )
thanks

Yes, I have pix. On the road returning from NEW-STOC. Will post when I get to a proper computer.

 

[Kevcules]

That is an amazing job STRider!

 

[mjc506]

Looks good! Although aren't both vss and tach signals available in the cluster themselves? (no external wiring, once programmed)

 

[leonides]

Yes, I have pix. On the road returning from NEW-STOC. Will post when I get to a proper computer.

Thanks a lot.
P.B.

 

[STRider]

@leonides

Thanks for the prod. I think I'm overdue in following up posts showing how this project turned out.

Remember, this applies only to 2008+ model years; my 1300 is a 2012. Earlier model years connect to the electrical system in a different manner which I can't describe AND would require a different version of a gear position indicator to go along with it.

This is the red connector for the diagnostic port under the passenger seat along the right side of the bike. There should be a protective cover over it if it's been unmolested in the past.



With my gear position indicator connector attached.

 

[STRider]

Looks good! Although aren't both vss and tach signals available in the cluster themselves? (no external wiring, once programmed)

Good question!

Quite possible/probable, but I wouldn't know where to begin to trace to those circuits that would serve for the gear position indicator. And I'm guessing would definitely require finding suitable points to solder into the instrument panel circuit board. If I had a spare to play with like @SupraSabre might, it could be a good project.

I didn't even consider that route as I knew I could get to the needed circuit through the diagnostic connector with wires and connectors.

 

[leonides]

Got it, thanks a lot.
P.B.

 

[ST Gui]

This is the red connector for the diagnostic port under the passenger seat along the right side of the bike. There should be a protective cover over it if it's been unmolested in the past.

Those pics show a disturbing level of bike cleanliness. Do you by any chance have a spare that never leaves the garage on which you demonstrate mods made to your actual ride?

 

[STRider]

Those pics show a disturbing level of bike cleanliness. Do you by any chance have a spare that never leaves the garage on which you demonstrate mods made to your actual ride?

Busted.