Project: Chinese gauge set on GSX1100G

[GS1000G Shopper]

The sender is electric, one side goes to ground & the other to the gauge. It uses bullet connectors, which I do not care for.

This gauge replaced a combo electric pressure/volt gauge that ground the sender via the engine and used one wire (via a threaded stud terminal) to go to the gauge. My gauge ground lead is going to a clutch cover screw, so it is a good ground. The GSX engine has very limited room below (not under) the ignition pickup cover- the OEM warning light sender does in fact mount under this cover internally. If I used a 16mm x 1.5 (main gallery plug thread) to 1/8 pipe adapter the bullet terminals would stick out too far. I used a 90 degree fitting on the prior sender but the new one is a larger diameter and longer due to the bullet terminals, so it just would not fit there. The -4 hose was the best solution I could think up given the space limitations. I used PTFE hose since I found a good deal locally for the hose assembly.

I tested the ground wire and got a solid ground. I tested the sender between the terminals with wires disconnected and got .4 ohms with the engine off, and then started the warm engine and ran it on fast idle at around 2500 RPM, which should give close to 100 PSI on the old sender. I got a reading of 23.58 megaohms. I looked up some common 0-100 PSI senders and the ones I saw listed were 240 ohms @ 0 PSI and 33 ohms @ 100 PSI. I tested the old sender and got 235 ohms (0 PSI). I suspect the sender is defective but will confirm the Revo numbers with the seller. If it uses a regular 240-33 ohm sender, I can use a spare unit I have here.

[posplayr]

The sender is electric, one side goes to ground & the other to the gauge. It uses bullet connectors, which I do not care for.

This gauge replaced a combo electric pressure/volt gauge that ground the sender via the engine and used one wire (via a threaded stud terminal) to go to the gauge. My gauge ground lead is going to a clutch cover screw, so it is a good ground. The GSX engine has very limited room below (not under) the ignition pickup cover- the OEM warning light sender does in fact mount under this cover internally. If I used a 16mm x 1.5 (main gallery plug thread) to 1/8 pipe adapter the bullet terminals would stick out too far. I used a 90 degree fitting on the prior sender but the new one is a larger diameter and longer due to the bullet terminals, so it just would not fit there. The -4 hose was the best solution I could think up given the space limitations. I used PTFE hose since I found a good deal locally for the hose assembly.

I tested the ground wire and got a solid ground. I tested the sender between the terminals with wires disconnected and got .4 ohms with the engine off, and then started the warm engine and ran it on fast idle at around 2500 RPM, which should give close to 100 PSI on the old sender. I got a reading of 23.58 megaohms. I looked up some common 0-100 PSI senders and the ones I saw listed were 240 ohms @ 0 PSI and 33 ohms @ 100 PSI. I tested the old sender and got 235 ohms (0 PSI). I suspect the sender is defective but will confirm the Revo numbers with the seller. If it uses a regular 240-33 ohm sender, I can use a spare unit I have here.

OK I see it is an broken electric sensor, with no idea why you needed PTFE hose, run the wires inside?

[GS1000G Shopper]

OK I see it is an broken electric sensor, with no idea why you needed PTFE hose, run the wires inside?

No, I'm running oil inside.

The oil gallery opening is 16mm x 1.5 threaded. I used an adapter to size that down to a -4 AN male. The PTFE hose has a 90 degree end that connects to the adapter, and then goes around the ignition cover where it terminates in a -4 AN straight hose end. Connected to that is a -4 AN male to 1/8 male pipe adapter. The sender is connected to that via a 1/8 pipe union. I used a 2" insulated clamp via an aluminum bracket to hold the sender in place.

As the saying goes, a picture is worth 1,000 words.
Overall view:


Sender feed at main gallery:


Sender mount:

[posplayr]

That is a huge transducer ; but now I see what you are talking about.

I bought a cheap boost gauge to convert to oil pressure. The transducer is smaller hands since I already have an oil line running to my handlebars, I'm going to connect it there. It might even fit inside of my gauge housing but that remains to be seen.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-52mm-Black-Cover-Car-Universal-Digital-Red-LED-PSI-Turbo-Boost-Gauge-Meter-/261876163942?hash=item3cf9092566&vxp=mtr

I was able to extricate the LED display from the housing and it will be mounted in by idiot light dash. (not for the faint of heart).

My oil pressure doesn't get much over 15 psi, but will hit that easily when cold.

[GS1000G Shopper]

I was able to extricate the LED display from the housing and it will be mounted in by idiot light dash. (not for the faint of heart).

That's the best thing you can do with a tinted/smoked gauge IMO. The ones I tried were completely useless during the day, which is when I do most of my riding. I did something similar with the LCD gear indicator from a H***a CB700- took the gauge apart & placed it in the add-on dash I made for the GSX behind a clear acrylic window. It's much nicer to have it all built-in on the China dash.

[GS1000G Shopper]

I heard from the vendor and they are sending a replacement sending unit. If it is a 240-33 ohm unit, I may spring $20 and buy one with screw terminals. I checked the sender with the gauge disconnected a few hours after riding today and saw it was very low when off, under 2 ohms, and the resistance raised as the pressure (RPMs) increased. I saw a peak reading of around 170 ohms @ 4K RPM. When I connected it, the gauge was not responding accurately during this time, so I need to check it immediately after riding as the gauge today again after a few miles seemed to be accurate.

I had the chance to ride about 50 miles today, and in so doing I discovered an unintended yet logical consequence. I used Interstate mileposts to check the odometer (in miles setting) and found it was way off (too low). When I switched to KM, it was accurate. The speedometer reading remained the same in both modes. In adjusting the speed sensor output to calibrate the speedometer, the KMs now read as miles, and the miles are of no value.

If I knew more about programming, it would be nice to make the KM/Miles function work for both the odometer and speedometer.

[GS1000G Shopper]

Next update-
The second sender gave the same result as the first one, so I tried a known good 240-33 0-100 PSI sender and got an immediate reading, albeit far too low. It returned 40-50 PSI where I should have been close to 100 PSI with cold oil, and then it decreased as I revved the engine. I then tested both with the gauge disconnected & engine running and both gave a varying range of resistance (ohms) as they should. I noted the new sender's resistance increased up to about 140 ohms at 4K RPM whereas the 240-33 unit decreased as pressure increased. I have contacted the seller & advised them of my findings, and that I suspect the gauge must be defective. I've asked for an exchange so we'll see what happens.

[GS1000G Shopper]

Next update-
I shipped the oil pressure gauge & one of the two senders they had shipped to me back to the vendor. I am temporarily using some old Prosport gauges that use the same sensor values, but can't be properly illuminated with my photocell setup (the gauge light once turned on does not turn off with the photocell).

The vendor advised the oil pressure gauge was OK, but that it was not designed for use on a motorcycle and offered a refund. I'm going to try & return both since I want matched gauges. UPDATE: I'm getting a credit for the oil pressure gauge & was then stuck with the temperature gauge. One more reason to avoid this brand & vendor.

The next set I will try are the newer clear lens all black Prosport models that are waterproof. They cost a little more, but should hold up better on this application. Another benefit is they use a white LED for light that can be wired to only come on with illumination. They are complete with senders and are sold on Prosport's website and Amazon:
Oil pressure gauge $55. This gauge is 0-150 PSI, which works well for me since the GSX-G puts out over 100 PSI with cold oil.

Oil temperature gauge $41. It has a range of 120-300 degrees. They make a water temperature gauge that has a range of 100-280 that would be a better fit for my application, but I didn't want a gauge that said water temp on an air & oil cooled bike.

I think shipping adds like $12 for both.

I now have about 200 miles on the setup. Here are some observations in no order:
1. The fuel gauge hits reserve (flashes) well before the bike does. This is due to the difference in ohms for the sender vs the gauge. I'm not aware of any easy way to fix this.
2. The clock gains time way more than it should. It gained like 4 minutes in a week. It's not an easy process to reset it, and I didn't want the feature anyway. It's a waste of space IMO and I'd rather see the space used for a larger voltmeter or a temperature readout.
3. The voltmeter is way too small to read while riding. You just need to know if several bars are present it is OK. I was spoiled by larger meters on the prior version and on both GS bikes.
4. The GPI is really easy to read while riding.
5. The 4 magnet speedometer setup continues to work very well.
6. The turn signal indicators are really too dim for daytime use. I may get ambitious and see if they use LED bulbs and if so if they can be replaced with brighter ones.
7. You have to be careful with button presses. Since there are only two buttons, each performs multiple functions. I accidentally reset the trip odometer while trying to change the display from KM to MPH.

I'm sure there are people that can reverse-engineer things like the LCD display. I'm not one of them, but it would be great if someone did so and revised it to eliminate the clock and address the other issues.

[GS1000G Shopper]

Final update, the Prosport gauges are great. I bought a dual pod and made a plate to mount them that attaches to the windshield bolts. It was a little tricky getting them wired and the large nuts tightened, but the end result came out OK. The China dash continues to work well with no issues.
CAM00573.jpg

[mikerophone]

Thanks for the updates and comprehensive analysis, I will be referring to this when I'm ready to do something similar!