Another member had ask me about my gear (position) indicator, but I was unable to respond back since he couldn’t receive PM so I decided to do a thread instead. The model I got on eBay, (under $20), uses a magnet to detect when there is a shift. Other models connect to the tachometer and speedometer to indicate the gear, but it was more confusing in my opinion so I went with the magnet one. The number range of the indicator is 0-8 which is more than enough for our bike. It displays a 0 for neutral, 1 for 1st gear, 2 for 2nd gear and so forth.
Install
I installed the display on top of my voltmeter and connected the power lines to the front running light so that it turns on with the bike.
I know the voltage is low in the pic, but I measured it and it is actually 1 volt lower than actual voltage since it’s connected to the front running lights.
The magnet went on the bottom bolt of the left foot pedal and the up/down sensors were glued onto the shift lever. The position of the sensor is critical since you only want it to activate when the lever is pushed all the way down or up. I had to toy around with it for a while to get it in the correct spot. And the neutral wire on the gear indicator was connected to the neutral wire in the headlight bucket.
Review
The gear indicator works as it should as long as you shift normally and don’t do anything out of the ordinary. Only thing about it is that it doesn’t accurately detect when the bike is in neutral. It’s not that big of any issue since there is already a green neutral light on the dash, but it’s still a bug. Sometimes it will sense when the bike is in neutral and sometimes it won’t. When I put the bike in neutral and the display doesn’t change to 0, then it will change after I push down lightly on the shift lever until I get a little resistant from the lever. I believe the indicator needs a signal from the neutral line and one of the sensors in order to indicate the neutral position. So when I lightly push down on the lever, it sets off one of the sensors. I’m not sure if changing the position of the sensors would help with this issue.
This is newbie in me speaking, but I like the indicator because I don’t have to mentally keep track of which gear I am in. Even though I spend most of my time in 5th gear, with the indicator, I don’t have to do an extra up shift to make sure that I am in 5th gear. Also since I am a noob, sometimes when I come to a stop I would forget to shift down to 1st gear, so when I look at the indicator it reminds me that I am still in 5th gear and saves me the embarrassment of stalling the bike.
Install
I installed the display on top of my voltmeter and connected the power lines to the front running light so that it turns on with the bike.
I know the voltage is low in the pic, but I measured it and it is actually 1 volt lower than actual voltage since it’s connected to the front running lights.
The magnet went on the bottom bolt of the left foot pedal and the up/down sensors were glued onto the shift lever. The position of the sensor is critical since you only want it to activate when the lever is pushed all the way down or up. I had to toy around with it for a while to get it in the correct spot. And the neutral wire on the gear indicator was connected to the neutral wire in the headlight bucket.
Review
The gear indicator works as it should as long as you shift normally and don’t do anything out of the ordinary. Only thing about it is that it doesn’t accurately detect when the bike is in neutral. It’s not that big of any issue since there is already a green neutral light on the dash, but it’s still a bug. Sometimes it will sense when the bike is in neutral and sometimes it won’t. When I put the bike in neutral and the display doesn’t change to 0, then it will change after I push down lightly on the shift lever until I get a little resistant from the lever. I believe the indicator needs a signal from the neutral line and one of the sensors in order to indicate the neutral position. So when I lightly push down on the lever, it sets off one of the sensors. I’m not sure if changing the position of the sensors would help with this issue.
This is newbie in me speaking, but I like the indicator because I don’t have to mentally keep track of which gear I am in. Even though I spend most of my time in 5th gear, with the indicator, I don’t have to do an extra up shift to make sure that I am in 5th gear. Also since I am a noob, sometimes when I come to a stop I would forget to shift down to 1st gear, so when I look at the indicator it reminds me that I am still in 5th gear and saves me the embarrassment of stalling the bike.