As part of my GSXR front end retro, I also upgraded the speedo to a digital drive unit to replace the old horribly inaccurate mechanical drive unit.
Hopefully you'll agree it looks pretty OEM - if I'd taken the additional step of painting the bezel black, it would be hard to notice at caual glance it wasn't OEM.
This should be do-able for any of the 97-01 Speed Triple or Daytonas.
This is not for the faint-hearted however as it involves some serious hacking into your newly acquired $300 speedo!
The foundation for the retro is a
Procycle Model 19355 Gauge.
You can find the
technical details here
I got mine from
MotorcycleOnlineStore - not only did they have the best price, but their customer service in amazing! Robin from there, having realized that my package had been sent out Priority instead of overnight actually went down to the post office to recover it & redirect for overnight! Without any prompting from me to do that!
In this faceless internet world of e-commerce, how many would do something like that?
But I digress:
So the 'big' mod is to cut open the speedo shell & cut it down so it fits better inside the original instrument cluster. It is too deep to fit in there as-is so just be brave & hack in! I was working blind but once I had it open can now make recommendation on 'how-to' for anyone contemplating the same mod.
The gauge & electronics assembly is mounted on a set of 3/4" stand-offs off the base. The idea is to cut it open, remove the stand-offs & a corresponding section from the side of the shell & stick it back together again.
Here's a sectional of the gauge:
I used a dremel but a band-saw would be even better. Mask up the outside with masking tape & draw your cutting lines around the circumference on the tape using a set of compasses. This will give you nice straight cutting lines. By cutting 10mm from the bottom for the first cut, you ensure you are well clear of the electronics.
Once the base & the gauge assembly is removed, the shell is free to cut the supefluous section out. In metric, the stand-offs are 19mm - after the original cut is done, I would recommend a further 17mm to allow for the cuts - you need to ensure the gauge does not go back in too high on re-assembly as the needle can interfere with the face.
Incidentally be careful with the switch as you withdraw it - don't rotate the assembly at all or you may break the switch!
For re-assembly I taped up the bottom of the electronics board with electrical tape to ensure that nothing would short on the base.
Before re-mounting the electronics to the base, I drilled a hole in the center of the base & epoxied in an M5 bolt - you will use this later in conjunction with one of the original flat nuts that secured the OEM speedo to pull it down tight & secure in the cluster. I used a countersunk-head bolt to maintain the lowest profile inside the base.
Then mount the electronics & gauge assembly on the base minus the stand-offs & carefully insert the assembly back into the top half of the shell - be especially careful to re-insert the switch push-rod back into the operating button on the face-plate. You may want to have some tape handy for a temporary restraint.
Finally, epoxy the shell back together again.
You will need some trimming inside the cluster to get the thing to fit completely in, but nothing too brutal that will be obvious from the outside. You will drill a hole through the base of the cluster for the aforementioned bolt that when snugged up will pull the gauge down onto the cluster fascia. I actually used the original rubber gasket from the topside of the OEM gauge, on the underside of the fascia - this also helps to snug up the gauge securely in the cluster even though the diameter of the new gauge is slightly under that of the hole in the fascia. It should also help eliminate possibility of water leaking under the gauge bezel into the cluster assembly.
Now to get it operational, you need a drive kit! I looked at several possible options and in the end selected the Acumen Electronics DG8 digital gear indicator gauge & the accessory drive kit
Acumen DG8 Gear Indicator
Acumen Speedo Upgrade KIt
You can just use the drive upgrade kit itself if you don't want to add the indicator - I just decided to go for both.
I also tested the gauge out using my brother-in-law's Veypor drive with a single magnet & the gauge worked fine with that also - about the same price, but the Acumen kit is just a lot nicer IMO.
I really like the Sensor & Magnets used in the Acumen kit - it installed nicely on the under-side of the swinging arm & each of the magnets in the supplied holders is in each of the sprocket bolt socket caps. The cabling runs down the chain-guard alongside the brake-line for an unobtrusive appearance.
Just follow the directions supplied with both devices & wire it up with the speedo sensor output connecting to the input of the Procycle gauge, as well as the DG8 if you purchased that too. It is a good idea to solder any connections to ensure you have good joints – the signal levels are quite small from the sensor so you want to ensure good contact. The DG8 comes with a nice plug & socket also however which you can utilize to allow easy removal of the new items.
(I can supply wiring details for anyone who needs them, including where to hook into the bikes wiring)
Here are the pics of the sensor & magnets install:
(the second & third pics are shot from the floor looking up at the underside of the swingarm)
So once all assembled & wired up, then on to calibration of the gauge - this is where a Pitbull (or other) paddock stand is handy!
The instructions tell you to find a measured 2 mile stretch using freeway markers or similar.
However I used this method:
I measured the rear wheel circumference for 77"; there are 6 pulses for every rotation using the Acumen sensor kit.
So for 2 miles, there will be 5280*12*2 miles*6 pulses / 77" = 9874 pulses.
The Procycle gauge has a really neat feature where it counts the number of pulses on the trip meter while in Calibrate mode, so it was as simple as setting bike up on the stand & cycling through the gears & running till I got to my count - then as I approached the magic number, I slowed and down shifted & free-wheeled & braked to stop on the number. Then just end the cal & it should be good! The more accurate you make your initial wheel circumference measurement the more accurate your final result will be. However even a whole inch inaccuracy in 77", will only result in a 1.25% error!
Finally, here's a video of the thing in action on the stand - you will notice that the response time of the DG8 is pretty slow in the lower gears 1-2 but should be a lot faster in 4-6 with the higher wheel revolution & consequent number of pulse counts. The tech support guy at Acumen suggested that the system works more efficiently with higher pulse counts, like an OEM sender.
Excuse the quality of the video - I didn't really have enough hands! I was clutchless shifting & trying to keep the revs down so back wheel wasn't spinning at 80 mph on the stand!
Digital Drive Speedo & DG8 Demo Video
If anyone decides they would like to undertake similar I'd be happy to offer further advice or details.
[ This message was edited by: DEcosse on 2006-11-10 19:18 ]
- I was too!
Linear Mode
