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Voltmeter ad to VFR800


mello dude
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Since Honda put such a high quality charging system in the VFR (bullshit) and it normally lasts the lifetime of the motorcycle (bullshit), I decided that it would be a good idea to add a Lascar voltmeter on the bike to keep an eye of what is going on.

http://www.lascarelectronics.com/temperaturedatalogger.php?location=us&datalogger=116

A trip to Lowes for some stuff and throw in a hacksaw, file and drill, and you get ….

Tankpremount.jpg

platereadytomount.jpg

plateandspacers.jpg

metercleanedup.jpg

assembled.jpg

Does the job......cool...

beer.gif

Edited by mello dude
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Its nice to have to watch the trend of the health of your charging system. You know in advance that something weird (bad) is going on. Then you avoid the - oh shit in the middle of nowhere moments.

Unless Honda has upgraded to MOSFET technology, its not a matter of if, but when that your R/R will eat it. - - VFR stators typically go 40k to 50k.

Edited by mello dude
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^^^ Assuming your asking about the meter, its water resistant, not water proof. Some have died in heavy rainstorms. Also the thing is not super shock resistant so dont mount it on the triple tree. ---- I like it mostly because its one hole to drill and mounts with a stud. Other guys have gone the datel route, but that takes a rectangular cutout to mount and I didnt want to foole with that.

btw- my stock R/R went 10,500 miles before eating it.

Edited by mello dude
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Some Honda OEM R/Rs will go a long time, but it seems like a pretty good fallout of them die early. A meter is cheap insurance so you dont find yourself stranded. Also its worthwhile to check voltage at the battery at idle and 5k rpm on a regular basis.

VFRD has a show your meter thread.....

btw - I saw your run hot thread. Its worth doing a flushout and add new coolant fill. I'm guessing the bike still has the factory fill. I run the Honda blue stuff you buy at the auto dealer and 4 ounces of Water Wetter per gallon in the mix.

Edited by mello dude
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nice mod.. good idea for any bike really, but especially Very Flaky Regs

You can get em from China cheap, if you don't mind waiting or the trade deficit. Can't guarantee .1v accuracy, but the difference between 13.8 and 12.6 should get you home ok

http://www.ebay.com/itm/0-56-Digital-Voltmeter-4-5-30V-Blue-LED-Motorcycle-Car-Panel-Meter-Waterproof-/271047604388?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1bb238a4

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^^^ Looks good - I wonder how those compare to a Datel meter? Looks like theres lot of ebay options.

- I'm really liking mine, I have it wired direct to the battery with a fuse and toggle switch and leave it on full time so I can spot the battery voltage whether I'm deep do or not before I even ride.

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^^^ Basically yes.... but its good to do a sano job of a wire hook up. The leads on the meter are something like 28 gage and kinda wimpy. So the wires need to be routed so theres no stress on them. Some silcone to seal it up and heat shrink tube is a good idea. -I'm not that familiar with the 6th gen wire harness, but if you do this, step back and plan how you will route your wires. On the 5th gen, the main harness runs by the left side of the bike and I routed the meter wires thru a shrink tube and zip tied it next to the harness and it all comes out by the battery. Then you need a fuse holder you can buy at autozone and also a rocker switch goes to the battery on the positive side. (battery, fuse,[1 amp or less] then switch) On the neg side you can go to the battery or find a good ground on the frame. ------- (Some guys have used a relay powered off the tail light to trigger juice to the meter. I did this at first, but in that set up, you dont know where your battery is at before you switch the key on. Didnt care for that setup. I like the rocker switch on idea much better in that you check the battery condition before starting the bike.)

The switch on mine i have under the seat looks like......

Switchrocker2.jpg

Also highly recommended - add in a digikey diode per the sheet here.

It cost a whole 5 bucks from digikey.

http://www.martelmeters.com/pdf/QM_100V-40.pdf

The whole thing is just basic wiring - some terminal crimp connectors, heat shrink tubing, extra 18 gage wire, a few zip ties and some patience. Not hard at all.

Edited by mello dude
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