Gear indicators

[edjo69]

Did a search and the Datatool and the Acumen both seem pretty complicated, esp installation. I really just want a 5th gear indicator, like a led to just put into the dash. Anyone know of a beast?

 

[Allnight]

Hmm...I haven't ever thought about a light telling me that I'm in 5th. I can see the idea though.

One thing I don't like about the FJR's gear indicator (the factory one), is that it's blank for neutral. My 1984 Nighthawk had an indicator that showed 'N' for neutral.

I wish the FJR did the same. The Nighthawk also had the separate light for neutral, just like the FJR has: I just prefer not having to figure out if I have something blocking my vision so I can't see the "1" on the display or if I have to realize the greenlight is on 5 inches to the left of the gear indicator.

 

[mscott]

I, too, would be interested in something like this. If it's not already out there, how hard would it be to make one? I'd bet somewhere in the sensor/computer interface there is something that "knows" when you are in 5th, and could be tapped to trigger a small LED mounted in an easily viewable place...HINT HINT you tech gurus!

 

[Crash Cash]

I, too, would be interested in something like this. If it's not already out there, how hard would it be to make one? I'd bet somewhere in the sensor/computer interface there is something that "knows" when you are in 5th, and could be tapped to trigger a small LED mounted in an easily viewable place...HINT HINT you tech gurus!

Sure, same two ways as the current digital gear systems work, but it won't be any easier to install. The Datatool/Acumen use the ratio between the wheel speed (from the speedo) and the engine speed (from the tach) and you calibrate them and they build up a little table that says "when the ratio is X then you're in gear Y"

It'll still need the speedo/tach connections, and the calibration, so it still won't be any easier to install. There's really no point to it then, you might as well go whole hog and have the full digital indicator. So that's why nobody sells 'em.

The Gen II has a little rotary switch on the end of the shift cam. It switches a different resistor for each gear, so that the computer sees different voltages. The computer has a cheap analog-to-digital converter to convert the voltage to a number that it looks up in the table to see which gear it's in. This approach only uses 1 wire+ground and saves 5 wires over the old way, which had a wire for each gear.

You could probably splice into that and use a voltage comparator to light an LED (or series thereof) but I don't know how this'll affect the computer. (I'm software, NOT hardware... there's a reason they keep me away from soldering irons) I'd suspect it's not a good idea, otherwise Datatool & Acumen would do it that way, because easier installs sell more units.

There's ALWAYS a separate wire & light for neutral, which is required by the US DOT, and goes back to the clutch/throttle/brake/shifter standardization in the '60s (or somewhere around then). The computer could be programmed to show "N" except Yamaha just decided not to, probably because it lacks the display segments. The bean counters probably said no to adding a couple of segments & associated wires used just to show a decent-looking "N"

EDIT: That's the disadvantage of the all-digital fully-integrated stuff... there's a place that knows you're in 5th, but it's inside a computer chip where you can't get to, and the interface between the computer and the display is just about impossible to deal with.

 

[mscott]

Well, see there, I knew it would be easy :blink: :glare:

 

[pinhead]

Did a search and the Datatool and the Acumen both seem pretty complicated, esp installation. I really just want a 5th gear indicator, like a led to just put into the dash. Anyone know of a beast?

I installed the Datatool indicator on my wife's Ninja 650 and it was pretty straight forward. Don't let it scare you off. Just be really careful with the stock wires you're tapping into since they are, um, kind of important.

As mentioned above, it does have to calculate what gear you're in so there is a ~1 second delay after a moving shift. Also, it can't calculate correctly if you are idling in gear with the clutch pulled in, like while sitting at a red light.

Honestly, I wouldn't spend the money on one for myself. I tend to just shift when I need to shift, but my wife finds it useful and that's all that counts.

 

[Crash Cash]

Honestly, I wouldn't spend the money on one for myself. I tend to just shift when I need to shift, but my wife finds it useful and that's all that counts.

Yeah, the only one I've ever installed was on my DL-650, and it was so overweight with such a crap engine that you needed it. That one was a special one for Suzuki engines that actually tapped into the gear sensor output, so it didn't have the delay, and it was always correct. You calibrated it by going through the gears once.

Get this - for you guys moaning about a lack of an "N" - it had the gear sensor, it had the gear display in the dash which was sourced from the DL-1000, but IT DIDN'T BOTHER TO DISPLAY THE GEAR!

Now *that's* some cheap-*** ****, buddy-o. Which is why almost traded it on a Buell Ulysses, which would have been an improvement, and I did trade it in for the FJR.

 

[Constant Mesh]

The FJR gear indicator and Neutral indicator does use a 6-wire gear position switching device. There's a spring-loaded electrical contact on the left end of the shift drum assembly. As the shift drum rotates from gear to gear the electrical contact touches the specific switch contact for each gear. Each switch contact has a signal wire connected so it's a 6-wire device.

The AE model uses two sensors for gear indication -- an analog sensor (similar to the Throttle Position sensor) at the left end of the shift drum and the typical Neutral indicator mechanical switch at the rear of the crankcase.

 

[Leskid]

Mine's an '03, so no such beast.

It didn't take long for me to clue-in that when I'm hitting 90 (55mph) & the tach's at 3000, no need to keep trying to shift-up.

The FJR has some good low-end torque if at 3K on the tach, I still feel I could use another gear