650G oil temp,oil press, voltmeter project

[Bribird]

Hey Guys,

So my new project I am thinking about doing along with the soon to be oil cooler mod, is to install ....oil pressure,oil temp and a voltmeter gauge on my bike. I am thinking the best place to install the 3 gauges is above the cluster on the bike now?? Then to clean the look up...a cafe style front fairing with a low rise windshield. I dont know how waterproof the auto meter gauges are and it is also important to me that all the gauges be the same brand and product line so they match. So I could try I find some marine waterproof gauges or maybe build a top sealed cluster box for them that would be waterproof. I dont ride in the rain(unless I get caught in it) but would like to be able to wash the bike without worry of the gauges.

Any ideas on gauges and mounting options??

thanks

[GQROD]

You are better off using marine guages, they are about $30.00 each for voltmeters more perhaps for others.

Get electronic senders so you don't have to route plastic tubing for the oil and the copper tubing that comes with the water temp guage is uselses if broken trying to bend it around corners.

Some riders here use VDO guages but i don't know that they are waterproof.

You could go the cheap route put any style guage in a a custom guage pod that is sealed. However i don't know if the glass covering the guages has seals on them.

I have a digital volt guage and got caught in heavy downpour and it still works, it's housed in it's own plastic housing, i know it's not water proof or vibration proof but works great. The pic is on my link and here in my albums.

I have an extra one, anyone interested can have it for $40.00 plus shipping.

[Bribird]

Hey GQROD, thanks for the reply. Ya it seems that marine gauges are the only ones that are sealed 100% at the lens...even they are not waterproof all the way around, but can take getting wet as long as it is from the lens side. I will do some checking to try and find any gauge pods that are waterproof. I am thinking I need to go with marine gauges or do a custom homemade pod that seals them up inside.... The main thing is I want them all to be the same kinda gauge and style.
The other thing is, it seems the oil pressure gauges for marine use are all elec sender type. Where would I mount that big ugly sending unit???

[Bribird]

Have found some gauges that look pretty nice and are marine quality. Any one ever heard of Livorsi gauges???? I got a price quote request out to them now.. Maybe I will here something from them tomorrow...

[hp1000s]

Have found some gauges that look pretty nice and are marine quality. Any one ever heard of Livorsi gauges???? I got a price quote request out to them now.. Maybe I will here something from them tomorrow...

Livorsi makes the best marine-stuff available; it's used on virtually all the high dollar offshore boats, plus you can get the faces, rims , and bezels in almost any color combo you could imagine. I can't recommend any pods though, those aren't typically used on race boats.
Hugh

[GQROD]

Hey GQROD, thanks for the reply. Ya it seems that marine gauges are the only ones that are sealed 100% at the lens...even they are not waterproof all the way around, but can take getting wet as long as it is from the lens side. I will do some checking to try and find any gauge pods that are waterproof. I am thinking I need to go with marine gauges or do a custom homemade pod that seals them up inside.... The main thing is I want them all to be the same kinda gauge and style.
The other thing is, it seems the oil pressure gauges for marine use are all elec sender type. Where would I mount that big ugly sending unit???

That is the million dollar question, don't know how your bike is set up, on mine i have the sender for the idiot light, i know that some guages offer instructions of putting a brass tee in th esame spot and keep the idiot light and the guage.

You can call tech support for the company you buying guages from.

The problem will be finding metric brass tees. Home Depot brass tess are standard.

Might try auto zone or online fitting suppliers. But electric is the way to go unless you are that worried about water, in which case the only thing electrical is the light bulb on the mechanical guages and you would have to be under water to blow that light.

[Guest]

I went with VDO for my oil temp and volt meter. I first mounted the oil temp gauge on top of the gauge cluster, but moved it to the fork legs once I added the volt meter. Looks more balanced. I got caught in a bad downpour last May, and the gauges were fine. I did, however run a bead of sealant where the gauge slides into the gauge cup.











I sell a kit for both the oil temp and volt meter if you are interested.

[Bribird]

hey HPS1000s, ya they do seem very nice. I spent about 20 minutes talking to a guy today at Livorsi..I gotta say their customer service is great too.

So the Livorsi gauges are 100% waterproof(good enough for a jet ski), the VDO Vision series(which is I believe what RenoBruce has) is water resistant from the lens side. Auto Meter Pro Comp Marine is just like the VDO Vision...except they offer no clock..
The gauges I want are.....volts, oil pressure(mechanical) , oil temp (elec), and a clock. I think I need to add an even amount of gauges to keep it balanced looking on the install.
So its between Livorsi and VDO. Livorsi is coming out around $300 bucks or so. VDO is looking like a touch over $200.

Its hard to think...but on both of them the most expensive gauge is the clock...$100...WTF?? But alright, thats just how it is I guess.

I hate having to make up my mind...its always the worst part of the project..

[Bribird]

Ok, so after do a little mock up of how the gauges would mount to the bike... I think I can get by with just 3...so no clock. The volt meter would go right in the middle on top of the oe cluster and the oil temp & oil press, would be slightly stepped down and to the left and the right side of the volt meter.

Which leads me to my next problem...what kinda fairing to go with. I dont want anything too big. but it would need to come up high enough to hide the connections to the add on gauges...

Any of you guys have any pics of your fairing from the on the bike perspective...looking at the gauges???

There is a pretty inexpensive little cafe type fairing at chaparral that may work for me?? Its a lockhart phillips....any one got one of these installed on your bike???

Maybe I should just get the fairing and work from what I got to install the gauges..??