My Vapor Install, Part 1

[montmil]

After a number of minor alterations to my 1981 R65, it's time to fit up the Trail Teach Vapor speedo/tach digital instrument cluster.

This is the first of several posts and pics as I work my way through a sanitary installation. Check back often for updates.

Numero Uno:  The vapor speedometer uses a rare earth magnet attached to the brake disc and a sensor fitted to the fork slider to calculate the road speed of the bike. After all is installed, it's necessary to program the unit, in millimeters, for the front wheel diameter. Instruction book makes this a no-brainer.

So, here's the instrument unit with my hand for scale.



Substantially smaller than the former steam gauge tach/speedo/instrument pod. I need to fab an aluminum mounting bracket as the Trail Tech offerings will not fit the Beemer. Handlebar clamp bolts are further apart than the Trail Tech offerings. I'll make my own from AC-grade aluminum. This job will be cake.



The rare earth magnet needs to be attached to the disc rotor. Trail tech provides a magnet/bolt combo that is unusable on the R65. Instructions say option #2 is to glue the magnet to the rotor. This install works fine using some aircraft-grade structural epoxy... just like Boeing uses to glue the skins to your favorite airline's tail surfaces and wing components. Good stuff.

Was necessary to grind down a small portion of the fork slider "stiffener" rib to permit the speedometer sensor to fit neatly. An Adel clamp routes the sensor lead up the fork leg and on to the instrument head. The zip-tie is temporary. A double faced stickie pad secures the sensor to the fork slider. I'll need to watch this for installation security.

Power for the Vapor can be anything from 12v to 400v. You read that right! 400 volts. The R65 12 volt system will do just fine, thanks very much!

That's it for today. Will craft the Vapor mount bracket and then post another thread. I sure don't want to overload the site's photo limitations.

Today, also installed some new BMW tank badges from Flugelnus which, IMHO, add at least $500 to the value of my scooter. Yeah, right!

Monte

[not-so-fast-ed]

Nice Monte!

What did the badges run you?  Something I'll need to replace in the future.

Ed

[Spinachpie]

Very cool. Looking forward to more pictures. Probably a stupid question but here goes anyway: is the display on the Trail Tech backlit in some way? It must be, right?

[montmil]

Nice Monte! What did the badges run you?  Something I'll need to replace in the future. Ed

70mm self-adhesive tank badges are from Flugelnus. Click on their index for "Farkle".  $7.95 each.

http://www.flugelnus.com/

Very cool. Looking forward to more pictures. Probably a stupid question but here goes anyway: is the display on the Trail Tech backlit in some way? It must be, right? Spinachpie

Yep. And plenty bright for nighttime riding. The backlight feature illuminates when the unit senses movement from the speedo sensor or if any button is pushed. Backlighting remains on for a few minutes after ignition shut off but does not draw enough current to drain the battery.

[stevie]

Hi Monty#

Your forthcoming forum posts are something I am going to be watching with great interest as I too (in the future) would like to bin the standard clock set up. Just one question for the moment, are you going with the additional idiot light surround as well?

Cheers Steve.

[montmil]

Hi Monty...Just one question for the moment, are you going with the additional idiot light surround as well? Cheers Steve.

Negative on the Vapor/Trail Tech "Dashboard" blinky-light surround thing. I have worked diligently to rid the R65 of excess wiring -for me, anyway- and visual clutter. Especially all the eight wires that plug into the tachometer, some unused ignition wiring, turn indicator monitors, etc. You may wish to review an earlier thread, "Tach wiring harness delete". Some R65ers were very helpful in assisting me with my goals. 

http://suraklyn.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1211738310

Monte

[montmil]

High motivation today. From a pencil sketch, to a cardboard mock up, to cutting metal and installing the Vapor gauge unit on the R65 took about 4 hours.
 
Had to get it done as my five-year old grandson will be here tomorrow for three days. Don't get to see him that often so will halt work on the final Vapor wiring hookups until later in the week.


Here's the bracket I made from .032 6061-T6 aluminum left over from my last aircraft project. The Vapor comes with a couple of rather wimpy looking plastic handlebar clamps that did not inspire long-term confidence. I added the Ace Hardware rubber washers as a vibration cushion. Not that the Beemer vibrates, but... I will need to punch holes for the handlebar clamp bolts prior to the first test fitting.


Backside installation view. Was necessary to carve away some aluminum from the bracket to allow handlebar bolts to pass by. Mechanical design on the fly. No biggie. The small white connectors visible are for speedo, tach, power and a cylinder head temp sender, if you want it.


Here's the pilot's view from the cockpit. Vapor is centered up and angled for best read angle. I may put an Alodine finish on the bare aluminum bracket to protect it from corrosion, or perhaps paint it black. I dunno...    Final hookups next. Stay tuned.

[Justin B.]

Monte, I personally don't know if I would consider the oil pressure warning light and GEN light to be "clutter".  But, that's my personal opinion...  One could always get a chunk of 6061 and mill out a custom "dash" containing only the indicators you want....

[montmil]

I mentioned my grandson visiting from Austin... After a swim and dinner, he's wrapped up in a Harry Potter DVD so I'll post this text about hooking up the Vapor digital. Photos will have to wait a bit. perhaps tomorrow...

All wiring is small 22 gauge. The instructions recommend wiring to a power source that is not switch controlled. My R65 has an additional equipment plug with a 12v "hot" pin along with a ground pin. Used a couple of insulated bullet crimp-on plugs grafted into each wire. This keeps the equipment socket useable. The other end of the power lead has a very small two-pin plug that fits a lead off the back of the instrument.

The speedometer lead simply plugs into a two-pin lead coming off the back of the Vapor. An earlier post shows the rare earth magnet and sensor attached to the front brake rotor and fork slider.

Last item is the tachometer lead. One of the two-wire lead must be grounded to the frame. The other 22 ga. wire takes about seven turns around the spark plug wire. I put the wrapping under the tank near the Dyna coil where it's out of sight and secured it with a bit of large diameter shrink tubing over the small wire wrap and spark lead.

Final item of business is to program the now powered-up Vapor computer with the front wheel diameter so the speedo will be correct, set the clock, shift point light, rpm exceeded light, and a up or down push for 4-stroke or two.

There's several other features regarding reset trip, trip time and miles, blah blah blah. May get to that another time.

Pictures tomorrow, I hope.

[Ed Miller]

Monte, have you seen anything that would prevent this device from working on a positive ground bike?  Mainly, is it at all grounded through it's body or mounting points?  Just wondering....

Thanks for the write up and pictures.

[montmil]

Monte, have you seen anything that would prevent this device from working on a positive ground bike?  Mainly, is it at all grounded through it's body or mounting points?  Just wondering.... Thanks for the write up and pictures.

Good question, Ed. And I've got a good answer for you. The vapor instruction booklet states that the unit doesn't care which way the polarity is wired. Just out of curiosity, what bike do you have that's +Grnd?

[Ed Miller]

'70 Bonneville.  I'd probably have to get violent with purists, but I've never been able to get a working speedometer and drive at the same time on that bike.  

I do want to put one on my R65 too, though.  Some summer when it isn't demanding other, expensive repairs.  

[montmil]

As promised... PICTURES!


This is the Special Equipment socket on my R65. I was able to tap into the 12v power and ground leads by using "bullet" connectors. The Vapor wires are so small they barely added any additional diameter to the existing OE wiring. Instructions encourage a power tap that is not interrupted by a switch.


The tachometer inductive wrap. Seven turns. very high-tech...


A length of large diameter shrink tubing cleaned up the install and will afford some insurance against the 22 gauge wire ever unwrapping. The tach wiring also requires a ground wire. I anchored mine to the nut on the frame bracket adjacent the diode board.

I've become a real fan of dialectic grease.  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]  The completed Vapor instrument works well. A little bit of effort with the installation: bracket, wire routing, hardware positioning, soldering and weather-proofing should repay with performance and longevity benefits.

[Adrian]

Thanks again - this has been really useful in understanding what is needed to install. Copied and pasted for the near future.....

[MR.E]

Monte

How's the unit now it's been fitted for a while??

Does the rev counter give an accurate readout even though it's wrapped around on of the two HT leads??

Thanks