Instrument Installation

Small, stylish and precise: well-designed instruments from unless, of course, sparks start flying or corrosion rears it ugly
motogadget look awesome on custom bikes in particular. head. But, in fact, it's not all that difficult to install a well-de-
Many bikers steer clear of the electrical system and elec- signed instrument on a naked bike, chopper or streetfighter.
tronics. After all, you can't actually see current and voltage,

1 The knowledge you need

If you want to work on your bike's electrical system,
you should have a good idea about the basics, like current and
voltage, positive and negative terminal. You should really have
a wiring diagram and at least roughly understand it so that
you can identify individual components such as the battery,
ignition coil, ignition lock, etc., and how they are wired.
strip them, you use an insulation stripper. Depending on
which type of connection you choose, you need to use either
a soldering iron and solder or a crimping tool and suitable
crimp contacts. Crimping tools often cut and strip as well.
motogadget always supplies a push-in connection with crimp
contacts or cable end connectors for connecting the instru-
ment to the wiring harness. You should have materials like
heat shrink tubing, insulating tape, cable ties and additional
made mounts, you usually need a metal-cutting saw and metal
files along with sandpaper. The fastening holes can be drilled
with a handheld or bench power drill. It is highly recommended
that you first determine and measure the fastening points
with a tape measure or caliper gauge and mark them using
a square and marker or scriber. Depending on what fastening
you choose, you normally need a set of hexagon keys and a set
of open-end wrenches. What you will also need for fastening

2 Tools/materials for electrical installation
If problems arise, a multimeter is useful in addi-
tion to the wiring diagram, specifically to measure the volt-
age, its polarity, the amperage and resistance. If you do
not have a wiring diagram, or if a wiring harness has been
modified, you can use the multimeter to identify a certain
lengths of cable (with a suitable diameter) in case you need
to extend a cable. additional plug-in connectors with crimp
contacts may be used optionally.
3 Tools/materials for mechanical installation
Depending on the motorcycle and where the instru-
the mounts to the bike is suitable nuts, bolts and washers.
motogadget supplies screws for fastening the instrument to
the universal mounts. If you have to fasten the speed sensor
to the front or rear wheel, you should have a suitable piece of
sheet aluminium or stainless steel.

circuit and its connections quickly. It also enables you to

find wiring faults, missing connections, undesirable contact
resistances, and so on. In most cases, however, you would
be able to connect an instrument without a multimeter.
To cut electric cables, you need a pair of side cutters. To
ments and sensors are being installed, universal motogadget
mounts or self-made mounts may be used. To make a mount
yourself e.g. designed to fit the top triple tree of your bike
4 Electrical connection
You may be wondering whether modern electronic
instruments can be used on older motorbikes. The answer is a
first make a cardboard template on the bike itself and then resounding "yes", and the "how" is answered next.
transfer it to an aluminium plate. To adapt and fix the ready-

1 2

motoscope mini OEM sensor Reed sensor

Power supply
The power supply for most of the instruments from motogadget
should be between 7 and 18 volts. Therefore, the normal elec-
trical system of approx. 12 volts will always be sufficient. In
most cases only "switched positive" on the electrical system
is required. This means that the power is switched on and off
via the ignition (terminal 15). Certain instruments, such as
the "motoscope tiny", additionally require connection to the
permanent positive terminal of the battery.
Caution: Before you connect anything, you should always
completely disconnect the battery from the electrical system.
We recommend the additional use of an inline fuse for the
instrument (included).
Speed sensor
To measure the speed, an electrical pulse is required whose
clocking/frequency is proportional to the speed. Electronic
sensors on the front wheel, rear wheel or transmission output
are used for this.
Original electronic speed sensors
Most modern motorbikes are fitted with electronic speed sen-
sors. 3 different sensor types are used:
a) Hall sensor on wheel or transmission output
These are not compatible with motogadget instruments, as the
signal voltage is relatively low (well below 5 V). Instead, the
speed sensor included with the instrument must be installed.
b) Inductive sensors or proximity sensors on the transmis-
sion output
Most vehicle manufacturers use these. They are sen-
sors with 3 connecting cables (5 V or 12 V power supply,
negative and signal), whose signal is usually compat-
ible with motogadget instruments. The resistor previously
used on the sensor is no longer necessary (see Fig. 1).
c) Reed contact with magnet (see Fig. 2) on wheel
This principle is common in electronic speedometers for
bicycles. The sensor always responds to one or more magnets
located somewhere on the wheel. These sensors have 2 con-
necting cables. To enable them to be used for motogadget
instruments, one cable must be connected to earth/negative;
the other to the speedometer input.
Retrofitted or extra speed sensors
In older vehicles the speedometer is still driven mechanically
by a cable. In this case or if the original speed sensor is not
compatible the sensor included with the motogadget instru-
ment must be used (which is a reed contact with magnet).
The sensor can be fitted to the fork (with the magnet located
on the front wheel). Or it can be installed on the swing arm
3 4
Ignition pick-up
or brake caliper mount (with the magnet located on the rear You can tell reasonably easily by the ignition coil connection.
wheel/sprocket). The best place from a mechanical point of In the transistor ignition, the switched positive of the electri-
Electrical system | Instrument Installation
view depends on the bike. You may have to bend and attach a cal system is connected to one ignition coil terminal, while
small mount plate for the sensor. Choose a sufficiently sturdy the other terminal is connected to the ignition unit (negative
fastener. The magnets can be glued to the wheel hub, brake terminal). In the capacitor discharge ignition, one terminal is
disc mounting, rear wheel sprocket, or the like, with two-com- connected directly to earth/negative and the other terminal
ponent adhesive. The closer the magnet is positioned to the goes to the ignition unit (positive terminal) (see Fig. 5).
axle, the lower the centrifugal forces acting on it. Of course, Menu button
it must be aligned exactly to the sensor tip, and the distance motogadget instruments are universal, and must therefore
between the magnet and sensor must not exceed 4 mm. be calibrated and set on the motorbike. In addition, various
Tachometer measurements can be called up or reset on the display, using
The ignition pulse is normally used to measure and display a small button supplied with the motogadget instrument. If you
the engine rpm. It must be compatible with the instrument. do not want to mount any additional buttons on your bike, you
In principle, there are two different types of ignition signals can use an existing headlight flasher button, for example, as
or ignition systems: long as it is negative switching (de-energised).
a) Ignitions with negative input pulse Wiring diagram of electrical connection
These include ignitions with mechanical ignition contacts Example of motoscope mini (see Fig. 4)
(classic and vintage motorbikes), electronic analog ignitions Final setup
and electronic digital ignitions. The latter two are also called Once sensor and instrument have been securely fixed and
transistor ignitions/battery ignitions. All electronic engine all connections correctly made, you can reconnect the bat-
control units (ECUs) with combined injection/ignition are also tery. Now input the vehicle specifications in Setup mode, and
transistor ignitions. With this ignition type, motogadget instru- calibrate the speed sensor. You can find detailed information
ments can be connected directly to the ignition coil primary on this in the instructions for use for the specific instrument.
circuit (terminal 1, negative terminal). If the bike already has
an electronic tachometer, or if the ignition/ECU has its own
tachometer output, these may be used for connection. The only
exceptions are bikes in which the ignition coils are integrated
in the spark plug connectors and at the same time the original
instruments are actuated via CAN bus. In this case, ignition
signal pick-up could present problems.
b) Ignitions with positive input pulse
The capacitor discharge ignition (CDI), also called high-voltage
ignition, is the only type in this category. This "self-excited"
ignition does not need a battery and is often used in enduro
bikes, single-cylinder machines and motorcycles with small
engines. If your bike has this type of ignition, the ignition sig-
nal pick-up unit (see Fig. 3) must be used. IMPORTANT! Some
Japanese vehicle manufacturers also refer to the electronic
ignitions of street motorcycles described under a) with the
acronym "CDI". This often causes confusion!
5 Differentiating between the types of ignition
As a rough guide, most street motorcycles with multi-
cylinder engines have a transistor ignition, while single-cylinder
machines including those with larger engines and small
motorcycles often have a capacitor discharge ignition (CDI).
5
Wiring diagram Ignition coils