Analogue Tachometers... Anyone tried?

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volt9

New Member
Aug 10, 2009
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Mississauga, ON, Canada
Instead of the usual digital tachometers that I have seen many of on the forums here and around the internet, I was looking to find if there's any way to mount an analogue tach on our HT powered bikes because I don't like the look of the tiny tachs, and the refresh rate of the display itself is not quite ideal.

So I scoured the internet for a short while yesterday and after looking at MANY tachs, found this one : My apologies,... due to some mild level of retardation, I'm unable to post links (even though I am a registered member) But here's the (broken) address :

www. iequus. com/Product/Detail/7988C0B8-0121-429D-99D7-7B0DD14DBE08

The Equus 6068 is a black 2.5 inch 0-8000 RPM tach that works with 1 ~ 12 cylinders, and either 2 or 4 stroke. It also features 3 different methods of getting a RPM signal. Method 1 : direct ignition tach signal (no chance there), Option 2 : Inductive pick-up on ignition wire (maybe) or Option 3 : Inductive pick-up on spark plug wire (most likely).

Option 3 sounds like it would work to me (Although with only one wire that comes from the ignition, it's virtually the same as option 2). In fact, the most difficult part would be securing a 12v battery source and then mounting the tach to the bike.

Anyone know if this would work? Or if it's been done already?

BARRY
 

Cabinfever1977

New Member
Mar 23, 2009
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Upstate,NY
Its easy to find a 12v cordless drill battery or a sla 12v electric scooter battery, there cheap too.
And you can just clamp that to the handle bars with a hose clamp.
But thats a high price($63) to pay for a rpm gauge.
 
Last edited:

volt9

New Member
Aug 10, 2009
12
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0
Mississauga, ON, Canada
Yeah, $63 is the highest price I've seen listed for that gauge. It can be had for less from other online vendors (I think I saw it as low as $40). I just used that URL because it has the most information about the gauge itself.

I'm willing to accept that it is probably more expensive because it seems a little more versatile (in terms of installation options and compatibility) than most tachs. In fact it's the only one I found online that has this much adaptability.

The only problem I can see happening (and this is purely guessing) is that the signal from the plug wire could be too noisy for a decent read from the pick-up.

Well,...only one way to find out. :)

BARRY
 

TheE

New Member
Jun 26, 2009
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Canada
I looked at the signal coming off an antenna wrapped around the plug wire on a pseudo-oscilloscope(my laptop's sound card) and the spikes were pretty distinct. It should work.