Just Installed A Tachometer On My R3T

[Bedifferent]

I did change the pulse setting, and got it to read.

It is obviously off in the math though, and according to the instruction sheet there should be six or seven settings as I see them, and when I cycle through that (or I may just be totally off) it seems only three positions of the needle are available, and it cycles through those three.

So I'm not quite there yet.

I hope you noted my correction that you have to hold both the "select" and "adjust" buttons for 3 seconds to get into the settings mode. If the tach does not read correctly get back into the settings mode and the piston settings mode and hit the adjust button to cycle through the piston setting till you are reading roughly 800 to 1k rpm. What you will see as you cycle through the adjust button is the rpm will change. I just kept changing it till I saw what I thought was the correct idle rpm. It may be possible that one or more of the settings for the Pistons it will give a correct idle rpm but be off when you rev the engine. That I can't say as I must have hit on the one that worked. I know it works, you just have to find the right setting and since there is no visual readout to tell you which piston number setting you are on, you will have to play with those adjustments. The idle rpm will help you choose the correct one. Let me know how you come out.

 

[aviation1972]

I hope you noted my correction that you have to hold both the "select" and "adjust" buttons for 3 seconds to get into the settings mode. If the tach does not read correctly get back into the settings mode and the piston settings mode and hit the adjust button to cycle through the piston setting till you are reading roughly 800 to 1k rpm. What you will see as you cycle through the adjust button is the rpm will change. I just kept changing it till I saw what I thought was the correct idle rpm. It may be possible that one or more of the settings for the Pistons it will give a correct idle rpm but be off when you rev the engine. That I can't say as I must have hit on the one that worked. I know it works, you just have to find the right setting and since there is no visual readout to tell you which piston number setting you are on, you will have to play with those adjustments. The idle rpm will help you choose the correct one. Let me know how you come out.

Hi there: I'd like to be different too. I realize my questions may cause you a few headaches, but please help me out? I'm not the "techie" some of you are. So, I'm looking for help. I've just read all the posts on this subject, within this forum, and I've looked at your photos too. But, all the outside reading I've done has been very discouraging. From what I've been reading, ( outside of this forum ), most aftermarket tachometers ONLY work for motorcycle engines with an even number of cylinders, ( two, four, or six ), and during the installation set up, you have to select a setting that is appropriate for the number of cylinders your bike has. So, please tell me the precise name of your tach's manufacturer, its model number, and the installation instructions that would apply to my 2013 Rocket 3 Touring. All Rocket 3's have an odd number of cylinders. I'd like to add a tachometer to my handlebars. All I presently have is a gas tank mounted speedometer, which includes an odometer, gas gauge, trip meter, and clock, ( like all tourers have ). I really want to add a tachometer to my handlebars. Is there any way to do this? As you already know, the Roadster versions of the Triumph Rocket 3 do have handlebar mounted tachometers, but I'm looking for something much smaller, and less expensive, ( exactly like yours ). I saw them on-line, but after reading about the even number of cylinders "thing", I was led to believe, I couldn't use any of them from the aftermarket. According to you, that's not true. I can use one. One like yours. Please help me to understand, and follow in your footsteps. Thanks much for getting back to me. I will greatly appreciate hearing from you... Russell

 

[Bedifferent]

Hi there: I'd like to be different too. I realize my questions may cause you a few headaches, but please help me out? I'm not the "techie" some of you are. So, I'm looking for help. I've just read all the posts on this subject, within this forum, and I've looked at your photos too. But, all the outside reading I've done has been very discouraging. From what I've been reading, ( outside of this forum ), most aftermarket tachometers ONLY work for motorcycle engines with an even number of cylinders, ( two, four, or six ), and during the installation set up, you have to select a setting that is appropriate for the number of cylinders your bike has. So, please tell me the precise name of your tach's manufacturer, its model number, and the installation instructions that would apply to my 2013 Rocket 3 Touring. All Rocket 3's have an odd number of cylinders. I'd like to add a tachometer to my handlebars. All I presently have is a gas tank mounted speedometer, which includes an odometer, gas gauge, trip meter, and clock, ( like all tourers have ). I really want to add a tachometer to my handlebars. Is there any way to do this? As you already know, the Roadster versions of the Triumph Rocket 3 do have handlebar mounted tachometers, but I'm looking for something much smaller, and less expensive, ( exactly like yours ). I saw them on-line, but after reading about the even number of cylinders "thing", I was led to believe, I couldn't use any of them from the aftermarket. According to you, that's not true. I can use one. One like yours. Please help me to understand, and follow in your footsteps. Thanks much for getting back to me. I will greatly appreciate hearing from you... Russell

Well most of what you need to know is covered in this thread. Here are some specifics on the tach and P-Clamp. I noticed on my I pad that if I didn't expand out one of the post I couldn't see what I have listed below.

I happened to buy my tach from Amazon...but I'm not pushing a particular vendor. There are many vendors listed and other places you can buy it. Make sure you get the metric version as listed below as they make 2 Harley versions that are different numbers as well. Here are the metric version numbers....

Koso BA035103 Chrome shell white face
Koso BA035113 Black shell black face
Kuryakyn 1" chrome P-Clamp bought off Amazon as well

The tach can be set for a variety of cylinders and firing revolutions and I can speak from my own installation that it can be set so it works and is accurate. Only 4 wires to hook it up. One wire to the positive battery terminal, one wire to the negative battery terminal, one wire to a switched power source (I tapped off my taillight positive wire which is energized by the ignition switch) and one wire is tapped or pigtailed off one of the two wires that are attached to the middle/2nd cylinder coil..."I'm not speaking of the actual spark plug wires". Setting it up to work and read properly is again covered in this post in a effort to clarify the instructions that come with the tachometer. If you don't know very much about wiring or good wiring practice I would suggest you seek out someone with experience to install the tach. I used several radio shack connectors for easy hookup and soldered all my wire connections. You have a lot of moisture possibilities and vibration on a motorcycle and I would not rely on crimped or scotch lock connectors. Sorry I can't be of any more help.

 

[DEcosse]

... most aftermarket tachometers ONLY work for motorcycle engines with an even number of cylinders, ( two, four, or six ), and during the installation set up, you have to select a setting that is appropriate for the number of cylinders your bike has...

That USED to be the case many moons ago, when the tach signal was being taken from the coil on a Distributor type system. So it would spark at a rate depending on the number of cylinders
Fast forward to present day, when most modern bikes and cars have individual independent coils for each cylinder.

Let's just take the coil for cylinder #1 - that receives a spark every 720 degrees or every two engine revolutions - most tachs are 4-stroke by default (ie fires every other engine revolution vs 2 stroke which is every 360 deg or every revolution - unless it has a wasted spark config where it also sparks at top of exhaust stroke, but don't worry about that)
Now that could be a single cylinder, twin, 3, 4, 6, 8, whatever, it is irrelevant; what matters is that SINGLE Coil sees a spark every other revolution - so the number of cylinders the bike has is completely moot and is not even factored into the settings.
(You would essentially be setting it like a single cylinder 4-stroke); i.e. the set-up for the R3 would be no different from the set-up for a metric 4-cylinder where the signal was also being sourced by a single coil drive.
On your triple, just because the ECU fires those other cylinder 240 deg, and 480 deg later within those two engine revolutions, the signal from coil 1 is oblivious to that and as far as the tach goes, it has no idea (nor cares) how many cylinders it really has.
( you don't HAVE to connect to coil #1, you can connect to any one of the three - again, the tach has no clue - or care - as to which it reads, just knows that every time it gets a pulse, that is 2 revolutions

 

[aviation1972]

You

Well most of what you need to know is covered in this thread. Here are some specifics on the tach and P-Clamp. I noticed on my I pad that if I didn't expand out one of the post I couldn't see what I have listed below.

I happened to buy my tach from Amazon...but I'm not pushing a particular vendor. There are many vendors listed and other places you can buy it. Make sure you get the metric version as listed below as they make 2 Harley versions that are different numbers as well. Here are the metric version numbers....

Koso BA035103 Chrome shell white face
Koso BA035113 Black shell black face
Kuryakyn 1" chrome P-Clamp bought off Amazon as well

The tach can be set for a variety of cylinders and firing revolutions and I can speak from my own installation that it can be set so it works and is accurate. Only 4 wires to hook it up. One wire to the positive battery terminal, one wire to the negative battery terminal, one wire to a switched power source (I tapped off my taillight positive wire which is energized by the ignition switch) and one wire is tapped or pigtailed off one of the two wires that are attached to the middle/2nd cylinder coil..."I'm not speaking of the actual spark plug wires". Setting it up to work and read properly is again covered in this post in a effort to clarify the instructions that come with the tachometer. If you don't know very much about wiring or good wiring practice I would suggest you seek out someone with experience to install the tach. I used several radio shack connectors for easy hookup and soldered all my wire connections. You have a lot of moisture possibilities and vibration on a motorcycle and I would not rely on crimped or scotch lock connectors. Sorry I can't be of any more help.

You've been a great help to me. Thank you very much. I will follow your advice and instructions, ( and continue reading this post too ). Looking forward to getting my tach up and running. Thanks again, and for getting back to me so quickly... Russell

 

[Bedifferent]

You my find this part of the instructions useful with regard to number of cylinders, but @DEcosse is correct...with separate coils for each cylinder it's like looking at a 4 stroke single cylinder engine firing every other revolution. This tach has a lot of adjustability so it is not a problem.

 

[aviation1972]

That USED to be the case many moons ago, when the tach signal was being taken from the coil on a Distributor type system. So it would spark at a rate depending on the number of cylinders
Fast forward to present day, when most modern bikes and cars have individual independent coils for each cylinder.

Let's just take the coil for cylinder #1 - that receives a spark every 720 degrees or every two engine revolutions - most tachs are 4-stroke by default (ie fires every other engine revolution vs 2 stroke which is every 360 deg or every revolution - unless it has a wasted spark config where it also sparks at top of exhaust stroke, but don't worry about that)
Now that could be a single cylinder, twin, 3, 4, 6, 8, whatever, it is irrelevant; what matters is that SINGLE Coil sees a spark every other revolution - so the number of cylinders the bike has is completely moot and is not even factored into the settings.
(You would essentially be setting it like a single cylinder 4-stroke); i.e. the set-up for the R3 would be no different from the set-up for a metric 4-cylinder where the signal was also being sourced by a single coil drive.
On your triple, just because the ECU fires those other cylinder 240 deg, and 480 deg later within those two engine revolutions, the signal from coil 1 is oblivious to that and as far as the tach goes, it has no idea (nor cares) how many cylinders it really has.
( you don't HAVE to connect to coil #1, you can connect to any one of the three - again, the tach has no clue - or care - as to which it reads, just knows that every time it gets a pulse, that is 2 revolutions

Thank you so much DeCosse. Your knowledge of engineering is something I wish I had. Thanks for helping me learn. I really appreciate your help. Now, I can make my purchase, and install my tachometer.... Russell

 

[rocketjohn]

A real elegant solution is to figure someway to capture the ECU's tach interpretation and out put that to a suitable display.

 

[Bedifferent]

A real elegant solution is to figure someway to capture the ECU's tach interpretation and out put that to a suitable display.

I'm not sure the touring ECU is capable of doing that as my understanding is it is different from the roadster. I actually like the tach display and the tach really is simple to hook up. I would prefer the touring had gages mounted like the roadster as I have never cared for the tank mounted speedometer/display. Anytime I have to drop/glance my eyes down and away from the road it seems like a bad idea. The reflection from the sun on the chrome speedometer mount is also a pain. A stupid position for a speedometer in my opinion.

 

[Joesmoe]

DITTO !