I can't be the only guy who thinks the air temp gauge on touring models is absolutely worthless. I have an '02 FLHT, and I've done without the air temp and oil pressure gauges for 9 years. I had a gift card from my kids to spend, so I bought the kit. The oil pressure gauge works fine. But the air temp gauge read 100 degrees all day today, even though it never got out of the 80's.

So I've converted the air temp gauge to an oil temp gauge. I used a VDO temp sender for a marine gauge, installed it in the oil pan, disconnected the air temp sensor in the fairing, connected the wire I ran from the oil temp sender to the blue/purple wire on the air temp sensor connector, and it works !

Cost under $30 for the sender.

It doesn't read the real temp of the oil, but I've worked out some correction factors. It's also useful for relative readings. Once I see where my normal oil temp reads (210 degrees = about 30 degrees), I can glance at the needle to see if it's rising or not.

If there's enough interest, assuming no one's done this and written about it before, I can post photos and more details.

 

Most people just buy the oil temp gauge and install in place of the air temp gauge but this is an interesting alternative.

 

 

I read on another forum where someone used air temp gauges, gutted them and used the housings for tweeters. Best idea yet!

 

I like the idea, Just wondering what would be the conversion would be like for the temp difference for the air reading vs using an actual oil temp gauge. For cost I think it is good but for a quick glance reading I think spending the extra money would be worth it.

 

It's not that hard at a glance to estimate. 20 degrees = approx 180, 40 degrees = approx 220, 60 degrees = approx 260, and 80 degrees or above means your engine is toast.

My bike runs about 210 to 220 degrees in this kind of weather (70's to 80's), so I look
for about 30 degrees on the gauge. The idea isn't to get an exact reading, just tell at a glance whether engine temp is normal.

I have the dipstick gauge for more precise readings.

 

There's one air temp gauge location so what other hole did he use for the 2nd tweeter?

 

I like the tweeter idea!

 

+2. Why make something more difficult than it has to be?

 

Yeah I was wondering the same thing...