How is this gauge easy to read ? 100-170 5 graduations 70 degrees between the 5, 170-200 5 graduations 30 degrees between the 5, 200-250 5 graduations 50 degrees between the 5, 250 - 300 5 graduations 50 degrees between the 5. Pretty inconsistant and hard to read between numbers if you ask me. What makes this any different or easier to read than the HD ?

 

Been going strong for about 3 years now and 20k miles, standard 2 1/16" gauge fits like a glove. Pretty simple install, barring my own complications with the multiple senders. You can see the micro rotary switch on the inner dash switch panel by the spot rocker.

 

The difference is the thick hashmarks clearly represent the numbers, at least there a few known refernce points on that gauge. Post a good closeup pic of the HD gauge and try to tell if the thick hashmarks or the dots represent the numbers. Also most common gauges are not linear or have the same hashmark spacing across the whole scale. The exception is a gauge with a stepper motor like the AutoMeter I posted the link to, it has an evenly spaced scale, so you can tell a value for each un-numbered hashmark.

 

I recall discussing this before on another thread, quite a while ago.

Please describe. I know where 180° is positioned on the gauge, which is clear to me, and at that point the oil is within a few degrees of this value based on testing with two other thermometers. My bike runs 180-205° when at operating temperature, and it stays in that range 99% of the time excluding the warm-up process, so why need I worry?

It's not as if there is a temperature when the oil is officially hot at one temperature and enters acceptability 1° below that point. So what if the graduations between 180 and 205° are 12.5°, which is agreeably an illogical value. If one graduation is in fact 192.5° based on assumed linearity, or something close to it, what difference does it make? The oil won't be stressed much more or less at 185, 192.5, or 195°.

If you think this is bad, my car's water-temp gauge has no numbers and shows half-way up at 180°. When water temp goes to 220°, about when the electric fans kick in, the gauge is still in the same place. Why? Because it does not use a direct reading from the sender and the data passes through the ECM before it reaches the gauge. Coolant temperatures of modern cars fluctuate wildly and keeping the gauge from moving with the coolant temperature reduces service questions from fickle owners, so the engineers designed a gauge that tells the driver what the mfr. wants him to see, not what's real. I installed a set of VDO gauges on the car--including oil-temp, water-temp, boost, etc.--and these read directly from the sensor, but have quirky graduations just like the Harley gauge. This doesn't bother me in that environment any more than it does on the bike.

"Rough idea" to you may be an accuracy outside ą1° while I might be happy with a 5° variance one way or the other, particularly if I've tested it and know its deviation. It just doesn't seem to be that big of an issue when dealing with oil temperature on a MC.

Not all of us are developing a cooling system and need data on that level of precision. (I appreciate your efforts, so don't think I'm denigrating them!)

So the solution is if it worries you as a rider just do some tests. I did, albeit at only one place in the gauge's range, and I know it is reasonably accurate at that point.

Well, I know at 180° on the gauge I'm running 180°ą3° based on my tests.
That's close enough for me, and that for me makes it far from junk. Apparently your gauges weren't as accurate.

Have you tested the accuracy of the Autometer gauge? Did it fit into the fairing easily?

 

Wow, a lot of extra info here, very interesting, BTW OP, I bought my guage at the dealer, 20% off, I'm very happy with it, and mine is pretty accurate also.

 

iclick, I think you're right, I believe we have engaged this before. I tested two HD gauges and they were both off by 15 degrees, that's a wide margin in my book. There most definately is a temperature when oil is considered officially hot, in my case I was running conventional oil and my hot value was 250F in which case 15 degrees makes a lot of diference when you are operating fairly close to your limit. ie you are reading 245F but your actually at 260F, that's severe degredation territory for conventional oil. We all have different reasons for what we do. True not everyone is developing a cooling system, but I don't know why a person looking to spend money on a gauge so they can know what their oil temp is, wouldn't want an accurate readable gauge. If you validated your gauge and established a good reference point, and you're happy with it, thats all that matters. However, the average person buying an HD gauge off the dealership wall could not look at it and get a true representation of the actual temperature. I'm 0-2 with HD oil temp gauges, I won't have another one on my bike, and I can't in good concious reccomend it to anyone else. Like I said earlier, when I get some time I will go get another HD gauge just for the purpose of documenting the test and showing the descrepancy. I have tested the AutoMeter against three other known good gauges, digital and analog, and it was within 1-2 degrees of all three. The exception it the CHTs sensors that I added, in which case I had to do what you did and validate my own reference. Sometimes you just gotta compromise; Autometer would not give me the the characteristics of their senders, but I managed to find a surface mount thermistor that is within 8-12 degrees across the entire readable range, so rather than spending thousands of dollars to get custom thermistors I just subtract 10 from my CHT reading and I'm within a couple degrees of true, and much like you with the oil temp, it's close enough for me, also verified with the PCIII temp. The AutoMeter fits right in the fairing, the HD gauges are 2 1/16" also.

 

A little off track here, but would something like this work for your cooling fan project? http://www.autometer.com/cat_gaugede...earch&gid=3945

User programmable warnings & controls in the gauge.

 

Yes and no, since I toggle between different sensors it would cause the set point to trip the switches. I also have two different cooling systems now so the one hi/low switch wouldnt handle both.

 

Lots of great info here. Ill have to read through it a little more thoroughly before making my purchase. Thanks again for all your time and efforts.

 

First thanks for all the information on this subject; I assume by your picture the the Harley chrome Bezel will not fit the outer ring on the Auto Meter.