I think the ambient air temperature gauge on my Ultra is about useless. I've read where some people have replaced their's with an oil temp gauge. How useful is that and how hard is it to do? What are some sources for the gauges? Are there any other good options for that space? Thanks for any help.

 

Oil temp is more useful than the air temp, & most move the volt meter to the air temp location & install the oil temp in the vacancy left by the volt meter. That puts both oil temp & oil pressure on the same side. Your local dealer & lots of other locations have oil temp kits. Look into the ones that use the plugged location next to the oil drain plug in the pan.

 

I'm installing one today on my EG. I'm using the Autometer 2543, instead of the HD one. It was only $40 instead of $140 and if you research the HD, their not to reliable. It looks like it will be a good (not perfect) match to the other gauges. I'm not going to the hassle of moving it to the other side, I don't have OCD that bad. LOL

Rick

 

I put in an oil temp gauge for about $250 installed. Had to replace the temp sending unit once for about $100. I don't do my own work. This setup gives you feed back on the oil temp. but it hasn't been all that helpful as I have an oil cooler. I think if you are going to invest in your bike, put the money elsewhere. I have seen limiteds that painted the inner faring and this is really a nice touch.

 

I had the same thought on my first Street Glide (2008). I then found after a week that it was as useless as the Air Temp gauge was.

Put your money in a Painted Inner Fairing, you won't regret it.

 

Ive heard the temp gage isn’t accurate, but I don’t carry a magnifying glass with me to find out.

Beary

 

The sensor for the air temp gauge is within the batwing which makes it so inaccurate. I moved mine (just lengthened the two wires) to outside the fairing and in between the forks. Worked much better (still needed a magnifying glass to read it).

I've since installed an oil temp gauge which I would NOT recommend. Its nothing but a worry gauge in the summer. You watch it getting hotter and hotter and start freaking out about how hot is too hot for the engine. It drives you insane. Its not like you can do anything about it. I installed a walters workshop gauge- matches the factory set perfectly and is more accurate/reliable but I would not do it again.

 

Most who install the HD OTG are happy with it, including me. I've checked mine and it is accurate within a few degrees, but one or two have complained that theirs were off more than an acceptable amount. If you buy the HD OTG, do some checks with other gauges (e.g., IR or meat thermometer) to determine the actual oil temperature vs. the gauge's reading. I would not worry about some variance from actual temperature, especially when you know what it is, as the idea is to watch for abnormal behavior. For example when mine gets above 220° I start to get nervous.

Fabrikator and perhaps others have installed the Autometer gauge, which doesn't match the other gauges on the bike but reportedly fits and works fine. The mismatch wouldn't bother me in the least but might induce anguish for others. In fact, considering the lower cost if I had to do it again I would probably buy that one instead of the HD kit.

Either way to me it is a no-brainer to swap the ATG with an OTG, as to me the latter is an important bit of info I want to know. I also monitor ET (front head temp.) from the ECM, which is another good tidbit of info. If you want an ATG, buy a small gauge like the handlebar-mounted one HD sells. It reads high in direct sunlight, but is no worse than the fairing-mounted gauge I had before.

 

I find that the air temp gauge and the battery volt meter are not accurate to read because of the angle you are looking at the gauges from the riding position. Moving your head over so you can look at them dead on provides the most accurate reading, but then you're not looking at the road, so best to be done when stopped at a light. Going digital would cure this problem all together.

 

Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll just stick with the ATG.