Trailtech Vapor Gauge Install

[wiguy05]

Well this weekends Elite install included a sweet gauge setup known as the Trailtech Vapor. Got it for $132 shipped on eBay (make sure its the drum brake kit!). Gauge features CHT, RPM, Speed, Time and Distance traveled display. Install was relatively easy given my wiring background. Only PITA was having to extend every wire about 3' in length. In general everything went great aside from having the precisely Wizard-wheel a 1" x 2.5" chunk out of my cherry speedo fairing. Small price to pay IMO.

[dreamer1uk]

Hey,

Looks good. Do you have pics of the actual install as you were working on the Scoot? Im just curious how the Gauge picks up the RPM signal

Im very familiar with Automotove wiring but pretty clueless when it comes to Scoots lol.

[scooterwerx]

nice, looks good, whats different about the drum brake kit?

[wiguy05]

Sorry, no install pics. The tach signal has two wires, one is ground (-) which I put to the frame. The other can either be spliced into the coil wire, or what I did was strip 4-5" of the wire, and wrap it in a coil around the spark plug wire. After that I neatly wrapped it in electrical tape.

I opted to wrap it because with any install I do, whether it be car, truck, scooter or snowmobile, I like to do as little damage as possible. It makes for a clean, factory looking install.

[wiguy05]

nice, looks good, whats different about the drum brake kit?

I believe the speedo sensor.

Drum

Disk

[scooterwerx]

aha, is the speedo calculated from the tire runout, like a bicycle speedo? the dude at the MC store here had no clue, he said the tach was driven off of the wheel speed sensor. ?????

[burnt_toast]

aha, is the speedo calculated from the tire runout, like a bicycle speedo? the dude at the MC store here had no clue, he said the tach was driven off of the wheel speed sensor. ?????

tach off wheel speed, wow sounds like a moron..

excellent install wiguy, looks good

try them 7g yet? I'm still unsatisfied with ~8g, 7g was just SOO peppy

[wiguy05]

aha, is the speedo calculated from the tire runout, like a bicycle speedo? the dude at the MC store here had no clue, he said the tach was driven off of the wheel speed sensor. ?????

The speedo sensor is an inductive sensor and a magnet must be epoxied to the rim itself. I didn't actually install the sensor yet, I'm waiting for new tires and then to paint my rims while they are off. The wheel height is keyed into the gauge and obviously with wheel revolutions and the height, speed is calculated.

Also with the tachometer, the pickup senses the voltage spikes through the plug wire. You must also choose 2 or 4 stroke in the initial setup as well as the PPR (Pulses Per Revolution) of the crankshaft.

[wiguy05]

try them 7g yet? I'm still unsatisfied with ~8g, 7g was just SOO peppy

Not yet, might tonight since it's not raining today. Still kinda cold, ~60*F here.

I plan to run 8g x 3 and 9g x 3 (51g)and try that out first, then step down to 8g x 6 (48g).

Does anyone by chance know the desired MAX RPM the stock engine should run?

[808BMW]

aha, is the speedo calculated from the tire runout, like a bicycle speedo? the dude at the MC store here had no clue, he said the tach was driven off of the wheel speed sensor. ?????

tach off wheel speed, wow sounds like a moron..

You can use a bike speedo as a tach, it's all about the numbers you put in

[burnt_toast]

aha, is the speedo calculated from the tire runout, like a bicycle speedo? the dude at the MC store here had no clue, he said the tach was driven off of the wheel speed sensor. ?????

tach off wheel speed, wow sounds like a moron..

You can use a bike speedo as a tach, it's all about the numbers you put in

NOPE

you're wheels can be spinning while motor is just cruising, because of the cvt the engine speed and tire rotation is not a direct relationship

[808BMW]

You can mount the sensor on your flywheel if your good

[burnt_toast]

well of course, but wheel and flywheel are to very different things

[maddog]

If you are good at math then go for it but so far all i get is we can try

[808BMW]

Well as far as bike tach's go, here's a little bit on how it works:

When you first install a cyclocomputer on a bicycle, you have to enter the circumference of the wheel in millimeters. With that information, it can compute how far and how fast you've gone with every turn of the wheel.
In this instructable, we are going to enter a special number into the cyclocomputer for the wheel circumference that will trick it to report speed in rpm.

If the cyclocomputer is reporting speed in mph, enter 268 mm for the wheel circumference.
If the cyclocomputer is reporting speed in kph, enter 167 mm for the wheel circumference.

Here is the calculation...
1 mph = 1.61 kph.
1.61 kph / 60 minutes in an hour = .026833 kilometers per minute
.026833 kpm* 1,000,000 millimeters per kilometer = 26,833 millimeters per minute
26,833 mmpm / 100 (scale factor) = 268 mm
268 / 1.61 mph-kph conversion = 167 mm
Note: some cyclocomputers might not be able to accept a number below 200, so use the 268 mm number, reporting in mph might be better.

Cliffnotes: The magic number for mph is 268.



As far as accuracy, who knows. Cheap things get cheap results, but if you are bored and love to mod, it's always an idea.