[Muth] added an auxiliary display to his motorcycle instrument panel. He started out prototyping with a PIC 16F877A which he used to access information through the ECM diagnostic connection. Once he had that working he found this tiny display which fits perfectly between the speedometer and tachometer. There’s a short demo after the break where you can see a past-30-minute history of the Adaptive Fuel Value and the engine temperature as well as a secondary information screen.
This is another nice addition to our collection of vehicle displays, scooter controllers, gear indicators, and motorcycle computers.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqplGkaLw5A]
Going past 230 km/h would result in inaccurate speed displays!
He could rig up a little touch-sensitive panel and place it over the screen, essentially as a button. And it could be used to cycle through different modes.
But then again, it’s awesome as it is.
– Jordan
Looks awesome, but wouldn’t it be pretty hard to read in daylight?
Here’s the problem I have with displays like this and ones that show off what gear you are in. Riding a bike requires 100 percent concentration on EVERYTHING around you to ensure that you do not die. Fancy displays and HUDs projected onto your helmet are nice and all, but if you need to look down to tell your speed or, gods forbid, what gear you are in. Please PLEASE don’t get on a bike on the same road I am on.
As for looking down in general, your body tends to want to go where you look. That’s why when you are making a turn in a car or a bike, you turn your head into the turn. Look down and where do you think your head is going?
@MS3FGX
thats why you cup both hands around the lcd in the day time to see what it says. lol
If you’ve ever been on a motorcycle above 120MPH, you’d realize that speedo accuracy is not really at the top of your list of concerns.
Could not possibly be harder to read than that damn cartoon font Erik Buell decided to use on the XB’s. The dash backplate was one of the first things I replaced on mine. Great bikes, but I really wish the Japanese did the finishing on them.
Nice mod , wouldn’t do anything on my XB9R as I’d probably wreck my electronics.
Still Mad at HD for discontinuing them 8(
@Seric
I completely agree. how can you feel like a badass while going past 170kmh in sans comic font? good way to end up like wilie e. coyote i say
on my custom 1000 CC i put in a of the shelf electronic off the shelf electronic single button shifter (one for up and it automatically down shifts) (i have a bad left ankle) and it came with an AMAZING dash system with a super bright blue and white graphic LCD and it shows gear and its an amaing system … and to previous comments 120MPH in a bike is like 200 in a car … its scarry as fuck and its best to know the sound of your engine for when to shift insted of relying on the RPM because you get nasty tunnel vision and any accidental lean can cause a flip
I must agree with SinDex and Rob.
At any speed, your bike will follow your eyes.
I ride a 1200cc also, and I do like the twisties… I hardly have time to look at my speedo.
Now I do plead guilty to this though, my GPS in my pocket, does “talk” to me through the Bluetooth in my helmet. (turned off during technical riding)
Touchscreen? How lame, add a button on the handlebars near your thumb for “mode changes” what person wants to reach over to touch a screen on a bike…
as for your bike following your eyes… when I look up the bike does not fly. When I look down it does not go underground. also because I have ridden for well over 30 years… when I look left or right, the bike does not follow.
newbies on bikes may do this, seasoned vetrans of road biking, supercross, and racing dont have thins problem of the bike going where I look. when doing 100+mph on a track I am looking at the other racers and picking my line, and many times that is not where I am going.
@SinDex – I agree completely. This display is useful only when stopped or traveling at very low speeds.
I would also like to say that the buell XB12/S is a complete piece of crap. I realize that the point of owning a harley is not to have good performance, but that it’s more of a “feeling”. I realize that harley owners don’t mind it when their brand new harleys break down, since that’s expected of a harley, but still, total crap IMO. My 600CC Yamaha FZ6S supposedly has almost 40 foot-pounds less torque, yet it outperforms the XB12 in every category – The only “benefit” to the XB12 is that it is a V-Twin which sounds cool and is marginally easier to put around the city in. Harley overrated everything about this bike; It is literally the slowest 1200CC bike I have ever driven, and I’ve driven quite a few of them.
I am shocked that anyone that wants a sport bike would buy something that says “harley” on it!!! I wonder if Muth regrets his purchase, or if he’s in “harley denial” ;)
Oh, also, this being a motorcycle-related thread, I’d like to bitch: Last week, I was cited by the Michigan State Police for 137 in a 65. There was not a single other car this particular wide, long stretch of highway; I was endangering no one but myself, and the cop still wrote it for the full speed. GRRR. :'(
@jake… Boo hoo… Too bad you got nabbed for being an idiot.
As a bike and car racer.. only complete morons speed like that on public roads. Those roads are in CRAP shape.
@fartface
Nope – US-131 just north of cadillac, month-old concrete (not asphalt), they widened the road so that each shoulder is about a lane wide, and there is 150 yards or more of nice, smooth grass on either side of the road. about 100 yard separation between the northbound and southbound lanes. It’s pretty nice. Couldn’t resist the temptation ;)
Pay to play, Jake. Don’t want a speeding ticket? Don’t speed. And yes, I’ve been riding for 17 years and I work in the motorcycle industry. And I’ve recieved good rider awards from more than one governing body, and guess what? I was speeding. So I didn’t bitch.
And for those who continually knock the Buells, you apparently don’t get the point, and you probably never will. So keep riding your “me too” four-cylinder sportbikes and keep the “it’s-different-I-don’t-like-it” whining confined to the chinbar of your helmet.
And no, I don’t own one.
man, lots of buell hate in here. also, who said anything about needing this while going so fast?
my only suggestion is to make a graphic so that this can ghost itself when not needed. a white background with the covered numbers on it.
@jake: you’re lucky you didn’t go to jail. take it to the track or drag strip.
Very nice mod.
@fartface
You are right, very experienced riders won’t ride where ever they look, however, once someone reaches this level of experience i doubt this mod would be much use to them, especially not on the track. I have not once glanced down to check engine temperature or rpm while track riding, and if i do ride with gps it’s cable tied under my seat, logging data for later.
Great commuter mod though, this would be ideal info if you’re trapped in gridlocked traffic, or a tunnel, unable to filter or split on your useless buell.
Cool hack!
All those haters of the Buell font… you can easily swap them out!
ALl those who say that buell are crap…have you ever driven one in the twisties? None of my mates on japs could keep up with me! The V-Twin is very reliable as well and the buell are actually very well specced for the price (adjustable showas, alluminium frame, strong clutches etc etc )
SinDex has obviously never ridden a motorcycle….
He makes it sound like riding a motorcycle results in guaranteed death. Hey buddy, I am a motorcycle rider myself. If you think this causes problems with the RIDER you really need to never ride a motorcycle yourself. Most riders are capable of paying far more attention to whats around them than you apparently think.
In short…. LOL
And to anyone who hates buells. Shut the hell up. Nobody cares. Go ride your GSXR off a cliff and let people ride whatever they want.
I have a honda CB650 myself. Ive ridden a CBR and gixxer as well as a harley. I must say I really prefer a v-twin, even if it doesnt make as much power or torque. So you are all free to flame me now, then go to hell.
@Masta Squidge I consider my self a ‘Motorcyclist’ and not a ‘Biker’. I ride to work every day on a Vintage (read: Falling Apart on the Road) 1979 Yamaha XS750 Triple.
The difference between a ‘Biker’ and a ‘Motorcyclist’? Attitude. a ‘Biker’ will often weave through traffic or change lanes without signaling or just do stupid crap like riding around without even the basics of gear. I am not saying go on your Sunday drives decked out for a track day, but seeing a guy today wearing no shirt, gym shorts and no helmet… At least we can PRAY that he hasn’t had children yet so his genes don’t get passed along.
You have fun getting scrapped off the sidewalk by some EMT when you are going 140 down a highway and a deer or Hyundai crosses your path. It’s not a matter of ‘If’ it is a matter of ‘When’.
1: When did I even use the word “biker”?
2: When did I ever mention speeding? So why would I hit a deer at 140? Oh yeah, I won’t. Just because you assume things doesn’t make it true.
3: It is NOT a matter of WHEN. Again that is an ASSUMPTION.
You are a pretty piss poor paranoid motorcyclist if you think a bike is a death machine. And frankly, you being a jackass towards everyone won’t stop the idiots from killing themselves.
It is possible that the guy in the above article has a clue.
Do you just automatically assume everyone who isn’t you speeds and does 175 mph at all times with no gear? Because it sure seems like it. I will keep riding my 84 CB650 at no more than 10 over with a helmet at all times.
You can continue complaining online like a pregnant woman over people who are responsible for themselves.
@SinDex
Hey, I don’t always signal when changing lanes – If there aren’t any cars approaching, and my speed is very close to that of the ones ahead of me, I find it rather pointless. I check, change, and keep my thumb on the grip.
I agree about weaving through traffic and other foolishness, those people are just asking to be a human crayon. Though I do wang the throttle in large, smooth, wide-open expanses that I am already very familiar with (and get a ticket once in a while), I will agree that speed/foolishness kills, and I don’t want to break my girls heart by doing something dumb and killing myself!!!
Could being a “squid” be considered attempted suicide? Lol. For you that don’t know what SQUID means, I call it Stupidly Quick, Under-Dressed, Ignorant and Dangerous.
@Jake
An FZ6 passed through my hands, I sold it. I will not however be selling my XB9R, it’s one of the few bikes which will always stay in my stable. With an LSL Superbike Bar conversion and a slipper clutch, the thing is just fun as hell. Nothing else I own, or have owned drops down into turns as quick. And the short wheelbase lets me get back up and on the throttle when I’d still be completing my corner on my other bikes.
If you see a motorcycle broken down on the side of the road, you have about a 110% chance that it is a Harley. Driving back from memorial day weekend vacation, counted more than 10 dead harleys in 6 hours of driving. LOL!