A few years ago, [Pat] sent in a really nice gear position indicator for his Suzuki V-Strom. With a single seven-segment display , a small microcontorller, and wires tied right into the bike’s ECM, it’s more than enough to do its job, and is much cheaper than aftermarket gear indicators. A simple, elegant solution that does one job well. How could this possibly be any better?
‘Better’ is a relative term, and depending on what you’re optimizing for, a more complex solution can easily be superior. [Pat] figured tripling the value of his motorcycle is a worthwhile goal, so he replaced that seven-segment display with an oscilloscope. It’s the world’s only oscilloscope based motorcycle gear position indicator, and now [Pat] needs a really, really long extension cord.
Like the earlier, more practical version, This build reads the voltage off the bike’s ECM to determine what gear the bike is in. The current gear is then displayed on a Tek MDO3000 with two PWM pins on a microcontroller. Practical? No, but it does look cool. Video below.
I can make a toilet seat position indicator using DS4054 scope but what’s the point?
I can ride a bike with no handlebars…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA
“Because you can!” Sometimes hacks aren’t practical, they are just a study in what is possible. Proof of concepts sometimes lead to really cool applications down the road, or inspire someone to do something cool AND useful by seeing potential… you just never know. Beside, I’m sure [Pat] had fun.
Use a CRT out of an old portable TV?
V Strom NOT V-Storm
Muahahahahahahah!
It’s just like in Big Bang Theory when they light up the lamp all across the world…
“Because we can!?”. (cries un laughter)
Nice! Doing sth just for the sake of doing sth is also nice… sometimes ;-)