Kawasaki Vulcan Forum banner

Tachometer installation help on '11 VN 900

16K views 38 replies 6 participants last post by  diamondhill 
#1 ·
I purchased this new tach from BKRider and the single fire adaptor from e-bay. I have my tach hooked up to an external 12V supply and the tach does initialize (0 to 8K and back)) when it is pluged in.
Each coil shoul have a - and a + and the adaptor wires should go to -
With the engine idling, when I measure from the bike ground to any of the 2 wires on each coil, I get a + reading on all 4 terminals( one red and one black). I did it again and the same + + + + readings. I know that the black should be the - and I hooked up the adapter to these terminals.
Start the engine but the tach stays at 0...
What am I doing wrong here and why the + reading from both terminals of the coil? Any help is more than welcome.
[/IMG]
 
See less See more
2
#6 ·
Twist tach power and light together and connect to coil red wire. (common between two coils)
Connect adapter to other two coil wires.
Connect ground to convenient black/yellow.

Your meter reads 12v on all coil leads because it cannot react fast enough to register negative going pulse with bike running.
Engine not running will give 12v on both sides of coil.
 
#7 ·
Great ideea and thank you much. I will try tomorrow morning.
And just to aviod making any connections inside the headlamp can I just connect the tach's black wire(-) to the bike's ground(frame) and not the battery?
Also, because would be easier I will connect tach's power to one coil(+) and light wire to the other coil(+)
 
#12 ·
Do the instructions say negative terminal? I don't believe there is one on a coil.
The red leads are constant 12v (+). The black (front) and blk/green (rear) are the signal leads from the ignition controller (+). The coils ground (-) through the mounting bolts.
 
#13 ·
Steve, this is exactly what I've seen yesterday when I measured the terminals Instructions of the tach show the green connected to the negative of the coil and the tach's black(-) wire connected to the ground. My Drag Specialties adapter has the 2 black wires that I will connect reluctantly to the black of the coils. And I will get power for the tach from the red(+)of the coils.
More over, looking on the bottom of the coils I noticed that the red wires go to a green base on the coil and black wires go to a black base on the coil.
I will keep you posted later on. Thanks to all for the ideeas and help with this.
 
#14 ·
Update: hooked up all as I mentioned. Ignition key ON, tach does initial 0 to 8K and back to 0. Light tach ON. Monitor voltage from good ground to one of the black wires from coil 12V. Start engine and monitor the voltage 13V. Tach stays at 0. And I ran out of ideeas.
 
#15 ·
I am now contemplating removing the gas tank for the first time and look for a dedicated terminal for tach from harness if it is there.
I just don't get it. Where is the negative to coil? They are all positives?
Or get a wirring diagram and and try to understand how it works.
 
#17 ·
It is a new tach and it does what is supposed to: it does initial on power ON, tells me it is OK. This is a 2011 Kawa Vulcan 900 Custom special eddition.
I just think this is a new type of coil where the coil is getting the minus from the ground via the frame and it has 2 positives to each coil. But why? This is the big question and without a schematic diagram can not be answered.
I thought I new them all after riding for 40 yr.
 
#19 ·
Sure, the adapter is single fire made by Drag specialities (sealed from ebay).
The description is Harley single fire adapter but of course should work with all tachs.
The problem is where can I connect the minus of the adapter. In any case now I know not to the coil because there is none. There is continuity between all 4 coil wires and they are all positive. Why? This it the 64K $ question.
 
#20 ·
If you have wired up as I specified, the tach should work. If not, the adapter is bad or the tach.
There are NO negative or ground readings to be had on your coils.
If key on and engine NOT running, both sides of coil WILL read 12v. That is normal.

Post back with a link to your adapter.
 
#22 ·
Looking at that adapter, it seems like it has 4 wires. Is this true?
Describe the instructions for installation.

Also, you can connect the tach signal wire to one of the coil negative terminals to see if the tach actually works...it just will read incorrectly.
 
#24 ·
Tach works without the adapter, just half the RPM. Green to one black wire coil.
I owe you one. That means I need a different adapter (for a metric bike)? Or I can build my own like I've seen on the site.
Any suggestions from someone is appreciated. Thank you

Miller time. Stay thirsty my friends.
 
#28 · (Edited)
I'm not so certain. The Baron adaptor works on both HD and Metrics. With the Baron no tacho wires go to the coil. The green tacho wire goes to the green adaptor wire. From the adaptor the yellow & blue wires go to negative side of coils (one each).

I had a look on ebay and that adaptor comes with 3 leads. If you have a 4th lead then that is an optional resitor to help with needle bounce (according to the description).
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top