Onboard computer display mod

[marku8a]

You dont want an ON/OFF switch, you want a momentary switch. One that when pressed, does not stay depressed. Think of your "flash to pass" switch.....it is only ON when you have it depressed and when you release, it it is off. That is a momentary switch and what you need for this application as well.

I wouldn't mind giving up the functionality of "flash to pass". Does anybody know if the "flash to pass" switch is indeed normally open?

Mark

[lather]

  WEll, Lord Fred's warning was a day too late. I  drilled too close and don't have enough clearance to get the nut on my switch. I did manage to succesfully solder a wire onto the panel circuit board. For now I will patch up my botched hole and make do. Will replace the switch housing and redo later.

[gildaguz]

I wouldn't mind giving up the functionality of "flash to pass". Does anybody know if the "flash to pass" switch is indeed normally open?

Mark

Yes it is nolmally open

[BudCallaghan]

WEll, Lord Fred's warning was a day too late. I  drilled too close and don't have enough clearance to get the nut on my switch. I did manage to successfully solder a wire onto the panel circuit board. For now I will patch up my botched hole and make do. Will replace the switch housing and redo later.

That's a real bummer Lather, you have my sympathy.  All is not lost though.  Before you receive the new switch housing you now have the opportunity to use the one you do have and use it to practice getting the installation right.  I suggest you use some black silicone seal to repair the hole you made in the wrong place and then try another place, such as that depicted in the below picture posted by Ang and try again.  You can either put it where he put it or you can try placing it closer to the seam.  Just remember that you will want it in a place where you can get a finger on it without interference from the clutch's hydraulic reservoir.

I looked here:  http://www.riderschoiceracing.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=1365574&category=Motorcycles&make=KAWASAKI&year=2009&fveh=38263
and found that it will cost you $127.32 plus shipping (ouch) to replace the housing and then you will have to detach the wiring from the old and install it in the new.  If you can figure out how to do a decent repair on the old one or live with the silicone seal patch it will save you a fair amount of change.

[lather]

Thanks for your support Bud. I expect to have an acceptable repair. I will know in the morning after the JB weld has had time to cure and I see how it holds up when I re-drill. But I have a thing about always paying the price for my screw ups so I plan to replace the housing even if it comes out ok. Luckily I was able to buy a housing on Ebay for $45 plus $9 shipping. And as you suggest, practice makes perfect.

[marku8a]

To ground the switch I soldered a very thin copper wire to the switch's other terminal and ran it under a plastic piece inside the other side of the housing where it contacts the handlebar.  This can be better understood when you remove the housing for a visual assessment of my explanation.  There's plenty of room to run the single wire next to the gang of wires where they enter the housing.  If you are unable to decipher my ground wire instructions, let me know and I'll pull it apart, take a picture and post it.  I did it this way because it seemed a waste to run a separate ground wire alongside the other wire to a ground on the frame when the handlebar is right there and is certainly a ground.

I would like to avoid running a separate ground wire as well. I decided to use the FTP switch. I disconnected the wires then had a look at the wire diagram. It appears that one wire is 12 volts hot and the other is a ground when the headlights are on. The wires to the switch are not color coded in the diagram. I probed the wires and found that one is hot and the other has a very small floating positive voltage. Since this is being connected to the display circuit board I am concerned about using what appears to be a ground but has a positive voltage. Even a small voltage can fry a sensitive circuit board. Any advice on the use of this apparent ground is welcome.

Mr. Callaghan – I don’t understand your grounding solution. The places that I see that contact the handlebar are the circular cutouts that allow the housing halves to come together and a plastic pin that fits into a hole on the handle bar that prevents the housing from rotating on the handle bar. I really studied this but I am at a loss to understand. Your elaboration would be appreciated.

Mark

[gildaguz]

I would like to avoid running a separate ground wire as well. I decided to use the FTP switch. I disconnected the wires then had a look at the wire diagram. It appears that one wire is 12 volts hot and the other is a ground when the headlights are on. The wires to the switch are not color coded in the diagram. I probed the wires and found that one is hot and the other has a very small floating positive voltage. Since this is being connected to the display circuit board I am concerned about using what appears to be a ground but has a positive voltage. Even a small voltage can fry a sensitive circuit board. Any advice on the use of this apparent ground is welcome.

Mr. Callaghan – I don’t understand your grounding solution. The places that I see that contact the handlebar are the circular cutouts that allow the housing halves to come together and a plastic pin that fits into a hole on the handle bar that prevents the housing from rotating on the handle bar. I really studied this but I am at a loss to understand. Your elaboration would be appreciated.

Mark

You have a real ground in that housing. the BLACK/YELLOW wire that goes to the horn switch is ground you can confirm that in the wiring diagram

[lather]

I had a suitably sized piece of two strand wire lying around so I used it. For ground I bared an inch of one strand and wrapped it around one of the panel bracket bolts a couple inches from the other strand that connects to the wire coming out of the panel. Seemed simple and logical to me. The way I read Bud's ground solution, he just used the two halves of the switch housing to clamp his ground wire to the bar.

[BudCallaghan]

Mr. Callaghan – I don’t understand your grounding solution. The places that I see that contact the handlebar are the circular cutouts that allow the housing halves to come together and a plastic pin that fits into a hole on the handle bar that prevents the housing from rotating on the handle bar. I really studied this but I am at a loss to understand. Your elaboration would be appreciated.

Mark

I'll take it apart and snap a picture in a couple of hours.  Then I'll post it to reveal simplicity defined in this approach to solving a very simple snag that some folks are tripping over.

Changed my mind and decided to do it now as it involved a mere five minutes of effort.  Here are the pictures that prove once more, "Any ass can do it".

It's nothing more than a thin copper wire that is bent around the aluminum bar and held firmly in place by the other half of the housing.

[BudCallaghan]

I had a suitably sized piece of two strand wire lying around so I used it. For ground I bared an inch of one strand and wrapped it around one of the panel bracket bolts a couple inches from the other strand that connects to the wire coming out of the panel. Seemed simple and logical to me. The way I read Bud's ground solution, he just used the two halves of the switch housing to clamp his ground wire to the bar.

You got it, simple as that.

[VirginiaJim]

This is an excellent thread!

[marku8a]

It's nothing more than a thin copper wire that is bent around the aluminum bar and held firmly in place by the other half of the housing.

Got it now. Thanks!

Mark

[OCK913]

OK, I have a "before I go any further question for ya'll ....
When I got home from work today my switch was here. After dinner I thought I would get started on the grip housing portion. I mounted the switch in the housing and attached one leg of the switch to the yellow/black which has been stated was a good ground. I ran the other leg from the switch out of the housing using the existing loom that all the other factory wires are in (there was plenty of room in there) and I have it exiting the loom down below the fairing near the fork tubes. I stopped there and figured I would start on the display connection portion of it tomorrow evening. So far so good ...... however, thinking I was just checking my work, I connected a simply 12V test light to an old motorcycle battery that keep in my garage just for testing purposes like this. I hooked one end of the test light to the positive of that battery and I connected the other end to the wire that is coming from the switch that will eventually connect to the display circuit board. My thinking is that if I push the button, it should light the test light .... shouldn't it?  If so, I have a problem, because it doesnt. 

[BudCallaghan]

You need to connect the test battery's negative post to the motorcycle frame to complete the circuit.

Verify the test light's integrity by simply touching it to a clean bolt or other satisfactory ground on the bike's frame after you have attached the battery's negative terminal to the frame.  If it lights, you now know that it is in working order.  Now check the wiring through the momentary switch and if the light shines when you press it to close the contacts, you're good to go.  If not, attach your test light probe to the black/yellow wire to verify that it is indeed a ground wire.  If it is a ground wire and the light doesn't shine going through the switch then there's a fault somewhere in the switch or the wiring.  If the black/yellow wire is not a ground, take a look at my own setup and copy it as it's as simple as me and as bulletproof as the application requires it to be.

A volt/ohm meter would be preferable to your test light but the test light should be able to determine a ground.  If you don't own a volt/ohm meter, then you ought to consider getting one as you will surely find many uses for it in the future.  Fortunately, they're very inexpensive.

[lather]

After two days and 180 miles of "test riding" I am thoroughly delighted with my fingertiip panel display control.  The first 3 or 4 uses I had to feel around for the switch location but after that it was automatic. The only thing I am wondering now is who knows which spot on the IC board controls the odometer? And where can I find a two-way momentary on toggle switch? Most riders probably don't fool with the odometer switch much but I do.

Huge thanks to Lord Frederick for the how-to posting and to Bud for his helpful suggestions.

[OCK913]

You need to connect the test battery's negative post to the motorcycle frame to complete the circuit.

Thanks Bud, as soon as I read that I was  "DOH!"  I checked it before I left for work and I am good to go. I will work on the connecting it to the display tonight.

[BudCallaghan]

After two days and 180 miles of "test riding" I am thoroughly delighted with my fingertiip panel display control.  The first 3 or 4 uses I had to feel around for the switch location but after that it was automatic. The only thing I am wondering now is who knows which spot on the IC board controls the odometer? And where can I find a two-way momentary on toggle switch? Most riders probably don't fool with the odometer switch much but I do.

Huge thanks to Lord Frederick for the how-to posting and to Bud for his helpful suggestions.

This thread is getting out of hand.  I don't think you'll be able to find a push button switch that will do what you want.  However, you can get a SPDT center off "ON-OFF-ON" momentary toggle switch of the miniature variety that will work.  They're available with a small 1/4 inch post and a body small enough to fit in the handlebar housing.  (Pictured below) 

As for your other question, I can only suggest you do a bit of experimenting to find the answer.  If I cared to have the odometer option you seek I would remove enough plastic to get to the panel circuit board and then test the group of four connections below the group of four connections where the wire is soldered as shown in Lord Frederick's picture copied below.  My presumption is that the upper group of four connections is attached to the upper button and the lower four are connected to the lower odometer button.  I'd start by momentarily grounding the one in the same place as the one that works for the upper button.  What the hell, the worst case scenario is a ruined circuit board and panel lights that don't work at all.  Kawasaki will be glad to sell you another if you do ruin it. 

That's an unlikely event though.  If I cared to be able to toggle through the odometer choices I would follow the path described above, but I don't, so I won't.  You're on your own with this one.  To search for the switch, try looking for this: "SPDT center off "ON-OFF-ON" momentary toggle switch" using Google.  There are probably rocker switches available but will be too big for your desired application.  Lord Frederick really opened a can of worms with this one. 

[Kwikasfuki]

Lord Frederick really opened a can of worms with this one.

 

Maybe next time I'll open Pandora's box by mentioning Kipass   

[VirginiaJim]

If this is what comes out of 'opening a can of worms' then open all you can find....

[Flathead]

Keep in mind in your search that a lot of manufacturers show a momentary switch with parenthesis, such as (ON)-OFF-(ON). Here is one source for a lot of great switches: http://www.e-switch.com