Dashboard

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

I am going to add a dashboard to the Battle Cruiser over the winter. I have been doing measuring in the fairing and it looks as if I have room for about seven 2 inch gauges. My original plan was for a voltmeter, a vacuum gauge and a clock (can't always look at the watch). My Poll for you guys (not polling formally)is, what value would I get by going with 4 vacuum gauges (one for each carb), a clock, an oil pressure gauge and an oil temp gauge?
Would the four vacuums be helpful in monitoring the tune of the engine or am I just wasting space (and money)?

[prometheus578]

Four vacuums would look neat, but would only show that the throttle plates are opening equally. Now... if you could get four gauges showing the temp at the header pipes... that would be more useful in showing what the engine/carbs are doing. Oil pressure and temp would be good. I've made manometers, (not guage type), to judge wind resistance when "drafting" behind semis. The compass mounted on my master cylinder spins like a turbine when I engage the starter, but eventually settles down. Unfortunetely, there's not too many things that one can gauge on these bikes. Wish there was.

[Ken Talbot]

How about: voltmeter, oil temperature, oil pressure, engine vacuum to watch the motor; then ambient air temperature, compass, and altimeter to watch where you are....

[GNEPIG]

.. how about a couple of air/fuel ratio gauges up there, one for the left two exhaust one for the right two.. you could tune your carbs nearly perfectly with these and you would be the only kid on the block to have a set
.. it would be cool to see how things change when the altitude changes [richer in the mountains-leaner near sea level]
..or when you turn the choke on

[wingnut]

EGT gages

Setting up 2 EGT gages would be really cool. I've seen 1/2 wide by 2 inch long ribbon type gages for this purpose. If you go this route make sure you use AL type thermocouples as the exhaust gas temps on a gas engine can get up around 2K + at the exhaust valve. If you put the probes down at the joint of each of the 2 down tubes you may be able to use the IC types which are cheaper as the temps should be much lower. Remember the gages must match the type of probe you use as must the wires. AL type are yellow in color and the IC type are black. A good source for parts and gages would be a aviation supply house or maybe some used stuff could be found in tradeaplane.