Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator - INSTALLED!

[Boneman]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

Found one even a bit cheaper with a better description (that matches what Acumen stated) and only comes with generic wiring lead - not a plug & play wiring loom....so perfect for us FZ6 owners.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...350420014&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:VRI&viewitem=

Description:

Acumen, the UK’s leading motorcycle electronics manufacturer, has introduced a new version of their best-selling DG8 digital gear indicator that includes a voltmeter. This will help owners to spot some of the more common problems with the battery and charging system, whether at home or out on the road. Typical issues include battery malfunction, failing alternator and faulty regulator/rectifier, any of which could leave you stranded (with a ‘flat’ or ‘fried’ battery) if not attended to. Hence the DGV is particularly useful for touring or commuting.

Once the ignition is turned on the DGV displays not only which gear has been selected but also the battery charge, so owners can clearly tell whether the machine is in neutral and the battery is charged before pressing the starter button. The DGV will continue to keep them informed after they get moving too. Even after the ignition is switched off, the voltmeter display will continue to show the battery voltage for one minute, before turning off automatically.

Like the original DG8, the DGV can learn up to 8 gears and comes equipped with an automatic auto-dim facility for night time use. The DGV is supplied as a head unit with a plug-in extension lead (over 1.5metres total length) for those 'universal fits' and comprehensive fitting instructions.

*Note the Voltmeter part is a RED display, the gear display part is either a BLUE, RED, or WHITE display, please chose the color and let us know(Does not come with Plug and Play Loom).

NOTE! The DGV needs a signal relative to road (wheel) speed to work. If your bike has an electronic speed (Analogue or Digital, it is good to go) then you only need the DGV. But, if you have a cable-driven speedometer you will also need the speedo upgrade kit at additional $50.

 

[Boneman]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

DGV Installation & Programming Instructions:

http://www.acumen-electronics.es/docs/Acumen_DGV_EN.pdf

 

[Boneman]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

Just purchased the DGV with a WHITE display from http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Acum...ryZ50463QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(same listing from my post above - $89.95 + $20 shipping USD)

Installation, writeup and pics will follow once I get the darn thing.

 

[sjryser]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

I'm gonna definitely get the gear indicator after trying a rolling stop in third gear<stall>, but what use is a voltmeter? Is it just to check the status of your battery level, or something else? ...only been riding two weeks, please excuse any ignorance on my part.

 

[Boneman]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

I'm gonna definitely get the gear indicator after trying a rolling stop in third gear<stall>, but what use is a voltmeter? Is it just to check the status of your battery level, or something else? ...only been riding two weeks, please excuse any ignorance on my part.

No worries. The bennifit of having a voltmeter is so you can see what's going on with your battery and the charging system and will let you know if you're overloading it. It comes in really handy when you have added in some additional electical mods (like I have) that put extra load on the bike's electrical system. Adding in things like extra lights, heated grips/vests, etc. all take their toll on your battery and the electrical system.

It will also help indicate if your battery is dying a slow death in that each time you turn on the bike and before you start it up, you can see the battery voltage. If it's slowing getting less and less, you know in advance that your battery might be dyding or there is a problem with your charging system.

It's just one more 'tool' to help you see what's going on with your bike.

 

[Boneman]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

Wow...the UK has some seriously fast shipping!! I received my Acumen DGV this morning!!!

Hopefully get some time over the next few weekends to install it.

Pics and write up to follow.

 

[stryken]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

Hopefully get some time over the next few weekends to install it.

Pics and write up to follow.

:spank: Next few weekends?

I think you are now obligated to do it this weekend, you should have said you haven't received it yet.

Looking forward to seeing and more importantly hearing how it went. Good luck with this if it works out might have to look into it myself .

 

[OneTrack]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

Wow...the UK has some seriously fast shipping!! I received my Acumen DGV this morning!!!

Hopefully get some time over the next few weekends to install it.

Pics and write up to follow.

Looking forward to your usual high-quality write up and pics.:thumbup:
Any thoughts yet as to where you're going to position the unit?
I may just spring for one of these units....I was getting pretty good at figuring out which gear I was in until I installed a 15t front sprocket. Now I've got to start all over again.

 

[Boneman]

It's ALIVE!!

The pressure from my 'fans' forced me to install it this weekend. :bow: So I abandoned my wife and daughter and got to it...

First off I can't thank JONAC enough for his fantastic 'how-to' on installing the DG8 unit!! I don't think I would have even attempted it without his write up and work on figuring out what wires need to be connected where! :thumbup: The DGV wires up exactly the same as the DG8 unit, all for one extra wire that goes to constant 12VDC+ for the voltmeter.

If anyone missed it, JONAC's write up is located here: http://www.600riders.com/forum/how-tos/736-acuman-digi-gear-easy-mod.html

NOTE: this mod will test your soldering skills!!! It will also test at how good you are stripping out a 1/4 section of wire insulation in the middle of a wire!! Steady hands, lots of patience and a sharp Xacto knife are required. I would not reccomend doing this mod if you are not confident in your soldering and wiring skills!

Down to the good stuff:

DGV INSTALLATION:

First off you ned to locate on the bike where you want the DGV unit. Your mounting options are limited as it is a fair size (compared to the DG8) and it's not really designed to be flush mounted. So I deceided to mount it centered and ontop of the main display. I used the included 'velcro', but it's more robust that regular velcro and provides surprisingly very secure mounting. I didn't really like the look of the 'velco sandwich' now sitting underneith the unit so once I had it all wired in and made sure it was working, I removed the unit and the velcro and epoxied it down ontop of the main display. Looks nicer, more like a professional install and it's now less prome to someone ripping it off.

Here are the before (velcro) and after (no velcro - expoxied) pics:

I also choose this location as there is also a natural 'wire run' in behind the main display. I loosened the two philips-head screws that hold the main display into the faring and pulled it out a bit in the direction of the gas tank. This was just enouhg to widen the gap behind the unit and I was able to run the DGV wiring down in and along this gap. I used a heat gun on low and warmed up the DGV cable to make it more plyable and easier to bend. HTen jsut re-tightend the philips-head screws and secured the main dsiplay backing into the faring.

I then routed the DGV wiring down and into the right side faring housing. Tons of room in there.

Then I just followed JONAC's advice and ran the wiring down along the inside of the frame (right side) and then into the area of the main ECU wiring harness where you have to splice into.

Now comes the fun part. CAREFULLY unplug and unwrap the wiring harness to the ECU conenctor. Then you need to select the correct wires to splice the DGV wires into. There are as follows:

Digi Wire connect to ECU male connector
RED ----------------> RED with white stripe + brown dots
BROWN ----------------> GREY with brown dots
BLACK ----------------> BLACK with brown dots
ORANGE ----------------> WHITE with yellow stripe and brown dots
RED ----------------> 12VDC+ constant (preferably NOT directly to the + battery terminal. I spliced into the other side of a 20A fused 12VDC+ line I had wired into running to my Stebel horn.)

GREEN wire needs soldering to a seperate light blue wire coming off the white connector.

This is the trickey part as you need to carefully remove a section of wire insulation from the middle of the correct wires going to the ECU harness. Carefully cut around the wire insullation using a small Xacto knife at either end, and only using enough preasure to go through the insulation (you will feel the wire under the blade when you cut through). Then either cut a slit along and between the two cuts you jsut made to remove that section of insulation. Then using your slodering iron, tin that section of exposed wire. Then strip off some extra insulation from the DGV wire, wrap that exposed wire around the now tinned and exposed ECU wire and solder the two together. Wrap with some electrical tape and repeat for all ECG wires.

 

[Boneman]

CALIBRATION:

With everything plugged back in, it was time to calibrate the unit. Again, JONAC has already explained this step in his write up. Just follow the instructions that Acumen provides and you'll be done in less than 1 minute! I was impressed at how fast and easy it was and it's all done with the bike in my garage on it's center stand!

FUNCTION:

I must say Acumen was right about the white display being amazing!!! It was so crisp and bright that I couldn't really get a decent picure of it with my crappy digi camera! But trust me, it's fantastic. I will try to get some day pics up soon.

I can't stress enough at how my pictures do not do this unit justice!! The white gear display is bright, sharp and very clear. I was initially worried about it being too bright at night, so I turnd out all my lights in the garage and fired it up. It auto dimmed itself to a very pleasant level of brightness that was very well suited for night riding (not overly distracting or bright).


Here are the best ones I could get in my garage last night:

When you turn your key to the "On" position, the DGV springs to life, showing your battery voltage and "n" in the gear display for Neutral.

When you turn your bike off, the Voltmeter display remains on for about 1 minute then automatically shuts itself off. Kind of neat.

I got a good 20 minute ride into work this morning and it seemed to function VERY well and was very quick and responsive in changing and displaying the correct gear after each gear shift. The only things I noticed were that when at a light and in 1st with the clutch in, the gear display sometimes will go into a "spinning" mode like it's searching for the correct gear to display. Acumen's trouble shooting says this might happen and can also be casued by a "slipping clutch". Since I hade the clutch engaged, I figure this is why it's having issue finding the correct gear to dsiplay. Not a big deal at all! If you pop it into neutral, the "n" is displayed everytime and stays as "n" untill you shift into 1st.

The only other thing I noticed is now everytime I shift into any gear, as soon as I pull the clutch in, my green "N" light comes on. Not sure why this is and I will be emailing Acumen about it. I'm pretty sure it has to do with wiring the unit in on both sides of the neutral light as per their wiring instructions. Again, not a big deal and usually never even notice as I'm not staring at my main display while I shift.

All in all this is a slick little unit and for the price I would reccomend the DGV unit over just getting the DG8 as the DGV seems to be listed a bit cheaper and you are getting the extra function of a voltmeter.

 

[Se7enLC]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

I'm gonna definitely get the gear indicator after trying a rolling stop in third gear<stall>, but what use is a voltmeter? Is it just to check the status of your battery level, or something else? ...only been riding two weeks, please excuse any ignorance on my part.

It's also helpful if you're stuck in stop-and go traffic for awhile. The stator can only sustain the electricals of the bike (including the spark plugs) when the RPM is above some amount (I forget the amount offhand, but it's a fair amount above idle, maybe 3-4000?). Below that speed, your battery is actually draining rather than charging. When it looks like your battery is getting low, find a different road or rev the engine for awhile.

It's also good to know when you are having charging problems before they happen. I have the colored LED indicator voltmeter somebody linked earlier, so when it stopped showing green LEDs at 50mph I got concerned. When the last of the orange LEDs was flickering, I decided it was time to pull off and investigate. By that point I didn't have enough juice to restart the engine after I turned it off - but I was glad that it cut out in the parking lot I stopped in instead of unexpectedly while riding.

 

[bmccrary]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

Boneman,

Would the voltmeter fit on the fairing, to the right of the speedo. Stick it on between the windshield and the fairing?

I like how that device works, and I really want do this. Just not sure where to place it. I have the yamaha touring screen, so I have some extra room up there. If you have a minute and its not to difficult to move, could see if it will fit in the hole?

Thanks.

-bryan

 

[Boneman]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

Boneman,

Would the voltmeter fit on the fairing, to the right of the speedo. Stick it on between the windshield and the fairing?

Well one thing I found out is that there is more room to the left of the speedo than the right!! I thought everything was even, but it's not! Really surprized me.

I toyed with this same idea and on the right of the speedo it just fits. The only issue is that it sits on a bit of an upward angle, going up and away from the spedo. I thought about it, but didn't like the upward angle.

There is a little more room on the left side. I personally couldn't mount mine there due to I have an LED in that part of the fairing for my POD lights. Left side might be a better location and it might look good placed back in a bit towards the front of the bike.

Let me know if you want some measured dimensions of the unit. You can make a little carboard cutout and look for places to mount it.

I will say I'm enjoying the location of on top of the guage cluster. It's nice and noticable with a quick glance down.

 

[bmccrary]

Re: Acumen DGV Gear + Voltage Indicator

Yea if you wouldnt mind, getting me those deminsions.

I have a aux. outlet there to the left of my speedo, so the only place I have left is to the right. I would like to play around with this a bit, for sure.

Thanks.

-bryan

 

[Boneman]

Dimensions are as follows:

2 1/4" wide (at it's widest part)

1" height

3/4" depth

 

[OZXJR]

Nice job Boneman,I have the gear indicator without the volt meter and I agree with the soldering aspect,It is damn tricky down in there !

I stripped my wires back with a tiny little gas powered torch :thumbup:

 

[OZXJR]

I got a good 20 minute ride into work this morning and it seemed to function VERY well and was very quick and responsive in changing and displaying the correct gear after each gear shift. The only things I noticed were that when at a light and in 1st with the clutch in, the gear display sometimes will go into a "spinning" mode like it's searching for the correct gear to display. Acumen's trouble shooting says this might happen and can also be casued by a "slipping clutch". Since I hade the clutch engaged, I figure this is why it's having issue finding the correct gear to dsiplay. Not a big deal at all! If you pop it into neutral, the "n" is displayed everytime and stays as "n" untill you shift into 1st.

The only other thing I noticed is now everytime I shift into any gear, as soon as I pull the clutch in, my green "N" light comes on. Not sure why this is and I will be emailing Acumen about it. I'm pretty sure it has to do with wiring the unit in on both sides of the neutral light as per their wiring instructions. Again, not a big deal and usually never even notice as I'm not staring at my main display while I shift.

Mine does the spinning as well.It's because the unit needs both speed and revs signal to get the gear,when you pull up in gear you only have the revs signal.But as you say ,if you select neutral then 1st it wont spin.

The neutral glow can be fixed by soldering a diode into the green dg8 wire.Email Acumen and they will send you one for free.

 

[Boneman]

^^ Thanks good to know that I didn't mess anything up with the wiring!

I will email Acumen tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[OZXJR]

I will email Acumen tomorrow.

Boneman,how did you go with Acumen and the diode ?

 

[Boneman]

Boneman,how did you go with Acumen and the diode ?

Got the diode in the mail the other day. Umm, which way does the cathode point when I solder it in? Towards the DGV unit or towards the source where I spiced in from?