Battery Voltage Monitor

[tawilke46]

Clearwater has a voltage monitor called the "Clearwater Voltage Sentry"
The monitor indicator you mount is only one very small led that changes colors and pulses to let you know the status of your charging system.
Should be a piece of cake to install, and takes up virtually no room on the front of the bike. This one is really neat. MSRP is $59 so it is very affordable.
http://clearwaterlights.com/products2_pp.html
http://clearwaterlights.com/images/CVS-close-up-lit.jpg
http://www.webbikeworld.com/r4/clearwater-voltage-sentry/
I may invest in one of these.
EDIT: I just bought one!

Got this message from Clearwater:
Good Morning Tim:
We have received your PayPal order. Usually we ship the same day, but we have had a run on the CVS since the Motorcycle Consumer News article, and we are working to get all the orders out this week. I will send you an e-mail confirming your shipping tracking number and provide you with a copy of your paid invoice.
Thank you!!!

Lorett Kinnicutt
Clearwater Lights
clearwaterlights.com
2546 Mercantile Drive Unit B
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742
916-852-7029

 

[Phil Tarman]

That is a slick-looking deal, isn't it? I might have to get one of those and let my Kisan Chargeguard just be an expensive thermometer.

 

[Rmcapozzi]

That is a neat looking device.

I've been using the battery bug from Argus Analyzers. The one thing I wish it had was a backlight on the display. At night (or in a dark location) you can't see the display. I may install one on the NT if my wife wants one. It takes the guess work out of the life left in the battery in addition to monitoring voltage.

Clearwater has a voltage monitor called the "Clearwater Voltage Sentry"
The monitor indicator you mount is only one very small led that changes colors and pulses to let you know the status of your charging system.
Should be a piece of cake to install, and takes up virtually no room on the front of the bike. This one is really neat. MSRP is $59 so it is very affordable.
http://clearwaterlights.com/products2_pp.html
http://clearwaterlights.com/images/CVS-close-up-lit.jpg
http://www.webbikeworld.com/r4/clearwater-voltage-sentry/
I may invest in one of these.
EDIT: I just bought one!

 

[elizilla]

Signal Dynamics also makes a voltage monitor with a single LED that changes colors, and it costs less - I think I paid $25 each for them. I ordered four of them, then failed to get them installed on all the bikes they were intended for, so I had one on the shelf to put into the Super10.

I can report that the one I put on the V-Strom gave me six weeks of warning when the battery went bad - the light went to red/yellow, indicating issues even though it continued working fine. I stopped taking that bike out of town, pending some further investigations, but I continued riding it locally, until one day I came out to the garage and it just wouldn't start.

 

[Pick]

I have one of these Kuryakyn voltage meters (#4219). It is quite small and works very well. Adds a bit of color to the dash as well. I got the chrome one, but it comes in black also.

http://www.kuryakyn.com/Products/872/LED-Battery-Gauge

 

[silverdevil]

you can get a digital volt meter that plugs into the cig lighter from wal-mart for $15
take the cig plug end off and plug the wires into the plus 12 and ground when the key is on.
cheaper yet and it is a digital volt meter you can see at night time also.

 

[RedLdr1]

I have one of these Kuryakyn voltage meters (#4219). It is quite small and works very well. Adds a bit of color to the dash as well. I got the chrome one, but it comes in black also.

+1 on the Kuryakyn. I went with the "basic" black case version (#4218) on both my bikes. If you watch on eBay you can find them for around thirty dollars with shipping....

 

[freezingalaskan]

Another one....Motosens flat black, would integrate easily into the "speaker" area. It looks close to the rest of the Honda instrumentation.
I had a couple of chrome ones for my VStar before and liked the quality.

http://www.motosens.com/english/elef_gb.htm

freezingalaskan

 

[coaster]

Signal Dynamics also makes a voltage monitor with a single LED that changes colors, and it costs less - I think I paid $25 each for them. I ordered four of them, then failed to get them installed on all the bikes they were intended for, so I had one on the shelf to put into the Super10.

I can report that the one I put on the V-Strom gave me six weeks of warning when the battery went bad - the light went to red/yellow, indicating issues even though it continued working fine. I stopped taking that bike out of town, pending some further investigations, but I continued riding it locally, until one day I came out to the garage and it just wouldn't start.

I also have installed a Signal Dynamics monitor on my PC800. Nice package, worked great for the five years that I had my PC.

http://signaldynamics.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=56&category_id=14&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=77&vmcchk=1&Itemid=77

 

[tawilke46]

Pics of the Clearwater voltage monitor install.
The Clearwater monitor unit
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h417/tawilke46/Voltage Monitor/IMG_0406.jpg
The microprocessor is very small
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h417/tawilke46/Voltage Monitor/IMG_0410.jpg
Tanking off tupperware, notice bike on centerstand! Now know how to do it.
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h417/tawilke46/Voltage Monitor/IMG_0407.jpg
Rolling up excess wire and wire ties
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h417/tawilke46/Voltage Monitor/IMG_0411.jpg
Battery connection
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h417/tawilke46/Voltage Monitor/IMG_0412.jpg
The LED after battery connection showing steady green, which is good!
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h417/tawilke46/Voltage Monitor/IMG_0409.jpg
All tupperware back on
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h417/tawilke46/Voltage Monitor/IMG_0414.jpg

Works as advertised. I did not use the little LED bracket. I was unable to get the light to stay in the bracket, so I wrapped the LED connection in electrical tape and wire tied to a wire bundle near the steering head. Works just as well.