Suzuki C800, Bullet Rev-Counter * Baron

This is a lovelly looking rev counter but is a bitch to get working properly
The Baron connectors didnt seem to fit very well to the coils making the needle very jumpy and reading most of the time at half revs
I stripped everything back to basics that Baron had sent and put all the connectors in the bin and started again. This time with all new connectors from the local hardware store that did fit properly, I then reinstalled the tach and this time everything is working properly.
The baron piggyback connectors were weak and one broke and they as well as all other connectors don’t seem to fit properly and I would argue hat the proof of that is that it all works properly now.
I hope this thread can help others as I have read so many similar problems all over the net which was making me think that I had made a massive mistake with this product. However my problem has been solved and it does make me wonder how many others out there have connected there’s up thinking that the current is flowing properly but actually isn’t causing them problems.

Does the rev counter light up at night time?

Yes mate

theres no red line on it (because it fits different bikes) do you know how many revs your bike does before your redlineing probaly a silly question but id like one for my bike that way i could tell that im not kaneing the arss out of it when exellerateing hard from a stand still till i hit top gear . looks great by the way

That looks good

fat intruder wrote:

theres no red line on it (because it fits different bikes) do you know how many revs your bike does before your redlineing probaly a silly question but id like one for my bike that way i could tell that im not kaneing the arss out of it when exellerateing hard from a stand still till i hit top gear . looks great by the way

Morgan .... peak power on the 800 engine is produced at 6000 rpm with the "redline" being at between 7500 - 8000 I believe. But the benefit of this engine is that peak torque comes in at 3500 rpm. I would think these stats wouldn't be a lot different (if at all) for the 750 bud

so if i get one fitted (in the future) changeing gear at 6000 to7000 would be about right then if giveing it a blast or for example if on the motorway go anything up to about 6000 and the engines not takeing to much of a beeting nice imfo thanks . i thought id put the bike to the test after id had it about 4 weeks so waited for a race of the lights with a boy racer (theres loads around were i live ) dident have to wait long just a few days till a lad in a corsa tryed doing me from a red light reving his engine waiting for lights to change what a cock he must have thort cruser there not fast ha ha left him for dust but did get cort out in second gear the bike was pulling like a train and before i could change into third it hit its max (full revs in the red if it had a rev counter) but seemed to get there without letting up at all untill it got there by the time i was going into forth gear he was a speck in my mirror cant say i make my bike work that hard normally but you have to see what your bike can do every now and again i did get used to haveing a rev counter on my last bike and used to take it to 11,000 in every gaer from first to top (lean over the tank and hold on tight) allways good fun

My bad, page 6 of the manual - the last one

Hope all works out well for you Raph, they are a nice looking bit of kit for sure   Keep us informed on your findings please

As already said, keep us up to date. I for one will be interested to see how you get on.

Hey, just a quick update: the tachometer is mounted, it's working although the needle shakes quite a bit while on idle. Tomorrow afternoon I'll take her to Verona for her yearly (annual?) check-up and, in the evening, I'll post "the tale" with pictures and impressions.
I wanted to add one photograph here too, but I can't convince my f...ing phone to do it, sorry about that -_-'

Look forward to it Raph 

Ok, here's what I found out while riding today (the post about fitting will follow shortly)

Start-up: the needle shakes around 1500 rpm, which I believe is correct since the bike has just been turned and needs to warm up.

I got out of town - not watching the instruments, just making sure that none of my damned fellow citizens run me over - and onto the autostrada (highway). 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th one after the other, changing gear somewhere around 5000 rpm.

Here comes the wrong note: between 3000 and 4000 rpm, while riding at constant speeds (90, 95, 100, and 105 km/h - 56, 59, 62, and 65 mph) the needle doesn't just shake, it moves back and forth with in a range of 500-600 rpm - i.e., if at 100 km/h it should show ~3750 rpm, it moves between 3500 and 4000, moving regularly every second.
Once the 4000 rpm mark is passed, though, it becomes very regular - at 110 km/h (68 mph) it was showing ~4100 rpm, quite precisely.

I have a borderline OCD, which should make me crazy right now, but the funny thing is it doesn't. First of all, I usually ride at speeds that are either lower or higher than the ones I wrote here, so I would rarely witness this defect. Second, I only need a tachometer to make sure I don't keep the engine in the too-high or too-low revs for too long. But of course, if anyone needs a precise reading at all occasions, this is not the instrument for him/her.

Once back at the garage, with the bike on idle, the needle was shaking around 1000 rpm, so I guess that it had warmed up after 110 km ;-)

Here's a couple of pictures

Great to read you got on well with it, good shout on the instructable.
Is there now any bouncing around of the needle?

Looks cool Raph! Nice write up too 

Dave: yes, there's a bit of shaking under 1500 rpm and, most annoyingly, a strong up-and-down between 3000 and 4000 rpm. It's weird that it starts exactly at 3000 and stops exactly at 4000, it's not gradual. I'll see if I can make a video of this in the next few days. But, as I said, the way I use the tach - checking it every once in a while - it doesn't bother me.

Sim: Thanks for the compliment, I've found a lot of help on this forum  and it feels good to give something back - even if it's just to help others know what tach they DON'T want  Though the looks of it are quite fantastic

Thanks Raph, I may even pop my one back on and solder all the wires in place.

I've shot the video, sometime tonight I'll post it so you can see for yourself the shaking etc.

I was having a doubt though: is it possible that the wires from the adapter should have been connected to both coils of the same cylinder, rather than one of each?

Hi,
one thing came to my mind while looking at your video. It might be, that your tachometer is very sensitive to the handlebar shaking, because the shaking seems to resonate on specific revs.

So, try this: detach the meter from handlebar, maybe holding it in your hands, and start the engine, rev it around, and see, if the needle stutters at all while the meter is not vibrating from the handlebar.

If the meter is working fine that way, then you know, that the handlebar vibration is actually the issue, which you can try to get rid off having heavier handlebar weights, filling the handlebar with sand, or something like that.

Hey, great idea! I'll try it in the next few days

just an other idea if it is that try some rubber around the handlebar before fitting the rev counter might also help when added to other idea's

Thumb up!

I found a How to... install a DragSpecialties or Baron Tacho on a FI bike. It has no pictures but I hope it helps!!

How to install a Tachometer

Well done always worth keeping for reference.