Always Hot Wire for Dash?

[ChrisK]

I don't know why I'm having such a hard time wrapping my mind around this.

I've installed an aftermarket gauge cluster on my 98 M900. I have everything working except one thing. It has a clock that is designed to stay on even when the bike is turned off, obviously this means it needs an "always hot" wire to work. Which wire would you guys tap into up near the gauge cluster/front of the bike to make this happen?

Also, the gauge cluster has a fuel level reading feature... my 98 only has the low fuel indicator. Do you know of a direct replacement to put in the tank that works as a fuel LEVEL indicator? I haven't looked into if I can just make the gauge read low fuel instead of the fuel level, if I can that would be the easiest option. It's an Acewell 2853 if anyone has previous experience.

[ducpainter]

You should be able to find a 'hot wire' at the ignition switch. Use your meter on the red wire.

All the older Ducs have low fuel only. No variable unit that I'm aware of unless the stock unit will function that way.

[ChrisK]

Okay I'll look into that for the hot wire. Frustrating because I thought I had it all wired correctly and I shrink-wrapped it shut... 

I'm interested to see what happens with the fuel sensor. Like, what will it read when the tank is full of gas? And what will happen when the low fuel level indicator sends a signal to the gauge cluster?

[brad black]

fuel level indicator is just a yes/no switch.  only bikes with gauges were st2, with a much larger float style thingy inside the tank.

no hot wire anywhere on a carb bike, only the red into the ignition switch.

[ChrisK]

Yeah, tapping into that wire did the trick.

So what do you think will happen when I connect my "yes/no" low fuel sensor to the fuel gauge wire of the new gauge? I'm hoping that it might just show full, or even empty - and then when the gas runs low and the signal is sent, something changes on the display, whether it be all the bars go away or the bars appear. As long as I know what it looks like when there's gas and what it looks like when the gas is low, I can just treat that as a low fuel indicator like before.

I usually have a pretty good idea of how much I have left anyway, going off of mileage.

[ducpainter]

My guess is it will read full when empty and not read at all otherwise.

[ChrisK]

That's kinda what I think too. As long as it does SOMETHING, reliably, I'll be okay with it. I'll report back, and DP, I sent you an e-mail yesterday.

[ducpainter]

That's kinda what I think too. As long as it does SOMETHING, reliably, I'll be okay with it. I'll report back, and DP, I sent you an e-mail yesterday.

Answered...wasn't around all day.