Oh motogadget, why must you tempt me so...

[DucHead]

Extensions are for hair   

I had to buy the proper crimps to do my wiring harness.  Crimping is better IMHO....no chance of a failed solder joint do to vibration or movement.   And quicker too    Some raychem and extra pins and I was good to go.

Crimps are the copper or Al tubing with a plastic sheath that you crush to make the connection, right? 

[swampduc]

I feel your pain.  Seriously.  I spent four-yever trying to figure out which of those two I wanted.  I finally decided the black didn't work as well with the overall look of my bike.  But I coulda gone either way. 



Drunken Monkey bought a black one.

Excuse the newb question; I have very little experience working on bikes. So did ya'll essentially build custom housings for the guage? I'm wondering how or where i would put that thing on a 696.

[TAftonomos]

Crimps are the copper or Al tubing with a plastic sheath that you crush to make the connection, right? 

I bought the metal connectors that go inside the factory connectors.  Then, de-pin the connector, crimp on the new connector, and lock it in place in the factory plug.  Factory plugs. much lighter wire. 

Tip - Instead of buying multiple colors (raychem is expensive wire), I use small labels I've printed on the computer, and some clear shrink wrap to label the ends of each wire.

Did a car harness once, strictly a race vehicle....lost 15lbs of WIRE.   The ducati harness won't do that, but shedding the battery-box and fuse panel for that motogadget thing WILL save a few lbs.

Every ounce counts.  Start adding them up

[DucHead]

I bought the metal connectors that go inside the factory connectors.  Then, de-pin the connector, crimp on the new connector, and lock it in place in the factory plug.  Factory plugs. much lighter wire. 

Tip - Instead of buying multiple colors (raychem is expensive wire), I use small labels I've printed on the computer, and some clear shrink wrap to label the ends of each wire.

Did a car harness once, strictly a race vehicle....lost 15lbs of WIRE.   The ducati harness won't do that, but shedding the battery-box and fuse panel for that motogadget thing WILL save a few lbs.

Every ounce counts.  Start adding them up

Thanks Theo.

I recently worked with some weatherproof connectors and pins when I re-wired my brake light and turnsignals.  Not too bad.  Maybe this isn't beyond my capabilities.  Thanks also on the label tip.

I'm not so much interested in loosing lbs., as I am in making the bike look cleaner and making access to several things easier.

[Drunken Monkey]

Excuse the newb question; I have very little experience working on bikes. So did ya'll essentially build custom housings for the guage? I'm wondering how or where i would put that thing on a 696.

In the case of the top bike, Spidey/ Duck Stew just used the mount available from motogadget and attached it via some mounting screws to the top triple.

In the case of the lower pic, I took an aluminum headlight, got a machinist wizard to cut a hole in the headlight, then made my own internal mount out of aluminum sheet.

I recommend the first method unless you're insane 

[Duck-Stew]

In the case of the top bike, Spidey/ Duck Stew just used the mount available from motogadget and attached it via some mounting screws to the top triple.

In the case of the lower pic, I took an aluminum headlight, got a machinist wizard to cut a hole in the headlight, then made my own internal mount out of aluminum sheet.

I recommend the first method unless you're insane 

Well, mostly....  The majority of the stock mounting blank from MotoGadget was used, but I did customize it to fit the two mounting holes in the triple as well as bend it slightly up before coating it black and installing it.

As far as DrunkenMonkey goes....  Yes, what he did in that headlight is insane...

[superjohn]

Excuse the newb question; I have very little experience working on bikes. So did ya'll essentially build custom housings for the guage? I'm wondering how or where i would put that thing on a 696.

Before he runs out and picks one up, the 696 has the immobilzer in the gauge cluster as well right, so swapping it out would be a major undertaking to rewire wouldn't it?

[Drunken Monkey]

Whoops. Forgot all about the immobilizer.

Unless you're insane and basically hide the stock gauge unit & immobilizer under the tank (Hiya 'Stu!) you can't mount aftermarket gauges on any bike with an immobilizer.

Alternatively, you can pay someone to reflash your ecu to eliminate the immobilizer feature that "slaves" the ECU to the gauges. That's (IMHO) the more sane approach.

[swampduc]

Thanks for the replies. Guess this will be a mod for "later"