Instrument add-ons

[Rhegness]

Good Morning,
I picked up  2005 RT in great condition a few months ago and am seriously considering adding an oil pressure gauge and voltmeter to the bike. The only gray area so far in the planning is in trying to determine what the thread pitch of the factory oil pressure sending unit might be before taking the sender off. The replacement sender I chose is a VDO 150 pound dual wire sender so I can keep the idiot light. It's thread pitch is 1/8x27.I need to know because I'll have two ways of mounting the oil pressure sender. If it will screw directly into the engine case, great. If not, I'll have to find an adapter. I am planning on mounting the gauges onto the radio speaker grills, as my bike doesn't have a radio (and I don't want one). I can find no reference to the stock sending unit's thread pitch in my shop manual or on the parts lists I have found. Does anyone happen to have this information handy. I used my winter downtime to go over the bike fairly well. I did go ahead and install HID headlights and am thinking about LED brake and turn signals if I can the right spots to locate the necessary resisters so nothing will be damaged by their heat. I've come to believe that riders' downtime can get expensive. When we get bored, we tend to mess around with the bike.

[Rhegness]

Ok. For any of you that decide to add instruments, such as an oil pressure gauge and volt meter to your RT, I finished mine and it appears to function fine. I chose to go with VDO gauges and opted for the electronic oil pressure gauge, because a mechanical gauge which requires a feed line from the crankcase to the instrument is, in my opinion, a little dangerous, given the 80 psi pressure the bike generates. Those lines do rupture. Of course stainless steel braided lines are available, but I stuck with the electronic gauge. The VDO oil pressure gauge requires a sender. I chose their stock number 360-025 because it allowed me to maintain the bikes idiot light circuit, it having a second terminal on the sender. I selected the 150 psi gauge because a pressure gauge is most accurate at, or near, its mid point. The gauge arrived with an 8 wire plug. 6 of those wires are necessary for the gauge to function properly. I didn't want handlebar mounted instruments because I really didn't like their looks, so I chose to mount both instruments on the lower inside corners of my radio speaker grill covers. I don't have a factory radio. I would suggest using an abrasive hole saw rather than a toothed saw for this. The voltmeter is a very simple installation. The BMW idiot light sender threads on my bike are M12/1.5, so a suitable adapter is necessary for successful mounting of the sender. Those are not at all hard to find. My oil pressure gauge tells me a lot about how my engine is behaving and how my oil is holding up. The voltmeter simply reassures me that I'm making power and if I need to make any repairs, such as an alternator belt or other charging issue.

[michaelc2710]

Do you fancy putting a couple of pictures up to show the location etc.

[Rhegness]

As soon as I figure out how to do it. Tried posting one, but got a message back telling me the photo failed security checks. 

[Rhegness]

Tried it half a dozen times in three different formats. Can't get the pics to post. Sorry.

[Rhegness]

Michael, the photos simply will not post.  You can email me at BillRhegness@elmore.rr.com and I can get them to you.

[Rhegness]

By the way Michael, I had to use an additional 45 degree adapter affixed to the bikes sender adapter fitting to get the sender to clear the engine cases, As the sender arrived with 1/8 NPT threads, I had to make sure the initial adapter that screws into the engine block would accept that thread pitch. Once that was done, it was a simple matter to stack adapters to provide the necessary clearance for the sender. I used stainless steel fittings rather than brass, due to their strength. Also, don't use any sort of thread locking compound or tape on the adapters unless it's only on the top few threads, The sender is grounded through the fittings, Safe Riding.   

[michaelc2710]

Hi Thanks for the pictures and well done with the fitment.
If I can get the pictures on the forum for you I will do.

[Rhegness]

Let's see if this works.

[Rhegness]

Well, it finally posted but it posted upside down. I have no clue why. Sorry.