To those who do not know me, I am Momchil or shortly ?M?. I am probably the youngest in the Vmax Club UK, a Vmax enthusiast and I love custom made stuff.
Digital compass on a bike? Reality or myth?
It is considered that implementing digital compass technology on a motorcycle is fairly difficult. I have attempted mounting such a compass on various bikes, and most of my attempts were completely unsuccessful. It will definitely NOT work on V-twins, such as Harleys or Honda Shadow. However, for the Vmax, impossible is just a level of difficulty!
Right, you all probably have or have seen various digital gauges on bikes. Volt meters, fuel gauges, speedometers and tachometers are readily available and specifically designed for most motorbikes. However, it seems that nobody is offering a DIGITAL compass for bikes. After extensive research, I have discovered that only Dakota Digital is making a gauge that probably will fit on a bike, but they say it is strictly designed for cars.
Why digital?
Well, it?s cool isn?t it? Having degree readings, N,S,E,W directions and an arrow on a gauge, in addition it could be back-lit constantly. Is it hard to do? ? Hell yeah, but not if you?re only messing around. The same applies to price, if you just want to try one out, it costs about 20 quid.
Difference between digital and analogue:
The digital compass uses a sophisticated chip to determine north, a microprocessor is designed to distinguish external magnetic ?noise? from the true magnetic field of Earth. Analogue compasses are just a piece of magnetic material which needs to be free moving in order to point north, that?s why most of them either ?float? in water, or are attached to a pin, it?s all to minimise resistance to movement.
How does a digital compass operate?
Well it?s all about calibrating it. At first, you need to make a full circle of 360 degrees with your vehicle, so the device becomes acqainted with the ?noise?. The engine of every vehicle makes a significant magnetic field around it. To make things more complicated, when the engine is running, this field constantly changes. This is where our problems come.
What is the main problem?
The excessive magnetic noise on a bike engine is too much for a digital compass to handle. As they are designed to work on cars, the microprocessors of widely available digital compasses are incapable to handle the magnetic ?noise? that a big V-twin generates, the same applies to single-cylinder, large capacity bikes. The compass picks up and records patterns of magnetic fields generated from the engine upon calibration. Then when the device operates it tries to distinguish those recorded patterns and discard them as ?noise?.
Why is Yamaha Vmax different?
Being a ?musclebike?, the Vmax has a V4 engine, which generates magnetic fields pretty similar to car engines. A V-twin swings magnetic polarity from one side to the other, making the compass go crazy. I have personally experimented with a Honda Shadow VLX 600, and believe me, it DOES NOT work. However the result is very satisfactory on my Vmax.
How I did the compass?
Pretty simple but takes time, just solider some cables to the compass PCB for buttons, add new battery compartments (for longer life). The compass needs to be powered by batteries, as the engine creates noise all over the electrical system of the bike, 4xAAA batteries will last you very long, but I am not sure how long yet as I just fitted them. If you look closer you will see the black pushbutton on the right side of the supporting frame of the gauge cup. This is where you turn the compass ON. The calibration button is hidden, as it is not used frequently. There is a LED backlight, goes ON when the ignition of the bike is ON. The compass indicates direction and degrees.
The CLOCK has three functions ? clock, air temperature and sensor temperature. Again, look closer and you will see where I mounted the button. It is used to turn the clock ON, and switch between the three different modes. The other two buttons used to set time and date are hidden. The sensor is mounted close to the engine to indicate the engine temperature. It took lots of grinding to fit the clock in the gauge cup. It is backlit by two LEDs creating a cool light effect.
Materials Used:
The compass is from Halfords, costs about 15?, the clock is available at Maplin for 10? or Fleabay for 4?. Buttons from Maplin, 12V LEDs from Halfords, gauge cups from Homebase (outdoor lamps). You need some tools such as a soldering gun and screwdrivers. Obviously there are other commonly available materials which I have used, but these are the main bits.
I hope you have enjoyed my short article, if someone needs advice on similar issues please do not hesitate to contact me I will be happy to help.
Momchil Stoyanov
Digital compass on a bike? Reality or myth?
It is considered that implementing digital compass technology on a motorcycle is fairly difficult. I have attempted mounting such a compass on various bikes, and most of my attempts were completely unsuccessful. It will definitely NOT work on V-twins, such as Harleys or Honda Shadow. However, for the Vmax, impossible is just a level of difficulty!
Right, you all probably have or have seen various digital gauges on bikes. Volt meters, fuel gauges, speedometers and tachometers are readily available and specifically designed for most motorbikes. However, it seems that nobody is offering a DIGITAL compass for bikes. After extensive research, I have discovered that only Dakota Digital is making a gauge that probably will fit on a bike, but they say it is strictly designed for cars.
Why digital?
Well, it?s cool isn?t it? Having degree readings, N,S,E,W directions and an arrow on a gauge, in addition it could be back-lit constantly. Is it hard to do? ? Hell yeah, but not if you?re only messing around. The same applies to price, if you just want to try one out, it costs about 20 quid.
Difference between digital and analogue:
The digital compass uses a sophisticated chip to determine north, a microprocessor is designed to distinguish external magnetic ?noise? from the true magnetic field of Earth. Analogue compasses are just a piece of magnetic material which needs to be free moving in order to point north, that?s why most of them either ?float? in water, or are attached to a pin, it?s all to minimise resistance to movement.
How does a digital compass operate?
Well it?s all about calibrating it. At first, you need to make a full circle of 360 degrees with your vehicle, so the device becomes acqainted with the ?noise?. The engine of every vehicle makes a significant magnetic field around it. To make things more complicated, when the engine is running, this field constantly changes. This is where our problems come.
What is the main problem?
The excessive magnetic noise on a bike engine is too much for a digital compass to handle. As they are designed to work on cars, the microprocessors of widely available digital compasses are incapable to handle the magnetic ?noise? that a big V-twin generates, the same applies to single-cylinder, large capacity bikes. The compass picks up and records patterns of magnetic fields generated from the engine upon calibration. Then when the device operates it tries to distinguish those recorded patterns and discard them as ?noise?.
Why is Yamaha Vmax different?
Being a ?musclebike?, the Vmax has a V4 engine, which generates magnetic fields pretty similar to car engines. A V-twin swings magnetic polarity from one side to the other, making the compass go crazy. I have personally experimented with a Honda Shadow VLX 600, and believe me, it DOES NOT work. However the result is very satisfactory on my Vmax.
How I did the compass?
Pretty simple but takes time, just solider some cables to the compass PCB for buttons, add new battery compartments (for longer life). The compass needs to be powered by batteries, as the engine creates noise all over the electrical system of the bike, 4xAAA batteries will last you very long, but I am not sure how long yet as I just fitted them. If you look closer you will see the black pushbutton on the right side of the supporting frame of the gauge cup. This is where you turn the compass ON. The calibration button is hidden, as it is not used frequently. There is a LED backlight, goes ON when the ignition of the bike is ON. The compass indicates direction and degrees.
The CLOCK has three functions ? clock, air temperature and sensor temperature. Again, look closer and you will see where I mounted the button. It is used to turn the clock ON, and switch between the three different modes. The other two buttons used to set time and date are hidden. The sensor is mounted close to the engine to indicate the engine temperature. It took lots of grinding to fit the clock in the gauge cup. It is backlit by two LEDs creating a cool light effect.
Materials Used:
The compass is from Halfords, costs about 15?, the clock is available at Maplin for 10? or Fleabay for 4?. Buttons from Maplin, 12V LEDs from Halfords, gauge cups from Homebase (outdoor lamps). You need some tools such as a soldering gun and screwdrivers. Obviously there are other commonly available materials which I have used, but these are the main bits.
I hope you have enjoyed my short article, if someone needs advice on similar issues please do not hesitate to contact me I will be happy to help.
Momchil Stoyanov
