I have been dreaming about having additional gauges since I saw pics of an instrument cluster on someone's boosted 14 back in 08. Never had a genuine need so it took lower priority but now, the time of the gauges has come. I've gotten accustomed with viewing gauges to channels not displayed in the stock instruments on my LCD. It works very well and all the vital channels are accessible. There is an input for one user defined channel (you get to use any 3~5 V sensor you can come up with and create a gauge for it on the LCD) but i have use for numerous channels all at the same time.

I liked the white faces on the Glowshift gauges because they they match the stock gauges. The numbers illuminate with a selection of ten colors. They also have a max indicated recall function and built in high/low warning light. I also purchased a Glow-Shift external warning light for each gauge because they are more likely to be seen than the built in light on the gauge face. Glow-Shift gauges have a shallower cup depth (about an inch and a half) than a lot of other gauges. There's not much room on a bike to cram gauges in so small is better. I find analogue gauges a ton better for viewing at a glance than digital gauges. Digital gauges that i have used on the LCD are next to useless if they are displaying a channel that has rapidly changing values. The disadvantage to analog gauges is that they respond to an analog signal which cannot be data logged. I plan to ad some small digital gauges in the future.

The downside to all gauges is that if you have a lot of them, they ad a pretty good chunk of weight to the bike. The shipping weight of the 4 gauges I bought was 6 lbs. One is an AFR gauge with Bosch sensor and a small controller box which makes that one a lot heavier than other Glow-Shift gauges. The gauges themselves weigh very little with the wiring and sensors making up the bulk of the weight. These gauges are made more for cars and trucks so I am sure they have a lot longer wires than will necessary on a bike. The AFR sensor wire is 13 feet long! I should be able to eliminate much weight by cutting and rejoining some of the wires to a reasonable length for a motorcycle.

It will be a while before I get into this project but as I work toward completing it, I'll update this thread.

This is what i envisioned initially but after a quick look at the bike in real life, it is obvious the forks will not clear the outer gauges. The inner gauges could be possible if they fit under the ignition. I'm planning to position the gauges under the top fairing to the outside of the tachometer and the speedo. It will take some cutting of the ram air covers. Also a pretty precisely shaped bracket on each side.

This is a gauge unboxed. We have the gauge with a sensor and wire and a power cable. It is possible to daisy chain 4 or perhaps even 5 Glow-Shift Elite Series gauges on one power wire which is another big selling point. There is also a mounting cup and some kind of mounting bracket (non of which I will be able to use) and gauge visor. I also have included the external warning light in the pic. It attaches with double sided tape wich is very cheesy but I have found light duty double sided tape to be very durable unless used in a high heat area.

This gives an idea of how small the gauges are. They're not too small to read easily but they are small enough to mount a few around the dash of a sportbike with a large cowl like the 14 has.

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/18/2017 @ 10:49 PM *

So when are you getting qualified for instrument rating?

I'll be more qualified once I figure these out. If you mean accuracy, I hope they are pretty close in the ballpark but if not, this is more of an appearance mod than anything. All I really need to know is the oil pressure but I got a little carried away. I had to, it was too cool not to do it.

I hope my experience with Glow-Shift is good. I just had a look at their fb page and half the reviews are not pretty at all. I'm just hoping that that the rule of complainers is at work. People don't bother comment when they are satisfied but they make all kinds of noise when they are not happy.

OK I will bitch up a storm if they are not accurate. i think Dyno-Tune is the way to go but they are all digital and expensive.

I'm pretty excited about this! There is that steel bracket the ram air cover screws to and the mirror mount both in the right place to mount gauges on both sides! I will have to trim away most of the triangle shape to the sides of the stock gauges but these will fit no problem. They'll come off with the top fairing just like headlights.

Can anyone tell me IF

I removed the oil pan and drilled that circular indention directly above the stock oil pressure switch--would that be a good place to install the aftermarket oil pressure sensor OR the aftermarket oil temp sensor? Looks like it could be a very neat setup to do this and possibly use the oil test port (located on the side around the corner from the stock oil pressure sensor-- I have been warned not to mess with this) leaving the stock sensor right where it is.

Three individual ports and I retain easy access to my oil filter for removal.

I found an old post by gilberg where he described drilling the indention (for what purpose IDK --probably turbo oil scavenge) but he posted no pics of what he was talking about.

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/18/2017 @ 10:56 PM *

I decided to T all three sensors off of the single port for the stock oil pressure switch.

So I got to doodling today and here is what I came up with.

The hydraulic fluid reservoirs will be relocated to the back of the master cylinder clamps. This will give me a much clearer line of sight to the instrument cluster.

The gauges will be situated to the sides of the speedo and tack. The faces of the Glow Shift gauges lean forward at the same angle as the stock gauges but they are turned inward a few degrees so they are looking straight at me.

The gray circles to the inside of each gauge is an external warning light. The gauges each have a small warning light in the face as well.

The gauge housings will be sunk in the ram air covers, not above it. I will need to make some very exact double axis circular cuts to get them in there nice and snug and then fiberglass some cups that the gauges will bolt into. As you can see, I have room for a fifth and sixth gauge at the outer point of each triangle on the ram air cover. Possibly in the center down low to the sides of the fairing stay if the forks would clear.

The gauges will come off with the ram air covers. I will need to unhook the leads like I do for the turn signals and headlights when I remove the fairings they are attached to. There are plenty of bolts I could fasten mounts for the Glow Shift gauges so that they could just stay connected and on the bike when the ram air covers were removed. I would need to cut the ram air covers into two pieces so that they could be installed around the gauges however and that just seems totally impractical.

Got my Three-Bond 1211 silicone sealant on order and the sensors go in when it arrives. Also, I ordered a used ram air cover off of Ebay. $35. If it's a little dinged up, no harm. I will be cutting away at it anyway.

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/18/2017 @ 11:00 PM *

Drooling profusely...

I'm also dreaming about an LED tach display that arches over the multifunction meter like the ZX-10 has. I'm sure it could be done but I won't get to that this year. Maybe an Ecliptec shift light for now. Fits right around the top of the tach or speedo....or both!

* Last updated by: Rook on 4/8/2017 @ 8:47 PM *

Rook, if Kawasaki ever enter a ZX-14 into Superbikes or MotoGP you are their man as knowledge consultant!

What haven't you worked on, done or thought of for your 14?
Very little I would imagine...

* Last updated by: yannih on 4/9/2017 @ 4:10 AM *

he-heee--thanks, yan.. I'm working my way through the bike.. LOL it's been almost ten years now!

damn--this might last longer than my marriage did!

* Last updated by: Rook on 4/9/2017 @ 10:04 AM *

I have Glowshift fuel pressure gauge and a boost gauge. Both have failed, but the manufacturer has sent a replacement since it was under warranty. They tend to be problematic according to the threads I have read which maybe a result of over voltage frying the circuits. Just replaced a fuel pressure gauge a few weeks ago (this one I had to pay for) because it would go blank after 5 seconds.

In my experience, the more gauges you have, the more you look at them. I removed most of mine except for the most critical gauges so I can look at the road.

I am hoping the bad press I have heard about Glow Shift is being corrected. They obviously put a lot effort into marketing so I can't see them lasting long with defective products. I hope they are correcting the problem and I also hope they are easy to work with if I need to return. I bought these a few months ago and I didn't save any packing slips or anything.

Sorry for posting this twice but I'm really hoping someone will have an answer to this. I've searched the web and I see this problem mentioned several times but no one ever seems to post the solution.

I've tried 1/8 NPT.. Too big.

Tried 1/8 BSPT ..still too big.

Looks like the threads go all the way to the tippy top and they taper down exponentially rather than at a constant 55 or 60° like npt or bspt.

The adapter wont go in the oil pan hole. What the hell am i going to do now?

Rook,

Not sure I understand the problem other than it dont fit?

Jap bike with metric everything and 1/8 in pipe threads on your adapter? So the adaptor is the wrong threads right

* Last updated by: cruderudy on 4/28/2017 @ 11:34 PM *

The adapter does not fit the oil pan outlet because the adapter male is too big at the tip (or hole is too small depending on how you look at it). Both adapter (cube) and sensor (hex) have threads with the same OD after the first 3 or 4. The adapter is unique in that the first couple threads are very small. Look close at the profiles and you see the sensor threads round down like a jelly bean toward the end. The adapter threads have a constant tapered pitch the same all the way first to last thread.

I initially thought as you that the sensor would have metric threads. Some of the things I learned in the last couple weeks is that
-the Brits (British Pipe Standard Tapered) have always used imperial measurements for pipe. 1/8", 1/4", 1/2" and so forth for the ID (nominal diameter) of pipe. I guess they were making pipes before they went metric.

-Asia (Japanese Industrial Standard) adopted British pipe thread (BPST) from the start. In Asia, they probably call it 3.17 mm instead of 1/8" but they are the same nominal diameter as Britain.

- The US (National Pipe Thread) has the same nominal diameter as JIS and BPST except NPT has one less thread/inch and is tapered 5° less all around than BPST and JIS. I guess we just wanted to be a little different eve if it meant our pipes might not seal as well as Britain's.

Japan and Britain and the US pipe all have the same ID and the threads are also very similar. NPT and BPST are interchangeable but they may not seal if they are mixed. Often it is claimed they do seal together with the help of a pipe sealant. I assume JIS also is interchangeable if it is identical to BPST.

There are also metric pipe threads such as M10 x 1.0 but these are not tapered, they have an o-ring or gasket to seal the fittings.

The OEM sensor actually fits all of the 1/8 NPT holes I have tried it in. All 1/8 NPT male fittings I have tried in the oil pan hole are too big to even start. The BPST male thread on the adapter is too big to fit the hole too. Funny thing is, I have an oil temp sensor marked 1/8 NPT but the threads taper to a smaller diameter than other 1/8 NPT males I have. The oil temp sensor fits the oil pan hole just fine.

So it seems the thread needs to be just a little bit smaller. The threads per inch is not so important since they all thread together. At this point I'm willing to rely on pipe sealant to ensure that they don't leak if there is a 1 TPI discrepancy between the male and female.

...now how do I get that $36 adapter or any adapter to fit the hole??

* Last updated by: Rook on 4/29/2017 @ 8:55 AM *

Was there any evidence of thread sealant on the org sensor?

Hot, 60 psi oil is not something to be trivial about. I would not rely on sealant only or to get something to fit.

You cant allow a situation where under load any oil gets out directly in from of your rear tire

Cant tell for sure from the pic but is there a any sort of a flange the end mates with inside the hole or is it just thread taper?

There was definitely sealant on the OEM installation of the oil pressure switch. You can see the remnants of a hardened white putty around the outside of the hole in the pic above. The SM calls for Three Bond 1211 which I have.

There is no pronounced beveled protrusion at the tip like an AN fitting or JIC fitting has. However, the rounded threaded tip of the OEM sensor might serve a similar purpose. It probably seats into a rounded bottom in the thread hole. What other purpose would doming the tip have than to seal? I still would have to chance it and keep a close eye on it. This is not supposed to be major surgery to install gauges. Also, it is very common to install an adapter to the oil pressure light switch on other engines and then install the OEM switch to the adapter along with other sensors. I've looked at all of them. A few for some pretty hot engines like Mustang. Doubt any have the whacked out threads the ZX-14 has on its oil pressure switch.

I did some careful measurements of the first 6 threads of each this afternoon and here's what i came up with. These measurements were all taken pretty much looking from the same view so they should give a pretty close idea of the difference between the oil pressure switch threads and the adapter I plan to fit in the same hole.

Looks to me like the main difference is the first two threads. Could i just shave those crests down with emery paper? Will I need to cut the valleys deeper as well?

One step closer. I sure hope the ports all seal. I used PTFE on all of them because that seems like theeasiest thing to work with if there is a leak or if any fitting gets removed in the near future. Most of these were not tightened nearly as much I figured a pipe fitting would need to be. Reason is the threads will start bumping into one another if you tighten more than 7 turns and ALL sensors have small thread diameter. The temp sensor is ridiculously small if you ask me. The plugs fit normal. I can't blame the adapter if the sensors leak. Glo-Shift sensors have small threads and so does the oil pressure switch. Sure hope that tape works.

Those two little terminals are sure gonna get hot in that location. Is the wire insulation spec'd for the heat they're going to see near the exhaust tubes or do they route up in a lower temp area?

I think the wires will be ok but I do not know the temp rating for them. The small black and white wires you see will bend straight forward and tie in with the wire that comes off the black sensor in the front port. Both will be covered with Thermo-Tec deflector sleeves and rout along the LH side of the oil pan under the front RH lower fairing bracket along with the OEM oil pressure switch lead. From there, the most direct rout to the gauges would be straight up to the LH ram air tube but that would be routing near head pipe #1. Instead, I'm routing straight back under the rear LH lower fairing bracket and between the water pump and clutch slave (messy area but will have black reflective Thermo-Tec on it. From there, it will have orange PET sleeving on it and it will follow the clutch line up to the ram air tube.

If the water pump area seems too hot, I will rout it a few inches farther back and go through a small passage between the kickstand bracket and the frame then to the clutch line. That might be sorta cool because you would see the orange PET running across the sprocket cover (mines got an orange ring on it). I would have to P-clip it to the clutch slave bolts and then zip tie it to the clutch line.

Heat was a concern. I keep having memories come back from a lost thread on the old forum 9 years ago where a couple guys did this mod. I think one used Glow-Shift gauges like me. Same confusion with thread pitch. Problems with thread diameter of sensors fitting the adapter. Use of PTFE. I recall there was a burnout problem with the sensors. Could have been vibration though. I'm sure I will find out. Remote location with oil tube might be the solution for the oil pressure sensor. You'd sure as hell hope they would make an oil temp sensor that could withstand 300° F.

I'll be removing the oil cooler some day soon too so that should cool that area off a bit. Hopefully it will not make the overall engine much hotter. I doubt it unless I run the bike at very low speed.

* Last updated by: Rook on 6/25/2017 @ 8:27 PM *

hooking the wire from the sensor to the gauge is very simple but that only provides the signal for the gauge reading. To power the gauge, I need a switched 12 V positive ignition source (any positive 12 V source that turns ON and OFF with the ignition switch). I also need a constant 12 V positive source like the battery.

There are expandable circuits available that plug into the fuse panel and that would be my preference over tapping say a headlight for switched and running a small wire all the way to the battery for unswitched. Does the Gen1 have a fuse box somewhere up by the instrument cluster where I could plug in an expandable circuit for both switched and unswitched positive 12V?

No fuses up by the instrument cluster. There are two fuse boxes in the tail. Also, Main fuse in battery box but I don't think an expandable circuit could be plugged into that because the fuse box has a cover with a bunch of wires coming out. I don't think the cover would go back on with an expndable fuse sticking up....Also, the Main fuse is probably not switched by the ignition. Otherwise, the battery is right there for a constant + source.

I guess it will be the LH fuse box in the tail and the battery.

The harness from the gauge is only 24" long and has bare ended wires at the end to hook up to + switched, + constant and ground. I guess I will use crimping butt connectors to attach a few feet of wire to each.

What kind of wire should I get? The wires I will be butt connecting to are each 7 strand silver wire.

* Last updated by: Rook on 6/26/2017 @ 9:39 AM *

The electrical portion of this project has resumed here:

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=3CC62E2B-1B78-59F6-02489CA95EE16D44