[Capn Kirk]

I have one of these installed on my Versys to help keep an eye on the charging system. It is a simple 3 color LED with a mini circuit board in the back. There are only two wires to hook up - Black to Frame/Ground and Red to switched +12V.

I really like the simplicity of Sparkbrights voltmeters as they can be inconspicuous in the mounting. A simple LED to glance at once in a while. I don't care for the array of LED style meters or the digital display as they flicker and change every .1 volts.

I ordered the 5mm Eclipse (auto dims as it gets dark out - very cool).

The LED displays the following as standard:
>15.20 Volts Green/Red Alternating (overvoltage)
>13.20 Volts Green (Charging)
>12.45 Volts Amber (75%)
>12.25 Volts Red Slow Flashing (50% to 75%)
>12.00 Volts Red 2 flashes repeating (25% to 50%)
>11.80 Volts Red 3 flashes repeating (25% to 50%)
>0 Volts Red 4flashes repeating

Basically, underway after engine has been started and a little bit of throttle it will stay green indicating that the bike is charging. Sometimes at idle, the voltage will drop down to Amber because there are not enough RPM's to keep the voltage above 13.20 Volts.

You can order from Andrews Website or from his Ebay store. I have no affiliation with Sparkbright but have ordered 2 of his voltmeters for my bikes and 22 of them for monitoring 12V batteries where I work. All of them are working properly and verified with good quality voltmeters.

Andrew can program custom voltages if you don't care for the standard programs listed above, just send him an email.

SparkBright

voltmeter, battery monitor items in Sparkbright Products store on eBay!

Here are a few pix of my install.

Below is Amber (Prestart)

Below is after a few seconds of idle allowing the system to begin charging

 

[fashionrider712]

so where did you splice into a switched 12v?

 

[1BadGROM]

Excellent mod thanks for sharing!

 

[animo819]

ground on the metal and power from ignition.

 

[Capn Kirk]

so where did you splice into a switched 12v?

While seated in front of the bike with the headlight assembly completely unplugged and set aside, there are another 2 connectors to the left under the big black plastic cover. These go up to the right hand controls of the handlebar. Slide the cover up and there is a 9 pin connector (not all populated). I probed the connector and found a wire that appeared to be black with dark green or gray dots that was a switched +12V. If you unplug the connector, there is a green dot painted on the outside of the white connector. That was the wire I soldered onto. It was a corner socket.

I didn't cut or splice into the wire, I did not want to disturb the flexibility of the wire so I did a little trick that I have done many times in wiring and has never failed me. I used a dental pick to use as an extraction tool and I pressed the locking tab down so I could eject the socket.

I soldered the red wire to the strain relief portion of the ejected pin. I cleaned off the flux with alcohol on q-tips and reinserted the socket back into the connector. Now the red wire comes out beside the OEM Switched +12V.

I did not try to splice into the headlight wiring because when I remove the headlight assembly and set aside, the voltmeter is still attached completely to the bike. I did not want extra wires to unplug.

I connected the black wire to a ring terminal and attached it under the horn attachment bolt (frame).

I just made a 20 mile test ride and everything works as it should. There is almost zero current being used by the voltmeter so there is not a load being created.

 

[fashionrider712]

While seated in front of the bike with the headlight assembly completely unplugged and set aside, there are another 2 connectors to the left under the big black plastic cover. These go up to the right hand controls of the handlebar. Slide the cover up and there is a 9 pin connector (not all populated). I probed the connector and found a wire that appeared to be black with dark green or gray dots that was a switched +12V. If you unplug the connector, there is a green dot painted on the outside of the white connector. That was the wire I soldered onto. It was a corner socket.

I didn't cut or splice into the wire, I did not want to disturb the flexibility of the wire so I did a little trick that I have done many times in wiring and has never failed me. I used a dental pick to use as an extraction tool and I pressed the locking tab down so I could eject the socket.

I soldered the red wire to the strain relief portion of the ejected pin. I cleaned off the flux with alcohol on q-tips and reinserted the socket back into the connector. Now the red wire comes out beside the OEM Switched +12V.

I did not try to splice into the headlight wiring because when I remove the headlight assembly and set aside, the voltmeter is still attached completely to the bike. I did not want extra wires to unplug.

I just made a 20 mile test ride and everything works as it should. There is almost zero current being used by the voltmeter so there is not a load being created.

View attachment 2611

Very clean hook up. Thanks for the break down.

 

[ShapeShifter]

Thanks for the clear write up and info about Sparkbright. I love this kind of mod - nice and clean and professional looking.

 

[Shoebacca78]

While seated in front of the bike with the headlight assembly completely unplugged and set aside, there are another 2 connectors to the left under the big black plastic cover. These go up to the right hand controls of the handlebar. Slide the cover up and there is a 9 pin connector (not all populated). I probed the connector and found a wire that appeared to be black with dark green or gray dots that was a switched +12V. If you unplug the connector, there is a green dot painted on the outside of the white connector. That was the wire I soldered onto. It was a corner socket.

I didn't cut or splice into the wire, I did not want to disturb the flexibility of the wire so I did a little trick that I have done many times in wiring and has never failed me. I used a dental pick to use as an extraction tool and I pressed the locking tab down so I could eject the socket.

I soldered the red wire to the strain relief portion of the ejected pin. I cleaned off the flux with alcohol on q-tips and reinserted the socket back into the connector. Now the red wire comes out beside the OEM Switched +12V.

I did not try to splice into the headlight wiring because when I remove the headlight assembly and set aside, the voltmeter is still attached completely to the bike. I did not want extra wires to unplug.

I connected the black wire to a ring terminal and attached it under the horn attachment bolt (frame).

I just made a 20 mile test ride and everything works as it should. There is almost zero current being used by the voltmeter so there is not a load being created.

View attachment 2611

Capt, can you help this noob? I just got my 10mm eclipse all green in today, but now i have to figure out how to install it.

Did you take any other pics of where you added the led? if i don't copy the way you added, is there an easier way?

any help would be awesome!

 

[Capn Kirk]

Capt, can you help this noob? I just got my 10mm eclipse all green in today, but now i have to figure out how to install it.

Did you take any other pics of where you added the led? if i don't copy the way you added, is there an easier way?

any help would be awesome!

Did you see my pix in the first post? I removed the dash and drilled the hole.

EDIT: You purchased the 10mm version!! It is way to big to mount where I mounted mine. I purposely bought the smallest because I knew there was not much room on the dash for a larger LED.

If you really want one in the same location as mine, you should use your 10mm elsewhere (or sell it) and get a 5mm.

 

[rkwfxd]

Dang, that stupid little light is pretty COOL! Thanks for posting Capt. I might need one for a few on my vehicles.

 

[Capn Kirk]

Dang, that stupid little light is pretty COOL! Thanks for posting Capt. I might need one for a few on my vehicles.

These are very cool. They can help prevent being stranded because we would get a heads up that our battery/charging system is having problems. I bought my first one for my Versys because a few folks on the V forum have had stators go bad and had no warning. At least now if I am anything but green while rolling, I can begin troubleshooting my system.

Highly recommend.