Bonneville

Going 200 miles and hour on the long course at Bonneville you try to drop a shift into high gear and you’re already in high gear...Presto!!! Instant air brake like the flap popped up a 50’s Mercedes Grand Prix Car. Who slammed on the brakes? Well, you did, didn’t you? With all the engine noise, a pneumatic air shifter, wind buffeting, and bouncing down the course with 45 degrees of rake in a 99 inch wheelbase, 1000 lb Bonneville Bullett, it's really helpful to be sure when you pushed the button you really are in high gear. We use a Jims FAT5 transmission in a Delkron FXR gear case.

The RSR Bonneville Gear Display is waterproof, shock proof, hard anodized billet gauge that is highly visible in direct sunlight. It is easily programmed for any 5 or 6 speed transmission and indicates the gear selected by a bright red digit that displays "0" (neutral), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. It also can display a “C” when the clutch lever is pulled in if you have a clutch switch.

We do not use the OEM Delphi fuel injection systems so Delphi data links are useless. We use Cosworth Pectel SQ6Msystems. We needed a highly visible gear indicator for Bonneville that would read the 32-2 crank trigger in the 139 Cubic Inch ORCA EVO (Not Twin Cam) and the 4th gear gear tooth sensor. All RB Racing EVO single cam based ORCA motors use 32-2 crank triggers to accurately control the timing and fuel injection.

In case you wonder what we develop and test things on...The Bonneville Bullet is one of them. Yes, we do ride things like this.

All Shapes and sizes

Aftermarket gear position indicators are usually made for bikes that have resistor circuits that give a particular voltage for each gear. There isn't any programming and they are not adaptable to motorcycles that do not have the specific Suzuki or Kawasaki voltage read outs.

Here's a Suzuki Hayabusa gear position module that signals the ecu and the dash what gear you are in. Most modern sportbikes and BMWs have gear position indicators. Late model Harleys only have a high gear indicator. Harley makes a gear indicator that ties into the Delphi system that sits out of line of sight over on the hand grip.

We voted no on blue

Some digital gear indicators for custom bikes like the one above do not indicate clutch actuation. The reason they don't is that Harleys, except for 2007 and 2008 models, do not have clutch switches. We rejected the Blue vacuum fluorescent display technology as it is never seen on race vehicles, only on radios or foo-foo custom bikes that never see competition. If it isn't race ready we aren't interested, as we are go and not show. No race car would use vacuum fluorescent gauges.

We voted no on liquid crystal

Most of the oem dash displays use liquid crystal displays and position the "gear" along with another sea of numbers. They must be backlit to be visible and can be difficult to see under certain lighting conditions. We decided that ultra bight l.e.d. displays were superior to both liquid crystal and the blue vacuum displays. They are easily seen in daylight or at night.

We voted yes on red L.E.D.s

Red L.E.D.s are universally used in F1, here on a BMW steering wheel. We opted for the same technology in our RSR Bonneville Gear Indicator. It's highly visible in daylight and at night and brightness levels can be owner shifted for personal taste.

The large red L.E.D. is easily visible in direct sunlight and the display will dim under low illumination or night riding conditions. Here the bike is in neutral so "0" is displayed. Neutral is a ground event.

Tight Packaging

It's a tight packaging operation to crowd a bunch of integrated circuits, microprocessors, resistors, diodes, capactitors, push buttons etc. inside a 2" round gauge, so we resorted to a six layer circuit board and put a total of 47 components on both sides. Fully encapsulated, it is designed to survive in the real world. Complexity hidden beneath simplicity.

One Gauge fits all 5 or 6 Speed Transmissions w/ Crank Sensors

The RSR Bonneville Gear Indicator can be user programmed for either 5 or 6 speed transmissions that have 32-2 teeth crank triggers. No matter what your transmission ratios, your sprocket or pulley sizes, belt or chain drive, the RSR Bonneville Gear Indicator can be programmed for your bike. Useful especially on earlier carbureted Twin Cams without Delphi system or the first generation Weber Marelli systems.

The display reads the 32-2 crank sensor signal (Engine RPM)  and the transmission sensor (wheelspeed via a particular gear). Different year transmissions read off different teeth and there are different gear tooth counts depending on the manufacturer.

Harleys do not have gear indicators beyond the neutral light and a high gear light on some models.

Easily programmed...One Button

 

It is easily programmed with one button and requires seven wires to connect to your application. Yellow button for programming. We ship them preprogrammed for specific transmissions but they can be programmed while riding. Machined billet construction with Raychem DR-25 sheathed wires and a Deutsch DTM connector.

Four to Seven Wires to Connect

Instructions are simple. We have provided a PDF document to show you how to install and program the RSR Bonneville Gear Indicator. Minimum wiring is by four wires if clutch and neutral wires not used. The Orange wire is a 12V event based Green L.E.D.

1. Red: 12V switched power i.e. 12V when key is “on”, no voltage when key is off.
2. Black: Ground #1 to Battery Negative. Gauge display and electronics
3. Orange: 12 Volt event based green l.e.d.light (optional use)
4. Light Blue: Transmission Speed Sensor input
5. White: Neutral "0" (ground event).
6. Yellow: Clutch "C" (ground event)
7. Pink: Engine Speed (crank sensor...Red wire)

Road Toad

Typical Install on a Fuel Injected Twin Cam FLTRI Road Glide:
1. Mount gauge on handlebar using clamp provided (see above).
2. Remove seat. Loosen, but do not actually remove gas tank. Loosen front tank bolts, remove rear tank bolts to elevate tank.
3. Route Gear Indicator wiring harness looping forward with handlebar cables and then back under leading edge of gas tank. Gear Indicator White Wire (Neutral) and Yellow (Clutch Wire) are then routed back up to the instrument nacelle. . The other five wires route under the left side of the gas tank. Note: If you are extremely ambitious you can remove the gas tank and route the wires with the oem harness.
4. Remove two screws on side of plastic tach/speedo nacelle using #25 Torx. Lift nacelle and tach/speedo but do not disconnect them. Gear Indicator White Wire (neutral) goes to Tan Wire (pin7 connector 21A). On bikes with clutch switch the Yellow Wire can be attached to the Black /Red Stripe clutch lock-out switch wire. On some models you may slit the oem sheath from the left handlebar to access the Blacl/Red Stripe Wire. Replace instrument cover and speedo and tachometer plastic nacelle.
5. Pre 2008 models: Remove right saddle bag. Remove right side cover. On 2008 and later models remove the left saddle bag and side cover.
6. Scotchlock Gear Indicator Red Wire to Yellow/Green Stripe wire (12V Switched) on relay.
7. Slit plastic covering on wires leading to ECM to expose input/output wires.
____ a. Scotchlock Gear Indicator Pink Wire (engine speed) to ECM Red Wire ( Crank Trigger, Pin 30 ECM). Note the Red Wire is in the twisted pair (Black and Red Wires).
___ b. Scotchlock Gear Indicator Light Blue Wire (Speed Sensor) to ECM White/Green Stripe Wire (Pin 33 ECM ).
8. Use black vinyl harness wrap tape provided to reseal ECM harness and secure with plastic tie wrap.
9. The Black wire to Battery Negative Terminal or good OEM grounding point. Use large eyelet provided.
10. Replace side cover. Replace saddle bag. Bolt gas tank back in place. Replace and secure seat.
11. Ride and program the unit.

Here the White Gear wire is crimped to the Brown wire (neutral indication).

Download Wiring Diagrams for FLT Models: 2004 2007 2008

RSR Dual Air Fuel Ratio Meter mounted on right side of bars in picture above provides real time information on front and rear cylinders. Quicky see how the "Dyno Dude" messed up your scooter.

Road Toad...The Movie

 

Video shows the gear indicator in action on a 5 speed 2004 Road Toad as well as our RSR Dual Air Fuel Ratio Gauge.  Gives you an idea of how we tune things by actually riding them monitoring air/fuel and egts and how useful the Bonneville Gear Indicator is.

Get a tub of popcorn and a six pack and watch a 2004 FLTRI find happiness going through the gears. Make your own movie and get some more popcorn and beer and show your friends how you hit redline in sixth gear. At Bonneville we run five gears but we have a 485 hp Harley...and a lot of beer.

Part Numbers and Prices