There are several reasons you might want to know how fast your motor is turning. Not only is it helpful for tuning and diagnosing problems, but it's just nice to know what the motor is doing without guessing. Having a tachometer mounted on your bike offers an easy method of knowing exactly what the rpms are where you have that flat spot in the fuel curve.
There are several choices on the market, and most of them are in the form of a gauge that hangs off of your handlebars. For those who want to preserve the stock lines of your bike, but also have a durable, compact, and easy-to-install tachometer, the folks at Superior Innovative Concepts for Unique Cycle Products have just the solution. The company's product is in the form of a replacement handlebar clamp with an integrated LED bar-graph tachometer.
The unit uses super-bright LEDs which range from green (0-4,000 rpm) to yellow (4,000-6,000 rpm) to red (6,000-8,000). The display is easy to see in sunlight as well as at night. Once installed on our test bike, we noticed that if the engine speed exceeds 4,000 rpm, the highest lit LED stays lit for a few seconds after rpms have dropped, to give the rider an indication of what the maximum engine speed was. The tachometer's wiring exits the bottom of the clamp and is routed along with the stock handlebar control wiring.
The result is a very clean, good-looking installation that blends in with the original lines of the motorcycle. Wiring connections are simple and only require the installer to splice into a switched 12-volt source, a ground, and the ignition's tach wire. We installed the DHT-1000 (MSRP $299.95) on an '00 Softail, and all the connections were easily concealed under the dash.
 Out of the box, we were impressed...  Out of the box, we were impressed with the quality of the DHT-1000 clamp and the clean integration of the tachometer. The clamp came with Scotch locks and Allen bolt covers for a finished appearance. |
We began by removing the dash... We began by removing the dash in order to gain access to the wiring. |
 To be sure we knew which wires...  To be sure we knew which wires we would be tying into, we checked the wiring diagram in the factory service manual. From there, we located the three wires on the backside of the dash we would be tying into. |
 Next, we removed the stock...  Next, we removed the stock handlebar clamp. Make sure you hold onto the handlebars so they don't come crashing down on your paint. |
 The wire exiting our unit...  The wire exiting our unit had a gray covering. In order to blend in better with the stock wiring, we marked it and covered it with a short length of black shrink tubing. While we were at it, we slipped some black nylon wiring loom over the cable and under the shrink tubing before we applied heat to it. |
 The wires were run along...  The wires were run along the stock handlebar wiring and zip-tied into place. |
 The three wires were cut and...  The three wires were cut and the corresponding tach wire was soldered to make the connection. Although we decided to solder our connections, Scotch locks were included with the tach for an even easier installation. |
 We reconnected the speedometer...  We reconnected the speedometer connector and bolted the dash back into place. |
 A quick turn of the ignition...  A quick turn of the ignition switch confirmed our connections were made correctly. When the unit first powers up, it lights all the LEDs and then shuts off. |
 After the connections checked...  After the connections checked out, the DHT-1000 was bolted in place of the stock handlebar clamp before the bars were adjusted. Once we were happy with the positioning of the handlebars, we applied a small dab of RTV silicone to the top of the bolts and pushed the chrome bolt-head covers into place. |
 We fired up the bike and the...  We fired up the bike and the tach showed that we were idling at approximately 1,000 rpms. |
 Revving the motor resulted...  Revving the motor resulted in the bar graph following the engine speed, just as we expected. The end result is not only a high-quality, good-looking tachometer, but one that blends in well with its surroundings without taking away from the lines of the bike. |