wiring in tacho.

[Gav]

As the title says. I'm trying to wire in an after market universal tachometer to the gpz550.
You would think it is a simple task, but its got me beat.There is the power wire which they say is black, green earth, and the
yellow/black wire to the power lead for coil .I've tried all this and changed the wires around(black earth,green power etc) but no good.Any sparkys out there? I could sure use some help.
Gav.

[Gosling1]

those wiring colours and the recommended connections - all sound wrong to me.

Most aftermarket tachos need 3 connections - a 12v+ feed, an earth, and a connection to the low-tension side of one of the ignition coils.
The 12v feed is easy enough to source - normally I just tap into a connection that has a +12v supply when the ignition is switched on. The rear brake light is a good place to source a constant +12v supply without the problem of draining a battery.

Earth - just find a good earth. The mounting bolts for the ignition coils are good.

The low-tension side of the coil - if your coils are marked with a + on one terminal and a - on the other, then connect to the - side. If you can't find any markings - have a look at the colour coding of the wires feeding the ignition coil. Normally, the high-tension side of the coils has a yellow or red wire feeding it, and the low-tension side has a black or green wire. If you are stil not sure - trace back the wiring from the igniter box - you are looking for the wires that come from this box up to the ignition coils.

The colour coding from your tacho - black/yellow trace is normally an earth on kawasaki models. Black should be the +12v supply to the tacho, and green should be the feed in from the low-tension side of the coil. You may have to swap these around to get the tacho working.

Do you have a model number for the tacho, or can post up the wiring diagram ? Hopefully you are not using one of those tachos from Supercheap with the 4/6/8 cyl switch on the back. These are dodgy as and in my experience almost never work on a m/cycle......

[Gav]

I'll look at all that,thanks gos. It's not the supercheap one but one from online.And it didn't come with a diagram?
It seems odd that the color coding is all arse about though.It should be a straitforward job,but it must be the color coding which
is throwing me off.Ill try swapping them around and see how we go.
Thanks again for your help.Cheers.

[Gosling1]

no probs Gav, I hope you can get it sorted. Do you still have that link from where you bought it ?

[Gav]

Yeah still got it.I might email them and get a copy of the wiring diagram.

[Gosling1]

sounds good - hope you get it sorted

[Gav]

I know fitting tachometers should be reasonably straightforward.But I think our Asian friends like to fuck with us occasionally just to keep us on our toes.( lets change the colors of the wires..tee hee)
I have a plan B. Aido had the acewell gauge there when I bought it from him, so that could be another option,but it's a little complex and a fancy kind of gauge that sort of takes away what I wanted from this
rebuild/throw together café thingo.If I get stuck mate i'll be sure to get in contact.Cheers.