T-Sport: Personalizing the T

Gauges

I like gauges. Lots of them in fact. Like them in my truck, and I like them on my bikes. They can even be useful. On my Electra Glide, the volt meter gave me ample warning to replace my failed voltage regulator before I ended up on the

Formotion clock.

side of the road. So it is only natural that I would add some gauges to my T-Sport.

If you have read any of my stories, you might have noticed that I have a wee bit of trouble relaxing. I can also be anal about some things. And I am definitely a clock watcher. I plan my time carefully, and do not like missing my schedules. My chosen profession is that of a Planner and Scheduler. Need I say more?

So you should not be surprised that the first gauge to go on my bike was a clock. I got mine from Formotion, and I believe Harley now sells the same item. I chose it because of the way it mounted on the handlebars, that I could get it to match my instrumentation, and that it was specified as waterproof. I like it so much, that I am now considering buying a matching compass.

Next, I purchased Harley's Oil Pressure Gauge Kit. I like the cool way it mounted on the rear rocker box, and it is possible

HD oil pressure guage.

to read it while riding. It does, however, take a conscious effort to focus on the dial, so I wouldn't recommend looking at it if you are not riding on an open and relatively straight road. And like many of the gauges from Harley, condensation has quickly found its way in to slightly obscure the face. It also appears to be permanent. Other nits include the housing of the gauge itself. It needs either a better quality finish, or a new housing cover. I can live with it as it is, but it has a low budget look to it.

Now about that voltage gauge that had saved me once before. I tried to find one that I could mount on the handlebars and discovered that I had very few choices. Checking a number of big name Harley suppliers, I found that the type of gauge I wanted wasn't available. The ones that were available usually involved polished billet aluminum housings and mounts, and cost way, way more than I wanted to spend. Then I would have to paint them to make them match my instruments, and they would look no different than stamped sheet metal.