[FatJay]

I'm trying to find out the wiring between 3 pin connection on the side of the resivour attached to the solenoid and the 0-25 meter on the dash that shows how stiff the suspension is. Can anyone help me?

 

[satan]

For the 1800 (it'd help if you posted a model and year here), what exactly are ya looking for ?

The wires in that 3-pin connector run directly to the 16pin BLACK connector on the back of the meter.

teh device in the hydraulic actuator that these 3 wires connects to is a simple potentiometer not too dissimilar from a Throttle Position Sensor that measures the position of the piston in the hydraulic pump.

These wires run straight to the meter where the "0-25" calculation is made and displayed when you're controlling the rear level settings. The wires are like:
* Blue with green stripe - measured to the Black with red stripe wire should give you the full value of the potentiometer (about 4 - 6k Ohms)
* Yellow with red stripe - is the "wiper" portion of the potentiometer and will change its resistance to both of the other wires based on position of the piston. You should be able to get like 400 Ohms to nearly the full resistance value depending on the position of the piston in the bore

 

[FatJay]

Thanks for the information. I don't have a goldwing, however I have adapted the shock to my bike. At the moment I'm without the meter, trying to find a way to install one. I assumed it was a basic variable potentiometer, but I was really hoping it didn't run through the bikes computer and then send out the signal to the meter, as that would make it much more difficult to adapt.

I gotta hand it to honda, it's absolute an amazing shock.

 

[newday777]

So is the shock off an 1800?
What are you.using it for?

 

[satan]

If you wanna use the output, you could run a regulated 5V to the "outside" wires (the Blue and Black ones) then use a voltmeter to read voltage between the yellow wire and whichever of the outside wires that you connected to the negative side of the 5V supply. The measureable voltage there would give you the position of the hydraulic cylinder working the preload., and the whole thing would draw something like 5mA. You could force a little better meter resolution by using a 10 or 12 v clean suply, then youd be looking at something in the 25mA - 35mA range. You'd prolly wanna use a digital volt meter (or if you want you could run something like a LM3419 to create an LED bar-graph or whatever too)


Did you get one of the "good ones" where you can hear the actuator motor bog right as it starts pumping? If not, many folks are having good luck refilling (or topping off) the hydraulic preload so that you can get the full 0.7" of travel.

Projects are always fun, What'cha got cooking?

 

[FatJay]

I'm running it on my 01 yamaha road star, minimal modification required actually. Shortened ~1.25" and grommets in the other end with spacers and it bolts in, the pump under the right side cover. Someone else figured out how to do that, but no one has figured out the meter part, and as a former electrical engineer, I figured I'd give it a stab. If it's resistance I can program an IC to do math then output to an LCD screen a numeric value between 0-25. Same with voltage. It's easier to find a lcd volt meter than ohm meter, but either way I'm going to make it look nice.

My load varies greatly from 950lbs to 1300lbs from solo to 2-up with weekend gear, so adjustable is great. My up/down switch is on my left side panel. Right now I can only adjust when the bike is off because I have to go by the sound of the motor and wait for it to bottom out.

I completely drained the preload and filled it with fresh fluid, worked all the air out, and have full 0-25 capabilities. I actually get about 1.5" of height difference between the two absolutes.

This is the only picture where you can actually see the shock, as I'm making adjustments.

Had to do some creative maneuvering to get the pump in

Here's my switch, drilled through the cover and mounted it up. Used two relays, it worked very well

 

[satan]

Looks like you've got it going just fine then! And yeah - the 'sensor' is a low-tollerance 5K pot and you'll see about 85% of range from it.

Depending on how anal you may be, the pot is not a linear pot; the mechanical conenction with the moving piston is a 'feeler' on the end of a short wiper arm so the rate of change will be greater around center of the piston travel (when travel is perpendicular to the sensor's wiper arm).

 

[FatJay]

Anyone have a picture or PN of the meter? I can't seem to find it on the parts list. I'm curious how much it would be to get the OEM unit.

 

[gaswing]

Anyone have a picture or PN of the meter? I can't seem to find it on the parts list. I'm curious how much it would be to get the OEM unit.

We need to know what model Goldwing the shock came from first. Surely that can't be too much to ask?

 

[FatJay]

I'm honestly not sure, it came from a motorcycle scrap yard. It was somewhere in the 2005-current range though as that's what is compatible with my bike with the least modification.

 

[DaveO430]

Anyone have a picture or PN of the meter? I can't seem to find it on the parts list. I'm curious how much it would be to get the OEM unit.

The meter on an 1800 is built into the display that shows all the audio info, ambient temp and other things. I seriously doubt you could use that.