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I was shocked to see that there was no rpm gauge on the honda shadow's. Not even as a Honda option.

Dealer tells me there is no need because the bike has a govener to it can't exceed that max rpm's considered safe. So we are sappose to trust a chip? Not even a yellow warning light. Just blew my mind.

Also no engine guards and none as a Honda option. I guess my leg is the guard.

I don't have a kawasaki dealer near so I can't go and see if the Vulcan's has a rpm gauge or not. Same for engine guards. Anyone know?

Nope... none on the Kawasaki (see pic below)... I think most japanese cruisers are leaving off the tach now for some reason... My dad's Suzuki doesn't have one either.

It's called a tachometer or tach for short.

earwig wrote:... I think most japanese cruisers are leaving off the tach now for some reason...

because the bike has a govener to it can't exceed that max rpm's considered safe



you can trust it.

I know the Vulcan 750 still has an tach and supposedly the 2006 M50 has a tach too.

The reason that these V-twins don't have tachs is that they don't really need them. Unlike the more performance oriented I-4s and twins, no one really expects a cruiser to ever be bouncing off the redline very often. They don't rev quickly under power, or spend much time near the top of the power band. A tach may be a "nice to have" option on those bikes, but it's not really a necessity.

When you get to redline on a Shadow the engine will be telling you (through sound and vibration) that you are long past the point where you should have shifted.

I wouldn't worry about it.

Then I have to ask what crusier bike gets you most gauges for the least money, without having to add on?

I just think its terrible to not have a oil pressure/temp, Coolant temp, Tachometer, battery charging indicators of some type. Otherwise you don't know if you should have stopped at that last station now that the oil filter just fell off.

Just seems like too much money for so little in engine/etc safety indicators.

flw wrote:Then I have to ask what crusier bike gets you most gauges for the least money, without having to add on?

I just think its terrible to not have a oil pressure/temp, Coolant temp, Tachometer, battery charging indicators of some type. Otherwise you don't know if you should have stopped at that last station now that the oil filter just fell off.

Just seems like too much money for so little in engine/etc safety indicators.

It'd be nice to have a guage for everything, but where are you going to put it all? On my bike I have a speedo and tach, then idiot lights for oil, temperature, highbeams and turn signal. Voltmeter shouldn't be too hard to install. but I don't see much use in it on the bike.

I don't like how cruisers don't have tachs. That seems silly to me. I figure if it is something you shift manually, it should have a tach.

i don't get why people need a tach anyway unless you are drag racing or trying to eke out every last ounce of power.

i rarely look at my speedo, let alone if i had a tach and temp gauges and volt gauges...i shift by feel and keep my eyes up looking for the idiots trying to merge into me

to each their own, but i like not having all the extra stuff cluttering it all up...it's also that whole "one more thing added is one more thing that can go wrong" idea for me

flw wrote: I just think its terrible to not have a oil pressure/temp, Coolant temp, Tachometer, battery charging indicators of some type. Otherwise you don't know if you should have stopped at that last station now that the oil filter just fell off.

Bought many bikes? Most have very little instrumentation. There's just not a lot of room on bike to have a huge instrument array. Additionally, all that stuff makes the bike cost more. Manufacturers try very hard to keep production costs down.

I'm an instrument geek myself, but over the decades I've realized that the inexpensive sensors with idiot lights are just fine for most bikes.

The last truck I bought (manual trans) didn't have a tach in it. I thought I would miss it, but I don't. Since I don't do a lot of racing in my truck, there's really not much need for it.