ashwin208

( Updated :
making the existing setup a little more secure as well as having the watch as the keychain ! )

Well , every now and then we come across this situation :

You need to know the time but your'e not able to see your watch because your watch is facing downwards and you cant take your hand off the bars to adjust your watch coz youre in traffic. Or youre completely geared up with full gauntlet gloves and a jacket which makes it uncomfortable to be wearing a watch in the first place !
Having a clock on the bike overcomes both the above situations.

So if you have a bike without an inbuilt clock then read on ..

Having a clock in your vehicle be it a car or a bike is a must. Atleast for me it is. So here is what Ive done to make this possible on my Pulsar 220. The concept is the same and it applies to any bike.

Ive told you the pros of having a clock so here are the cons:

1) Any external device like a watch is prone to tampering/theft/meddling in this country.
2) A permanent addition is not advisable because during a pressure wash , the setup may get damaged.

Hence , Ive come up with a solution which tackles both these problems.

What you Need :

1) The dial of a digital watch which has a light option, big display and preferably water resistant.

2) A set of small but powerful magnets , all same size and thickness. I used 4 from a pretty powerful fridge magnet showpiece.
Each magnet has dia=20mm , thickness=4mm

3) Superglue or any other powerful adhesive.

Step 1:
Remove the strap of the watch and isolate only the dial. I found an old digital Timex watch of mine which I no longer use. Its got a big digital display and is water resistant ! Also , the light button is on the face of the watch rather than on the side so operating the light button is easy even with gloves on.



Step 2:
Find a suitable mounting point on the bike. Each bike - watch combo might need different mounting points. I found that my watch went easily on the handle bar. The idea is to find a flat surface which doesnt obstruct anything else like turning the key etc ..

Step 3:
Find the correct orientation of the magnets which enable them to stick to each other without repelling or causing imbalance. Do NOT use superglue till you find the correct orientation.



Step 4:
Stick 2 magnets on the back of the dial using super glue. Make sure it does not make removing the back plate difficult in case you need to change the battery of the watch.



Step 5:
Fix 2 other similar magnets to the mounting point using super glue. Be careful about the spacing and the correct orientation which lets the magnets attract.



Step 6:
Now you have the mounting point with the magnets permanently stuck to it and the watch with the magnets permanently stuck to it. All that needs to be done is , clamp the watch when you ride and take it off when you park. The only permanent modification to the bike is two small black magnets.



Careful about the following :

1) Make sure that when you put the adhesive , youre sure of the position of the magnets.
2) The magnet orientation is extremely important.
3) Ive used a total of 4 magnets so that potholes and humps dont jerk them out of place. I took her for a spin on a really bad road ( you cant call it a road. Its more of a rocky path ) , rode at 40kmph while standing on the pegs and the watch did not come off. So no matter what shape and size of magnets , make sure you have enough of them to make them clamp the watch securely.

Important !
You cannot use an analog dial as the magnet Will not let the watch work properly ! So analog dials need an alternative arrangement without the use of magnets

Altenatives:
1) Velcro is a decent alternative but it will get wet and soggy during a wash/rain.
2) Buttons – press and snap type – but the only ones available are low quality crappy ones.

Making the setup more secure :

While the magnets are strong enough to withstand any bump in the city below 60kmph , Im not sure if it will behave the same when youre cruising at triple digit speeds. So Ive made the watch as my keychain attachment so that it cant fall off even in case of the crappiest bump.
Worst case : it will come off the magnets but will dangle from the key till I set it right.
The watch cannot yank the key itself out because the key will not come out of the ignition socket when the ignition is on. Pics have explanation on them :













Simple , yet effective.

How ever , this is my version. Any alternatives are welcome ! Please put them forth on this thread

Noor

DIY Approved

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aryan rajvanshi

Its very very cool,thanks a lot for sharing...........i am too looking for something like that (for my unicorn) from quite a while.It surely helps in case of night riding and long rides.

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abhee

Not sure its an idea or not.....but strapping the watch directly somewhere on the bike's handle can be easy....not sure how neat it will look or remain in place

Pinaki

Great idea Ashwin ! I am always in a deadline rush and have to glance at my wristwatch . Two problems arise . Most of my watches are old vintage manual-winds and not quite waterproof , then I have to lift my hand from handle to glance at it .. not a good idea in traffic or @ 50kmph even . I could really use this ... I'm thinking of a more permanent fixture with a cheap watch .

It would move & rotate away from view if simply strapped on . Not useful to just glance for time .

adityabhelke

Nice one.. I wanted a watch on my 220 since I bought it.
You have given the perfect and easiest setup!

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ashwin208

Well said. And besides , even if one made sure it doesnt rotate , it would take time to strap it on and stuff. Nothing like a crisp magnet to clip t on and take it off.

Well its definitely not the perfect setup but it works ! Ive been using it for the past 3 days and its brilliant

abhee

[QUOTE=ashwin208;708444]Well said. And besides , even if one made sure it doesnt rotate , it would take time to strap it on and stuff. Nothing like a crisp magnet to clip t on and take it off.

Yeahh, well tried it during my trip to Kaas. It didn't rotate, but would take time to get it strapped on and removed.

Seibott

But why super-glue magnets to the bike at all? We can as well use the magnets in the watch to be stuck to the iron(bike).

ashwin208

Good question. Thats what my dad first asked me. Answer :
The magnets do not stick strongly to the handle bar properly. I dont know the composition of the steel used to make the handlebar but its magnetic property is not high. Looks like there is some chromium in it. Not as much as stainless steel but its definitely not iron !
Hence , you need to super glue the magnets onto the handle bar..

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DIY : How to put a clock on your motorcycle

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