I don't know that much about it. my disclaimer. hee
The tachometer should be fairly straight forward, probably pretty much the same as the stock electronic tach.
For the speedometer you'll probably have to install a speed sensor. There may be youtube videos.
Here's a pdf from the Acewell site:

Acewell 1500 User manual EN (English)

Hello everyone, I have a question about aftermarket gauges and was hoping someone could clarify. My 81 LTD has electronic gauges. Speedo runs on magnetic sensor and tach runs off coil. So will an aftermarket digital gauge be a pretty straight forward install? (at least compared to swapping mechanical to digital)

Was thinking about something like this or similar,
www.dimecitycycles.com/acewell-1550t-dig...ometer-mph-kph.html#

Many people like Acewell products.

www.acewell-meter.com/portfolio/#Speedometer

acewell - all digital, works well but there are better ones for sure

gordone it Looks like an Acewell ACE-2753 / ACE-2755 / ACE-2766

Great story and sounds like a great project! I'm really looking forward to seeing the photos. My first though was "wheels" when you wanted to have it handle better. I like the sound of wire wheels on a 550. That'd be rare!

I think the biggest problem you will face on making the Ltd. look like a cafe bike is the very high position of the steering tube, and the very long fork tubes that that leads to needing. All of the Kz550's have a huge amount of travel... like Kawasaki thought everyone was going to make dirtbikes out of them.

The Tk22 carbs are very nice and easy to jet for pods. On the highway and twisties, the pods will definitely feel faster if not actually faster. The only downside of the 81 head is that the intake runners are smaller than on the later gen heads. That limits the carb options.

But I think I would focus on the handling first anyway. If you're looking at places like the Dragon, then the 550 probably has enough engine (for me) as is. Obviously, you can go with the 615 kit later if needed. (I was still typing when Corey posted. He is the guy when it comes to motors)

On the fork legs and brake issue, it has come up before, so you may want to know... The dual disk models used smaller disks so even though the single-disk forks have locations for calipers on both sides, those locations are too far away from the axle for the pads to line up on dual-disk wheels. I realize you are getting all new wheels, but in case you take measurements for a factory disk or somehow end up with forks from a dual-disk model, be aware the caliper locations are different and the disks are different diameter.

Interestingly, even though the Ltd had a very different frame, I think the rear shocks are about the same length as the standard model, in case that ever comes up.

I think there are quite a few users here that have gone to the Acewell speedo-tach combo. If I recall, one of the sensor options for speed are to sense the bolts on the brake disk.

The Acewell actually shows a steady voltage. It's the multimeter that's showing the drop and spike. I'll take the battery and have it tested. I had the tender on it all winter and it's pretty new so I was surprised when the levels in the cells were low, but that could be the issue. Thanks.

When you say the voltage jumps around, are you looking at a voltage readout on the Acewell? I would not trust it for actual troubleshooting. A dedicated multi-meter would be more reliable source to see how the bike is charging. When you put the voltmeter on the battery, it should not jump around too much. It might swing from close to 13v to about 14.5v, but not jump, and never below 11.9v as long as the charging system is working. If the voltage jumps around from 5v to 19v, it could be the battery is defective. Even a bad reg/rec wouldn't cause that type of voltage behavior on a good battery. But again, this is when measured by a dedicated voltmeter on the battery.

You will want to figure that out, or at least confirm that it's ok, before anything else since a faulty charging system can ruin everything else.

Incidentally, bikes like the KZ should not really use the mini coils. Truly "mini" coils are designed for ignitions with a very controlled dwell system. Without precise dwell control, the mini coils can overheat and their life gets shortened. They will work , but they are just not physically big enough to dissipate the heat generated by long dwell (which happens on the Kz at idle or low RPMs) in the long run. Some "mini" coils are pretty big, so they can handle it, but some are pretty small, like the Dyna mini coils. This would get exacerbated by an overcharging issue where the battery voltage might be higher than normal, so be sure to get that charging voltage so that it doesn't really go above 14.5v, preferably 14.2v.

Long story short, I rewired the entire bike. Headlight is LED with integrated signals, taillight also LED with integrated signals. Blade fuses instead of the old glass tubes. New 3 OHM mini coils and regulator/rectifier. Electronic speedo, Acewell MD52 is suddenly acting up. It was fine last year when I did the rewire, but I replaced the coils this year and suddenly the speedo freezes on me. It will read RPM and speed fine for a minute or two but then it just locks up . After warming up the bike I get a reading of 15 volts at the battery but I get a ?hiccup? where it will drop around 5 volts or jump to 19 volts. Because of the hiccup I replaced reg/rec but it didn't resolve the problem. This leave me with either the stator or speedo being the problem, in my mind, but I don't want to replace the wrong part, again, as I already spent $120 on a reg/rec that didn't resolve the issue. When the weather turned warm I checked the battery and the cells had run low. A new battery was part of my rewire so it is less than a year old. I topped off the cells. When it wouldn't start at the end of last season I figured the problem was the original coils still on the bike. Now it runs, at least in my mind, perfectly, except for the darn speedo. Well, it doesn't like to start in the cold either. I love the bike, but my wife would rather I buy a new one and quit spending money on this one. It's hard to explain why I would rather have this KZ, but I absolutely would love to resolve this issue and keep sinking money into new tires, exhaust, etc, on a classic rather than a bike off the showroom floor. Is this a stator issue, or just a trash speedo? Maybe my coils should be 5 ohms? I was an airframes mechanic in the military so I'm not to sharp on the electric, but damn if that bracket for the mini coils doesn't look good

Bike is a 1981 KZ650

Hi, just completed a cafe racer with full engine rebuild and fully customized 1983 GPz750 and having issues with the ignition. Bike runs fine and starts perfect, I can ride it up to 50km without a problem and quite fast, but it then start running on 3 cylinders until it just dies. It then can be restared but still running on 3 and dies properly a few minutes later. Trouble is is starts running perfectly again if I try to restart it 5-10 minutes later... please help if you know what this can be ?

Bike has : motogadget m unit fuse box, full Dyna 2000 ignition system (plate ignitor coils and leads) brand new starter relay new headlight new indicators new acewell speedo/tachi, fully new and custom wiring harness (soldered and heat shrunk), new regulator from ricks’s motorsport, the engine has been fully reconned with a Wiseco 810cc piston kit, new primary secondary chains, new valves and springs, etc etc

The tacho is still well wired but started acting up recently (reading comes from ignitor) - I have contacted dyna and they said its most likely a wiring issue which i dont believe as it runs so well and then sorts itself out withour touching anything ! Like a gremlin living inside my bike

Bike has 150km since the build was complete and broke down maybe 3 times in that period. The good part is I don’t get stranded but obviously this is far from ideal

Let me know your thoughts !