Inexpensive handheld tach?

[dentheman]

I am looking for an inexpensive hendheld tach just to check the idle speed on my V-twin. I found a cheap volt/tach/dwell meter that has alligator clips, but it is for 4/6/8 cylinders, so I don't know if it would work on two cylinders. And where would the clips connect to? I haven't worked on a car engine since the 70's, and never on a motorcycle engine, so I am confused by the different 'modern' handheld tachs shown on-line.

Any suggestions?

[cayuse]

just a guess but if you set it for 4 cylinders you will get a reading that is 1/2 of your actual RPM.

[Water Warrior 2]

Maybe one clip to a good ground(battery is best) and the other clip on the spark plug wire. Just guessing but it does seem logical.

[dentheman]

Maybe one clip to a good ground(battery is best) and the other clip on the spark plug wire. Just guessing but it does seem logical.I was thinking either that or one clip to the end of the spark plug wire and the other to the plug itself. What I would like would be a digital readout tach that measures rpm through inductance from a plug wire. I don't know if there is such a thing, but it seems to me that there should be.

The one I am looking at is on Amazon and is an old school analog device, for about $24, it is ASIN: B00062YUUS. I will continue researching, and if I find one that I like I will mention it here in case others are looking for the same.

[5th_bike]

I was thinking either that or one clip to the end of the spark plug wire and the other to the plug itself.
No, I think one clip goes to the non-spark plug side of the coil (under the tank) and the other one to ground. But I could be wrong.

[Water Warrior 2]

I was thinking either that or one clip to the end of the spark plug wire and the other to the plug itself.
No, I think one clip goes to the non-spark plug side of the coil (under the tank) and the other one to ground. But I could be wrong.
That makes more sense.