Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

by **slimey** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 8:57 am

Some more progress on the rebuild of the tacho - got the holes cut out for the lamp bezels (using sharp scalpel) and attached the 'light tubes" with bezels to the back of the dial. Used a small amount of "Sikaflex" which is an industrial grade flexible joining material - needed something which wouldn't run all over the place but which has flexibility and good strength - don't want to have to pull this fella apart again to resecure loose bits! Needed to be very careful to not put sikaflex or finger marks on the dial/glass/anywhere it shouldn't be! After attaching the bezels with "light tubes" to the dial, the dial was fitted back onto the tacho with the two screws and located the "light tubes" over the "Hazard" and "Brake warning" tubes. Need to be careful to NOT overtighten the finely threaded screws - for 2 reasons: don't strip the brass threads/screw heads but also the spring washer will "bite" into the decal and tear it if too much torque is applied to the screw! The next trick is to refit the needle to the spindle - no real trick, just use thumb to apply steady pressure directly on the centre boss of the needle (I put a folded soft cloth between my thumb and the boss to prevent slipping/damaging the needle/decal) A fairly solid force is required to fully seat the needle on the spindle - just need to BE SURE align the needle with the 0rpm mark first time or you'll have to take it off with the spoons (see pic of speedo with spoons ready to lever needle off) and start again. Next was putting the assembly together (see pic).The outer shell, glass, seal and inner shell went together ok - again need to keep it clean - no fingermarks/anything on the glass! However, when I went to put this assembly together with the seal and ring I had problems. I found that the seal (after having been compressed for 36 years) relaxed itself (maybe assisted by my cleaning it with a little "Armorall?") and it was now too big to fit over the lips of the cover and the lower assembly and under the ring. - bugger! After several attempts I decided that there was no way that the seal was going back in and I applied a little glass /metal waterproof sealant (fishtank type stuff) in its place. The re-crimping of the ring was just done using a pair of flat jaw pliers with some tape over the jaws to prevent marking/scratching anything. The crimping action was a "squeeze and push in towards the tacho" movement. This was because there was now no rubber seal and a little extra crimping was required to take up the slack - so to speak. Anyway the job is done and looks pretty good. Enjoy the pics story and I'll get onto the speedo this week.

by **slimey** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:49 am

Ok guys, have now completed the speedo rebuild - cosmetics only. Not too much stuff additional to the tacho job, but some pics for you and a couple of points to remember.
1. As with the tacho, remember to keep the internals clean before re-assembly (ie dial face and glass -no dirty fingermarks!)
2. Before stripping the faded data from the dial face, remember to mark the location of the "O" and 100% points on the edge of the face so to give you some reference points to accurately align the new sticker/decal. The screw holes and spindle hole do give only a rough starting point.
3. Use a weak soap solution (1 drop dishwashing detergent to 50ml water) to lightly spray the dial face before applying the new decal/sticker so that it can "slip" a little for accurate alignment.
3. When securing the dial face with the two screws to the mounting points, don't overtighten the screws or you may graunch the screw heads and the spring washers will bite into the sticker and either tear it or distort it thus buggering up your work. Better to use a drop of threadlock with firm screwdriver pressure. See the "final" pic and you can see what I mean - it's actually hardly noticeable, the camera and light have magnified the "puckering" of the sticker around the screws.
The speedo seal between the upper shell and lower outer case (under the ring) also swelled up after release (per the tacho) and I was unable to refit it - just used a bead of marine grade sealant in its place. Had to clamp the ring a little more as with the tacho due to the gap left by the missing seal.
Not quite as good as a professional refurbish but cost me only $50-00 total for both clocks and about 10 hours labour. Whatya reckin? (A before and after pic for comparison)