Gauge faces

[Nessism]

Question for you guys that have changed your gauge faces: when you lifted the needle over the stop, how far down did it hang? I took off the needle on a guage yesterday and didn't take note.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Old Colt]

My gauge faces just arrived, these look fabulous. Thank you Rudy for taking your time and making these available for us:dancing:

Now I have to get the color applied to them and install them,

 

[Shaughn]

Got mine too, wanted to lay praise sooner, but been crazy at work.
They look great! I've applied the gels I bought off Ebay, and lit from
behind, it's a thing of beauty. The GS is still back in Maine, so I've got
a trip out to storage to make to take the head unit off, but I'm psyched.

Thanks Rudy! The design work was great, and the sourcing off the laser
engraver invaluable. Definitely worth the money! I hope you came out on
top on this.

 

[Old Colt]

Hi Shaughn,
I see you are just a few hours north of me,

What are the gels you got for coloring yours?
I have done some coloring with a marker and they look fine but not as nice as they could be and I expect not very durable.
I have partially assembled the speedometer and illuminated it and the innermost details are not as bright as the outer areas. This is mostly due to shadowing from the internal workings and may be the light shields on the bulbs. I expect a better coloring may improve that.

Rudy,
On your faces you colored most of the detail with blue. Have you left the housing orange or have you painted the inside? I expect there may be a colorshift with the orange backlight.

How have people addressed the stop pins?

 

[Shaughn]

Hi Colt,

Yeah, we're not far off at all. In fact, I send a truck to Rutland 5 days a week. The gels I used are these;

Which I got from here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002GW000

But, once I'm done playing with the looks, I'm more than happy to mail you the left overs. I used mostly blue, some green and a some red. No yellow at all. Let me know, PM me, and I'll mail 'em. It won't be this weekend however, as I'm going to be travelling.

 

[rudy]

Glad you guys love them so much! Happy to be of service. Yes, I came out on top this time. Much to my surprise, John charged a little bit less for each face this time, and no setup charge like last time (gotta love consistency). I really can't say why, but I didn't complain either. Splurged a little on shipping. Never even got the tracking numbers out, I was in such a rush. *shakes head* I assume almost everyone has their stuff now, so it's a little late. Lemme know if anyone still wants their number.

Don't forget guys, John wants pictures of these sexy faces (the bikes, not yours! ) to put on his website. He's pretty pumped to see them in action.

I've been pretty busy in the last number of months at work and am having a real lucky week if I get two days in the old car hole to work on stuff. Weekends are pretty much a write-off as I'm usually everywhere else. So, this would be why I haven't even installed my own faces yet, and I've had them for months.

As for the needle stops, John said the hole would have been too small for the laser to accurately cut out. If you can pull the old stops out of your original faces, use the original faces as a template and get a really small drill bit. Glue the stop in the new face and you'll be good to go. Don't use a real permanent glue, just something that will keep it in there. Maybe even some Loctite. I may just use a small piece of plastic or whatever I find laying around.

Theoretically, you could just run without the stops. It won't hurt anything, just the needles will be below 0 when at rest.

For the buckets, the majority of them will be orange plastic. I plan on painting the inside of mine white. While perusing the paint aisles (house/hobby section, not automotive) at the local Canadian Tire, I saw what was described as a clear reflective coating (for your mailbox post, house numbers and stuff like that). Was only a few bucks per can, so I think I'll give it a shot. Can't hurt to add more reflective, though I'm sure white paint will work just fine. Might even do light blue on mine. May switch to LED lighting as well. Oh, the possibilities......

 

[Old Colt]

Mine are getting close to being done,

 

[Old Colt]

Question for you guys that have changed your gauge faces: when you lifted the needle over the stop, how far down did it hang? I took off the needle on a guage yesterday and didn't take note.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mine were about 10mph or so below the zero.

For those yet to pull theirs apart, I chose to pry the metal bezel to release the lens. I used a screwdriver with a 5mm blade and walked it around lifting the edge of the metal. Once the bezel has been removed use pliers to smooth the edges.
I then removed the mechanism from the housing. This is the time to clean and lubricate it.
Then before the fun of removing the needle, mark the drum and frame with a line to indicate the zero position.

Now you can have the fun of swapping in your new faces. And hey, my first needle I removed with the fork. It flew about 10 Feet. I did not even hear it land. That was a 1 hour penalty.
The second one I covered with a towel when I popped it off.

Now one of the benefits of removing the lens by prying the bezel off, when the instruments are back in the housing, the two fasteners that clamp them in also clamp the bezel on too. I am not resealing my bezels, they should be just fine and I can get back into the gauges in the future when needed.

 

[elevatorman71]

are the faces still available i would like to order a set for my 82 gs850 if still available

 

[elevatorman71]

would love a set for my bike

 

[rudy]

PM sent....

 

[GS650GL-1983]

I just wanted to say congrats on a job well done! They look sharp and I'd love to see a pic at night!

 

[Old Colt]

Hey Scooter,
A bit off topic but is that a Skybolt or an Acro in your Avatar? My dang eyes can't see little pics anymore.

 

[Riding Again]

Just finished installing the new plates. Spent some extra time reworking the instrument lighting to convert it all to LEDs.

Spent even more time using UV leds as the backlight for the three gauges. Used fluorescent paint for the numbers. Tried to take pictures of the lights but I don't think it does it justice.

Really pops though at dusk & night. Not so good for illuminating the odo's though.

 

[Shaughn]

The engraving I should have gotten

The engraving I should have gotten

Numbers are so pedestrian!

 

[posplayr]

But officer I was only going 1/2 way between a bear and an rabbit and not a hare over

 

[Jakob]

Riding Again-

That setup looks wicked cool. Nice job.

And good work to Rudy and to everyone else that has posted pics :dancing:

I would love to do this mod but I've already been informed that if I take one more piece off of my bike I will have my gas card privileges revoked

~~>Jakob

 

[jwhelan65]

Just finished installing the new plates. Spent some extra time reworking the instrument lighting to convert it all to LEDs.

Spent even more time using UV leds as the backlight for the three gauges. Used fluorescent paint for the numbers. Tried to take pictures of the lights but I don't think it does it justice.

Really pops though at dusk & night. Not so good for illuminating the odo's though.

Very Nice, where did you get your needles?

 

[Bribird]

But officer I was only going 1/2 way between a bear and an rabbit and not a hare over

LOL!! that was great!

 

[voivod]

Hi
Has anyone have a set for a gs1000s on thier bike ? a complete set that is...any pics ?
I have seen the gs1000e stuff but looking for a complete set for a 1000s
cheers
steve