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Ironriot
Guest
How do you take off the gauage face? A spider took up residence and then died in there. I want him out. Is there anyway to do it without destroying anything?
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crazedfooter
Guest
thats funny cuz i have the same thing goin on, he bounces around like he's having seisures..lol! Ill be interested in the responses on this one
nick
nick
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SabreJim
Guest
Opening the guages is a pain but can be done. There are several methods that I have seen, one of which was posted on here but has been removed. It involved cutting the orange case with a dremal tool, do what ya gotta do then glue it back togeather. I have pried the metal lip carefully all the way around laboriously with a large flat tip screw driver.
When you have pried it away enough then remove the metal ring and you have access to the inside. You can immagine how messed up the metal lip looks but when you put it back togeather and carefully tap the metal back in place to hold the ring on its not so bad. When the foam/rubber piece is put on it covers up what you have done.
Bottom line.... I would advise against going through all this trouble unless you have no choice.
Can you blast the little guys exoskeleton and web with air maybe8-[
When you have pried it away enough then remove the metal ring and you have access to the inside. You can immagine how messed up the metal lip looks but when you put it back togeather and carefully tap the metal back in place to hold the ring on its not so bad. When the foam/rubber piece is put on it covers up what you have done.
Bottom line.... I would advise against going through all this trouble unless you have no choice.
Can you blast the little guys exoskeleton and web with air maybe8-[
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Guest
Guest
I have one smashed on my 7 in the tens. :-D
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Ironriot
Guest
Hmm I was hoping I wasn't gonna hear that. I think I'll take the dremel route as it can be easily repaired and no one can see what its gonna look like. I figured that prying up the lip was gonna be on of the few options and yeah I think I shant be doing that. The lip is a little visible in a few places and I'd prefer it to not look screwed up. Thanks anyways
Somebody here had a good method for cutting the speedo open with a Dremel cutting wheel. They either put the Dremel in a vise or used the Dremel cutting wheel in a drill press. Then they spun the gauge around on the workbench against the cutting wheel. This gave them a nice straight cut. When the gauge was glued back together it looked like a seam that was supposed to be there.
Joe
Joe
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Ironriot
Guest
Hmm well I was gonna lay some tape along the line where I was gonna cut and just follow that. But your method works too lol. Man i hate that spider. Had he not died in there everything would be hunky dory
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Suzuki_Don
Guest
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Ironriot
Guest
Ah that's what Joe was talking about. Thanks bud
Cutting open the gauge is WAY more difficult than just bending the ring back. I did both the gauges on my old 450 and they turned out perfectly. Far less intrusive to the gauge than cutting the plastic.
Key is to use a small flat blade screwdriver and work slowly around the gauge. Bend a little at a time and work around; takes about three revolutions. To bend the lip back down, use a small punch and hammer. Place the gauge face down on a firm work surface and work slowly and tap a little at a time.
A couple of photos showing the final results - screw was loose in the tach.
Key is to use a small flat blade screwdriver and work slowly around the gauge. Bend a little at a time and work around; takes about three revolutions. To bend the lip back down, use a small punch and hammer. Place the gauge face down on a firm work surface and work slowly and tap a little at a time.
A couple of photos showing the final results - screw was loose in the tach.
I recently did the gauges on my 1100G using the dremel mthod. Since I don't have a drill press, I used a large hose clamp on the body as my guide. Both gauges came apart easily enough, I tightened up the screws and cleaned the inside of the faceplates with alcohol (they were so smeared and clouded up you could barely see through them),a nd then glued and taped them back together.
Once the gauges were removed, the whole process for both of them took about an hour. I'm very pleased with the results. The gauges look almost new, and you can't tell that I was ever in them.
Once the gauges were removed, the whole process for both of them took about an hour. I'm very pleased with the results. The gauges look almost new, and you can't tell that I was ever in them.
My twopennorth..
If the clock rings are hidden under a plastic cover (mainly earlier models in the UK), removing the ring is the way to go - dead easy bending back with a screwdriver.
However, if your a bit cack handed and rush things you can bend the ring. Therefor, where the ring isn't hidden (but the clock body is) I'd cut the plastic body. Again dead easy - you don't need a dremel - a hacksaw will do as all the marks are hidden so it doesn't have to be neat. Make a couple of marks across where you intend to cut (with marker pen) so that you can line everything up again on reassembly. Fibreglass resin works fine as the cement. Just take a bit of care with the cutting as you only want to cut the shell and not the inside mechanism.
If the clock rings are hidden under a plastic cover (mainly earlier models in the UK), removing the ring is the way to go - dead easy bending back with a screwdriver.
However, if your a bit cack handed and rush things you can bend the ring. Therefor, where the ring isn't hidden (but the clock body is) I'd cut the plastic body. Again dead easy - you don't need a dremel - a hacksaw will do as all the marks are hidden so it doesn't have to be neat. Make a couple of marks across where you intend to cut (with marker pen) so that you can line everything up again on reassembly. Fibreglass resin works fine as the cement. Just take a bit of care with the cutting as you only want to cut the shell and not the inside mechanism.
Sorry to sound grumpy toward the cutting advocates, but why in the world would anyone cut the plastic when you can easily bend the bezel back with a screwdriver? As long as you aren't totally ham fisted, there won't be any reference distortion on the forward facing surfaces of the bezel. Cutting the gauge open is a far more risky process in my opinion.
Spiders are good luck. Leave him alone. :-D
I just pried off the face of my Tach
I just pried off the face of my Tach
1983 GS1100E: The tach face plate had been pushed forward and the glass was dirty. After reading this thread it took my 15 minutes working around the guage rim about 5-6 times to carefully pry it off. It will be simple to just bend back the edge of the rim to grab on the ridge that hold it to the guage.
I was concerned about the Dremal method and exactly where to put the cut as to not screw up the back lighting. Now no problems.
The rim after the 1st pass starting on second pass using a small screwdriver. On the third pass i went to a larger screwdriver that allowed me to twist and bend back the rim further
The rim is now off, see the rough end at the back which will not be seen and can easily be bent back.
The face has been puched back into the original position. All in about 15 minutes. I'm now looking for a flat clear coat to freshen up the guage face but I'm sure it will go back together easily enough.
Posplayr
I just pried off the face of my Tach
1983 GS1100E: The tach face plate had been pushed forward and the glass was dirty. After reading this thread it took my 15 minutes working around the guage rim about 5-6 times to carefully pry it off. It will be simple to just bend back the edge of the rim to grab on the ridge that hold it to the guage.
I was concerned about the Dremal method and exactly where to put the cut as to not screw up the back lighting. Now no problems.
The rim after the 1st pass starting on second pass using a small screwdriver. On the third pass i went to a larger screwdriver that allowed me to twist and bend back the rim further
The rim is now off, see the rough end at the back which will not be seen and can easily be bent back.
The face has been puched back into the original position. All in about 15 minutes. I'm now looking for a flat clear coat to freshen up the guage face but I'm sure it will go back together easily enough.
Posplayr
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I thought that vacuum was worth trying too.
Using some small tubing or whatever you have and electrical tape and reducing down to a plastic/bendable straw may work. If you can shake the spider over to the side you may be able to suck him up. If the spider is dried enough you may be able to shake him into smaller pieces that can be shook out if you shake the speedo upside down/side to side, etc.
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Planecrazy
Guest
If you ARE going to use the drill press/cutting wheel method I'd recommend making a jig to help guide the speedo/tach as you rotate it. a simple metal square (or if you don't have that, a cheap wooden picture frame) clamped down to the drill press table will allow you to smoothly press and rotate the gauge without going too deep.
The epoxy repair/electrical tape ought to do a nice job of creating a "looks like it was always there" seam, but I agree that if you take your time the ring prying method is less invasive. Keep in mind that when the gauge is back on the bike you'll never see the slightly wrinkled edge of the metal ring, because it faces down toward the ground.
I still have to choose one of these methods to replace a loose screw on the face of my speedo - haven't decided which one yet, but will probably go with the "pry off the ring" method.
Regards,
The epoxy repair/electrical tape ought to do a nice job of creating a "looks like it was always there" seam, but I agree that if you take your time the ring prying method is less invasive. Keep in mind that when the gauge is back on the bike you'll never see the slightly wrinkled edge of the metal ring, because it faces down toward the ground.
I still have to choose one of these methods to replace a loose screw on the face of my speedo - haven't decided which one yet, but will probably go with the "pry off the ring" method.
Regards,
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Ironriot
Guest
I'd try off the ring but I'm scared that I'm going to damage it. Bend it or otherwise. And the ring is somewhat visible behind the pastic housing. Atleast with cutting it in half I know that you won't ever be able to see any screw up
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