Future project coming up – replace the fuel level meter in the instrument cluster.
Just noticed that the one on the bike started to read really erratic. Reads full, reads half, reads something less than half, depending on the attitude of the bike when stationary, or under way….. all this with a slightly less than ½ full tank. This just started for no apparent reason. Not sure of the actual cause, but I found a NOS gauge on eBay for a really good price, so figured I’d better scarf it up while it was still available. It’s on the way and we’ll swap it out once it arrives. If that’s not the issue, and it’s the actual sending unit, we’ll deal with that if I can find one at a reasonable price.
Secondary reason/excuse to pull the cluster – swap out the colored plastic inserts for the turn signal/emergency flasher indicators. My original instrument cluster’s speedometer faceplate was really faded in the upper quadrant due to a bulb I stuck in there. It apparently had too high a wattage and the plate couldn’t handle the added heat. I found a replacement cluster a local was selling that was really clean and reasonably priced, so went ahead and picked it up. The replacement cluster only had 35K, or something on the odometer, but since my bike was close to flipping over 200K, I wanted to have the correct, indicated mileage on the display. I sent it out to Palo Alto Speedometer Repair to have them advance the mileage. I looked at doing it myself, but the mechanism wouldn’t allow simple rotating the wheels, so I backed off not wanting to damage anything. The remote effort was a little pricey, but they got the job done in pretty short order. Once back, the cluster was swapped out and I was a happy camper.
Almost.
My original cluster had amber turn signal indicators, the ones in the replacement were green. I didn’t think that would make any difference, but they do – at least for my eyes. I find that the greens don’t stick out in the daylight as well as the ambers did, and I find myself going along fat dumb and happy after making a turn leaving the turn signals on doing their thing.
NOT a safe thing to do if a cage mis-reads your intentions.
I dragged out my old cluster to see how hard it was going to be to swap out the fuel gauge, but to also see how hard it was going to be to swap out the indicator lens. Fortunately, it looks to be pretty easy for both. The three connection screws on the back of the cluster housing secure the gauge. Remove them and the gauge lifts right out. The lens are held in place by thin metal caps. Slip them off, remove their respective bulb sockets and poke through the hole with a pencil (eraser end) to dislodge the lens. Fit the replacement in position and replace the caps. Done.
I’ll shoot some pix for this adventure.
Honest.
Old cluster escutcheon/cover removed:
, I put the bike away till next Spring.
