getting rid of my giant guage cluster brick on my 550 any ideas?

[Guest]

Looking to get rid of the eyesore of the stock gushed cluster on my 81 gs550. I'm thinking of using the trail tech vapor unit with the dash lights. Are there any other solutions for under $150 for tach, speedo and lights?

[Chuck78]

Yes, the 1989+ Suzuki GS500 130mph clusters are a great looking alternative that can be had for $100-130 if you watch ebay for long enough. The version up to around the early 2000's uses a mechanical cable tach drive like ours. The newer version to 2010 works also, but your tach cable output on the cylinder head is not used and you will need to just plug it off somehow, as you will use a wire tap off of your ignition coils to drive the tach electronically. These clusters have turn signal/neutral/oil/high beam indicators on a much smaller console, and they have the appearance of two individual pods. The newer and older versions have two different looks, with the newer one being slightly more attractive in my opinion. both look very nice for the price you can have them for.

electric tach trigger version, newer models:





cable drive tach version, older models:
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/73...3dca271699.jpg

Nice looking Suzuki Bandit gauges, not sure what years:



Another great option is the 2.5" (or 2.25"?) chrome mini speedo and tach that Dime City Cycles and others sell. Need to get the right ratios. 2240 cable rpm's=60mph and I "think" I remember the Suzuki tach's using a 4:1 ratio but it may be 2:1, please check for yourself. They offer a version of the speedo with the indicator lights built into the gauge faces also. Only complaint I have heard is that although they look identical, one has led backlighting and one has an incandescent bulb, so you need to get the same led color replacement retrofit bulb (super bright led.com or something) or else get a radioshack strip of LED's and fit them into the back of the gauge housing in the right series to make the voltage levels work. The retrofit bulb seems to be the best bet as far as ease of swap to get the same color of lighting.

[Badooka]

I was looking into doing this one, but decided to keep the original.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD-digital-Speedometer-Tachometer-Odometer-Motorcycle-w-Backlight-NEW-/190927251813?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c7426a965&vxp=mtr

[CivilRock]

I bought some 1995 Bandit 400 gauges. Mechanical speedo, electronic tach. $100 shipped on eBay. I like everything about them except the redline is 14,000 RPM, which is well beyond my bike's redline. (I do have a rev limiter now, and will be adding a shift light).

I do like them a lot, but I sure do like those GS500 gauges you posted up first. I did take the liberty to set the odo to 30 miles when I had them open to clean out the spider skeletons.

-Kevin

[Spiff]

I have the 2.5" from dimecitycycles, mechanical tach and speedo.
They clean up the front end real nice.