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As you read above, I had to replace my 1979 GS850 cluster with a 1981 GS450 cluster. First, let me explain my motives.
I bought this bike as my first bike. I've always loved the look of classic bikes. What I was not prepared for was the maintenance involved. I'm fairly basic about electrical knowledge, and even more limited on engine knowledge, but luckily I have a group of friends who are more than willing to enlighten me.
The second week I had her......I highsided her. I know, I know. I can't tell you how horrible I felt, especially since she (I refer to the bike as a she, so bear with me). I hit gravel on a curve, but I was lucky enough to get my speed down to 10 or so before I laid her down. The damage was cosmetic: Broke a spark plug cap (fixed)
Off-set the headlight (fixed)
Broke a mirror (fixed)
Broke Right Front turn signal (fixed)
Tweaked handlebars (working on swapping them to drag bars anyways)
Dented fuel tank (Nooooo!!!! And it was just repainted!)
and the biggest, most pressing issue:
I cracked the Instrument cluster. My Spedometer section was intact and fine, as was my center gear select switch (the cracking of the casing starts in the middle) but my tachometer was not so lucky. The glass broke off, leaving it exposed, and the entire casing of right side of the gauge was broken, and the back of the cluster was broken and just overall bad. I could ride, but I had no notice of my RPMS, and I wasn't a fan that the housing was open.
I managed to get her home, and have since then done my best to make it up to her. A friend of mine works on older bikes, and had an old GS450 cluster he gave me. I was looking at buying a used OEM cluster on ebay for the 850, but money and time were an issue, so I decided to use the 450 cluster.
I pulled off the OEM set, and chased wire diagrams for both clusters, and crossreferenced them to ensure they would be compatabile. Long story short, a few hours, a few curse words and a ton of splicing later, I rigged up the new 450 cluster. I have lights for both Speedometer and Tachometer, my 5 gear select and neutral dummy lights all wired properly. I connected my speedometer line, which works and gives the accurate speed.
My tach line, however, was on the side that had been dropped, so I was suspicious of it anyways. It wouldn't seat quite right in the housing, but when I fired her up and did a test run, my speed was accurate, but I was pulling barely 1000 RPM. the needle barely moved, but on the ride home, I read 2000 RPM at one point, never rising above that.
One other issue I had personally was on the ride back (after the new cluster was installed), the speedometer side started ....vibrating, if you will. I could hear what sounded like whining from the gauge. It was very, very loud, and the faster I went, the higher it sounded. I slowed down, stopped, then started again and it went away. This happened three times in 2 miles, so when I got home, I told my boyfriend to take it out, and see if it happened to him. Twice he rode it with no symptoms whatsoever, so I jumped on it again, and haven't heard it since. He thinks the sped cable just had to get aligned into its place in the new cluster, but I'd rather get opinions from people who have owned these kinds of bikes.
So, to continue with my original question:
Would switching Instrument clusters be an issue, especially since I'm taking something that was set for a 450cc to now read an 850cc? Will I have to calibrate it somehow? I know my bike's top speed is around 120mph, whereas the new cluster tops out at 80. I've no intention of going above 80, but would this limit me? And I thought about cutting my losses and ordering the 850 cluster after all, but I had to do so much splicing, I don't know how the original wire harness would handle more splicing to reconfigure the original cluster. I think I may have to replace the entire tach line, to see if that will give me RPMS......
Whew, I'm sorry if that was winded, but I figured I'd give a back story to explain how I got into this predicament. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Fluffyshanyn
I bought this bike as my first bike. I've always loved the look of classic bikes. What I was not prepared for was the maintenance involved. I'm fairly basic about electrical knowledge, and even more limited on engine knowledge, but luckily I have a group of friends who are more than willing to enlighten me.
The second week I had her......I highsided her. I know, I know. I can't tell you how horrible I felt, especially since she (I refer to the bike as a she, so bear with me). I hit gravel on a curve, but I was lucky enough to get my speed down to 10 or so before I laid her down. The damage was cosmetic: Broke a spark plug cap (fixed)
Off-set the headlight (fixed)
Broke a mirror (fixed)
Broke Right Front turn signal (fixed)
Tweaked handlebars (working on swapping them to drag bars anyways)
Dented fuel tank (Nooooo!!!! And it was just repainted!)
and the biggest, most pressing issue:
I cracked the Instrument cluster. My Spedometer section was intact and fine, as was my center gear select switch (the cracking of the casing starts in the middle) but my tachometer was not so lucky. The glass broke off, leaving it exposed, and the entire casing of right side of the gauge was broken, and the back of the cluster was broken and just overall bad. I could ride, but I had no notice of my RPMS, and I wasn't a fan that the housing was open.
I managed to get her home, and have since then done my best to make it up to her. A friend of mine works on older bikes, and had an old GS450 cluster he gave me. I was looking at buying a used OEM cluster on ebay for the 850, but money and time were an issue, so I decided to use the 450 cluster.
I pulled off the OEM set, and chased wire diagrams for both clusters, and crossreferenced them to ensure they would be compatabile. Long story short, a few hours, a few curse words and a ton of splicing later, I rigged up the new 450 cluster. I have lights for both Speedometer and Tachometer, my 5 gear select and neutral dummy lights all wired properly. I connected my speedometer line, which works and gives the accurate speed.
My tach line, however, was on the side that had been dropped, so I was suspicious of it anyways. It wouldn't seat quite right in the housing, but when I fired her up and did a test run, my speed was accurate, but I was pulling barely 1000 RPM. the needle barely moved, but on the ride home, I read 2000 RPM at one point, never rising above that.
One other issue I had personally was on the ride back (after the new cluster was installed), the speedometer side started ....vibrating, if you will. I could hear what sounded like whining from the gauge. It was very, very loud, and the faster I went, the higher it sounded. I slowed down, stopped, then started again and it went away. This happened three times in 2 miles, so when I got home, I told my boyfriend to take it out, and see if it happened to him. Twice he rode it with no symptoms whatsoever, so I jumped on it again, and haven't heard it since. He thinks the sped cable just had to get aligned into its place in the new cluster, but I'd rather get opinions from people who have owned these kinds of bikes.
So, to continue with my original question:
Would switching Instrument clusters be an issue, especially since I'm taking something that was set for a 450cc to now read an 850cc? Will I have to calibrate it somehow? I know my bike's top speed is around 120mph, whereas the new cluster tops out at 80. I've no intention of going above 80, but would this limit me? And I thought about cutting my losses and ordering the 850 cluster after all, but I had to do so much splicing, I don't know how the original wire harness would handle more splicing to reconfigure the original cluster. I think I may have to replace the entire tach line, to see if that will give me RPMS......
Whew, I'm sorry if that was winded, but I figured I'd give a back story to explain how I got into this predicament. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Fluffyshanyn
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