Spider removal from gauge

[bonanzadave]

Spiders are good luck. Leave him alone. :-D

[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

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Never have had to do anything like this before so I dunno if this is a dumbass idea but ...........................

I wonder if somhow one couldn't set up some way to use the suction from a vacuum of some sort.

Ok, you can all stop laughing now......................

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.

[Planecrazy]

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,

[Ironriot]

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

[DanTheMan]

I used the dremel method on mine, because I was out of sharp hobby X-Acto knife saw blades. It was more work than it should've been (the X-Acto knife saw blades would've been way easier.....), but it looks and works fine. I think I told Planecrazy that's what I did. but I'm old and Alzheimer's is probably setting in and I don't remember, and besides, some of the things that I've participated in and been subjected to by senior (by that I might mean "postho":-D) members of this board could have warped my mind and conciousness so far that nothing is real anymore. Could that be??? I don't know, maybe Miss Fab or DA could help us out there, or Dr. Skip?????\\/ (only sort of......:-D)

[Planecrazy]

You crack me up, Dan!!!

Since you already "Jacked" the thread, a quick question. Are you going to do Brown County this spring? I know it's a long ride for you, but if you're interested you're welcome to stay over at my place Thursday night and ride down with us on Friday.

Regards,

[DanTheMan]

You crack me up, Dan!!!

Since you already "Jacked" the thread, a quick question. Are you going to do Brown County this spring? I know it's a long ride for you, but if you're interested you're welcome to stay over at my place Thursday night and ride down with us on Friday.

Regards,

Well, Steve,
I looked at my schedule, and I'm teaching a BRC (double) in Alexandria, MN, so I can't make that rally. I'll just have to meet up with you again at the Galena (or is it Fennimore now?) rally again.
Have fun there, and enjoy it.

[saddlewarmer]

i pried the ring off ver carefully. took my time and used soft jawed pliers ti crimp it back on. you can't tell i did it without looking hard. key, i believe is taking your time.