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I've posted before about the problems I had with the stock instrument cluster on my '78 GS550. It was cracked, then the speedo died, then I replaced the valve cover gasket with a Realgaskets item which rendered the tach drive ineffective.
My solution was to replace the whole shooting match with Trail Tech's Vapor computer, which I luckily got on eBay for $20, plus the cost of the speed sensor and other wiring (another $35). My problem then was where to mount the indicator lights and gear position indicator. I finally gave up on the gear position indicator and went with Trail Tech's street "dashboard," which is a nicely-made $55 piece that houses four indicator lights. By the way, Clymer's wiring diagram for the gear sensor is confusing. The neutral light is powered by the dark blue wire.
This setup works great! First, the whole thing weighs only a few ounces and draws almost no power (LED lighting throughout), so I've probably shaved close to 10 pounds just by making this change. Second, the speedo is now accurate, and the tach, though somewhat jumpy, is useable. Finally, the Vapor has a lot of useful functions, like a trip meter, ride timer, stopwatch, telltales and clock.
Here's how it went:
The view from the office, with the new item.
The panel didn't look so good from the back, so I looked around for a way to cover it.
A piece from a power tool battery blister pack seemed like it would fit the back of the dash. I know from my experience building radio controlled model cars that this type of lexan can be painted.
Here's how it looks, painted and installed. It just squeezes up under the edge of the dash and is held in place by the rubber indicator light housings. I'll be keeping my eyes open for better-fitting lexan pieces for this spot.
Here's the whole bike. That headlight is an eBay "CB250" halogen unit with a plastic bucket and room to mount an ignition switch.
My solution was to replace the whole shooting match with Trail Tech's Vapor computer, which I luckily got on eBay for $20, plus the cost of the speed sensor and other wiring (another $35). My problem then was where to mount the indicator lights and gear position indicator. I finally gave up on the gear position indicator and went with Trail Tech's street "dashboard," which is a nicely-made $55 piece that houses four indicator lights. By the way, Clymer's wiring diagram for the gear sensor is confusing. The neutral light is powered by the dark blue wire.
This setup works great! First, the whole thing weighs only a few ounces and draws almost no power (LED lighting throughout), so I've probably shaved close to 10 pounds just by making this change. Second, the speedo is now accurate, and the tach, though somewhat jumpy, is useable. Finally, the Vapor has a lot of useful functions, like a trip meter, ride timer, stopwatch, telltales and clock.
Here's how it went:
The view from the office, with the new item.
The panel didn't look so good from the back, so I looked around for a way to cover it.
A piece from a power tool battery blister pack seemed like it would fit the back of the dash. I know from my experience building radio controlled model cars that this type of lexan can be painted.
Here's how it looks, painted and installed. It just squeezes up under the edge of the dash and is held in place by the rubber indicator light housings. I'll be keeping my eyes open for better-fitting lexan pieces for this spot.
Here's the whole bike. That headlight is an eBay "CB250" halogen unit with a plastic bucket and room to mount an ignition switch.
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