[Registered Coonass]

Has anyone ever replace the face of their speedo?

Mine has developed, as best I can describe, a blister.

Its like a little bubble.
About the size of a dime.
And its not there all of the time.
I think temperature and humidity keeps it coming and going.

But when it is there, it is some kind of ugly.
Very noticeable.

Any advice would be great.
:roll:

 

[Beezer]

I'm pretty sure that speedo is a crimped-together unit. The glass is held to the speedometer cup by the ring which is crimped when installed. I say I'm pretty sure because that's the only type I've ever seen and by looking at the parts book it appears to be exactly the same. You might do a little research and find a shop which has the stuff to do it. The only one I've ever heard of doing it aftermarket, was a shop in England doing Smiths gauges on British bikes. They'd cut yours off and rebuild the gauge, crimp a new one on, for a price. Surely there's a similar business here in the states. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't find out something that's always been done a certain way is now being done a new way. Hopefully this will be one more thing.

 

[adlowe]

Has anyone ever replace the face of their speedo?

Yes, it has been done. Somewhere I have links to instructions. If I can find them I'll come back and edit them into this post. IIRC, there's a warning against wiping the film off the back side of the sight glass.

We had a guy here who printed custom faces before he died. My plan was to replace the face on mine with something very basic but correct the spacing of the marks so the needle would indicate the correct speed. Never got around to it. Probably won't.

On edit:
Here's something on a CB750 speedometer. Don't know if Shadows are the same but suspect they are. Honda likes commonality/consistency. Another two links I had are dead. I *might* have something on another PC. I'll be back with that if I find it.

 

[Lonnie_Mac]

I believe this is the link. Or the one I had saved anyway. I have the issue of my glass being very smokey inside. Real bad. The issue is the anti fogging agent they put on the back of the glass seems to dry out or something over the years. I plan to do this same exact thing soon as I can't stand it anymore. I will indeed touch the back of the glass, and remove the old agent. Just need to find a good new anti fogging agent to wipe back on there before I put it back together.

Honda Shadow Aero 750

 

[smilie]

I believe this is the link. Or the one I had saved anyway. I have the issue of my glass being very smokey inside. Real bad. The issue is the anti fogging agent they put on the back of the glass seems to dry out or something over the years. I plan to do this same exact thing soon as I can't stand it anymore. I will indeed touch the back of the glass, and remove the old agent. Just need to find a good new anti fogging agent to wipe back on there before I put it back together.

Honda Shadow Aero 750

Spit works pretty good in a scuba diving mask, but I don't know how it would hold up in your speedo. No, not the one you wear!:mrgreen:

 

[adlowe]

I believe this is the link. Or the one I had saved anyway. I have the issue of my glass being very smokey inside. Real bad. The issue is the anti fogging agent they put on the back of the glass seems to dry out or something over the years. I plan to do this same exact thing soon as I can't stand it anymore. I will indeed touch the back of the glass, and remove the old agent. Just need to find a good new anti fogging agent to wipe back on there before I put it back together.

That's a good link but not one I had seen. Anti-fogging agent was the biggest reason I didn't change mine. The agent on there now is NOT applied evenly -- much heavier on the right (from my perspective) than the left. If I open that thing up I want to be able to clean and replace that agent. Haven't put enough effort into finding something that will work.

 

[Beezer]

Spit works pretty good in a scuba diving mask, but I don't know how it would hold up in your speedo. No, not the one you wear!:mrgreen:

Oh man, I hadn't even thought of that until you mentioned it!

 

[Lonnie_Mac]

That's a good link but not one I had seen. Anti-fogging agent was the biggest reason I didn't change mine. The agent on there now is NOT applied evenly -- much heavier on the right (from my perspective) than the left. If I open that thing up I want to be able to clean and replace that agent. Haven't put enough effort into finding something that will work.

Exactly my issue too! the right hand side of my glass looks all crappy. You can actually see the brush marks from the brush they used to apply the agent it seems. The LH side is not as bad, but bad too. I figured I would just start over and clean all the old stuff off and spray on something new and put it back together. Problem is once you start bending that flange, and re-swedging it back on by hand, it probably can't be done too many more times as I am sure it would start cracking.

 

[Furball Zen]

You need to post a pic. Blister in WHAT?? I took my speedo apart earlier this year and there is NOTHING in there that can separate.

 

[nraluke]

Had some slightly tinted wax looking crap on the inside of my 08 Aero 750 speedo glass that drove me crazy every time i looked at it. It had even formed a drip in one area which you may be seeing as a blister. I removed the speedo and took a very small craftsman flat screw driver, thinned the blade of the screw driver till i could find a point that i could get it under the crimped area. Started working it around the diameter of the crimp prying to just spread it a little. Another time around the diameter prying the crimp a little more. Two more times around the crimp diameter and crimp was pryed open enough to remove the speedo glass trim ring. Cleaned the inside glass with penatrating oil then regular glass cleaner. Wrapped my channel lock jaws with electrical tape, reinstalled glass trim on speedo and started compressing original crimp area slightly on first time around then a little more on second time around then a firm compress on crimp diameter on 3rd time around. Takes time to do it but that was 2 years ago and never had any more trouble with glass and unless you look at underside of speedo trim ring, you would never know it had been removed. On the down side, if you screw it up then you will be buying a new speedo

 

[Registered Coonass]

You need to post a pic. Blister in WHAT?? I took my speedo apart earlier this year and there is NOTHING in there that can separate.

I'll try to get a picture soon.

But it's like a blister in the paint or the laminate that is the dial.
Where the numbers are...

Thanks for all your help guys.
I'll dig deeper into your suggestions tomorrow morning.

I have a vinyl plotter. I may be able to make my own faceplate replacement. Might be worth a shot.

 

[Dingo.]

I know I saw a video on the you-tube where a fellow prints custom gauge graphics and includes instructions for taking apart the speedo. You send him the picture and payment and he sends you a new speedo picture of your choice and the instructions for installing in your speedo. I believe he will also do it for you for a bit more and your speedo. It's more complicated than it sounds. If I was doing it I'd replace the bulbs with LED's in a different colour.

Dingo.

 

[Registered Coonass]

I like the idea of changing the color of the bulbs!

 

[philcrudo]

Speedo New Face

Had it done at Speed Gauge Customs

 

[Registered Coonass]

That's sweet!!!!

 

[KCochran]

I'd like to have my speedo with an American flag background

 

[philcrudo]

He will do almost anything you want. His name is Jared Angell very nice to work with.

 

[XApacheDoc]

Speed Gauge Customs - Custom Speedometer Faceplates and Lighting

 

[Furball Zen]

I doubt anyone will open up a Spirit speedo except on a friend basis, its NOT easy.

 

[Lohengrin]

I also have a speedo blister

:-(

pity it is so difficult to get to...