TOPIC:

Does anyone know a source for the rubber seals in the speedo (and probably the tach) for a 1981 KZ1000? I have the electronic cluster with the fuel gauge, plus turn/oil/neutral lights inside the speedometer.

Also, any tricks for removing that chrome assembly ring without destroying it? One of the faceplate screws came completely out of my speedo and is rattling around behind the glass.

I have a thread on tach and speedo repair and so does ness.
Steve

OK I give up. Every search I run just seems to find other threads of you pasting that exact sentence. A little hint maybe? Like the name of your thread, or what group it's under, or how old it is, or... something?

Here it is.
Steve
kzrider.com/forum/5-chassis/599078-tach-speedo-rebuild#683225

Ah... "rebuild", not "repair". No wonder the search wasn't finding it. Thanks for the link, I'll be reading this over tomorrow.

Later
Steve

I used this.Worked out well;

I've done it five times now on my instruments and have never been successful in getting either a tach or speedo to work that much better then before I tried... I gave up and bought aftermarket.
Bummer 'cause it is a pain in the ass to get that compression ring off and on with no damage.

The trick to the compression ring is to use a very fine screwdriver. Mine is closer to a jeweler's size; 2mm wide maybe. Then it is slipped under the ring and slid around and around repeatedly with each successive pass increasing the pressure to pry up the lip. Gentle & slow is best. Kinda like prying a tire off a wheel. It's a PITA for sure but only way. Too much pry-pressure & you'll risk breaking the edge but even if u do, it's usually not fatal.

A main reason for poor performance of the guage is not covered in the included pic/pages davido provided, even though this is a good how-to but the "stem" the author calls it, is not addressed; only the internal gearing. However, the stem contains the receiver for speedo cable & is a shaft that typically binds up with dirt in hardened grease. So even while you may have lubricated (and made pretty again) the guage it can still suffer from that input shaft being untouched. Example: speedo cable turns but input shaft is...reluctant due to contamination & hardened grease so cable "winds-up" until it overcomes the input shaft's restriction and then suddenly the dial surges. Voila, your speed goes boom and the dial's needle swings forward like you just dropped a gear & went WOT. Then as quickly back down when that input shaft's restriction acts like a brake. Repeat every second & you observe needle bounce...
This of course is possible from a poor or dirty speedo guage, cable or wheel gear.
What i do is put a "robertson" bit (the square bit) in a variable speed screw gun and test a restored speedo. You have to be CAREFUL not to over-drive the guage! It only has plastic gearing & limited speed input. IE: pull full grip on a typical battery powered screw gun & you'll see your speedo record about 1000 MPH for a split second before it melts down
Gently ease on the trigger & attain say 20 MPH and hold it for a few seconds as if you were riding the bike. No BLAM! 70mph. BLAM! Stop. You don't ride like that (unless you are ZukiDave at track day )
This will help u see if your mech is healthy & functional before reassembly of guage tins, glass & bezel.
IMPORTANT: the screw gun has no problem over-coming a contaminated input shaft like the stock speedo cable may. So it won't prove the input is or is not dirty or reluctant.
If you test sanely & you hear squeeling, your guage is crying at you. You didn't get it completely cleaned. Most likely, that input shaft.
Now the bad news:
This input shaft is difficult to remove because it's under/part of, that magnetic disc. You will have to go deep into the guts below the odometer section.
Alternatively, you can use careful but liberal amounts of WD40 or similar and try to flush the shaft but success will be coin toss depending on possible seals in the stem. Also, even with success (lots of icky goo bleeds out of stem & input hand-spins easier), you still have not greased the shaft; just sorta hosed off the big dirt.
HTH.

Thanks for the links and articles, that all gives me a good idea on what it takes to get that ring off. I'm lucky that both of my faceplates still have solid color, no need to replace them, but both front housings have noticeable rust spots so I would like to take them both apart, clean and repaint.

The rubber seals are completely trashed. They're just falling apart to dust, so I need to get replacements. Ebay failed me on this part, so does anyone know of a place that sells them?

Got my wheels to the dealer yesterday, getting new tires and bearings installed, should be picking them up today. Will be nice to get the frame off the ground again, and I can start bolting everything back on. Really hoping to ride this Summer!!!

What's the O.D. & cross-section? I would do a google search for 100mm x 2mm gasket, or whatever size it is. Or try eebbaayy or amazon.com.

Sorry, no, I'm not talking about an O-ring (that would be too easy! ) This is supposed to be a soft rubber ring, probably about 1/2" wide, that sandwiches between the case halves. I think it provides the cushioning between the back of the case (attached to the bike) and the front piece with the instrumentation in it.

[EDIT] I'm kinda wondering if I could make up something myself? I have a sheet of neoprene that is about 1/8" thick, maybe I could cut it to size, spray the back with adhesive glue to temporarily stick it in place, then slide the case back together?