Speed/Tach

[Ljay40]

Does anyone know if a 1978/79 160 mph speedo and tach ,will fit and work properly on my 80 Special,Im watching a set and dont want to try then buy then cry
MY guess is the wiring wont be the same and the gas gauge instead of idiot light wont work the same.
TIA
Ljay

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Ljay,

As you stated, they WILL work, but they are probably Square shaped instead of Round like your Special, so they would also probably need a different Pilot(Idiot Light) box down the middle.

And the gas gauge would not work, the Standard has a different sender in the tank(float and all), the Special doesn't !

Is you tach not working? If you are wanting to just get a 160 Speedo, there are several other options than trying to cross bread the Standard Guages onto a Special!
T.C.

[andreashweiss]

I have a 78e gauge cluster (standard) has the 240kph/160mph face plate. Means the kilometres are the larger # but the miles stands out as well. Price includes shipping in continental USA $30.00 andreashweiss@yahoo.com

[Geezer]

The plugs are different to the wiring harness. So yes they can be made to work. I did it but I had to salvage pulgs from a scrap harness.

A better bet would be to use a round speedo from an earlier 750 or a 1979 special That way you wouldn't have to change the tach.

Geezer

[Ljay40]

Thanks for the input gang

Sounds like the easy way is just to replace the speedo with the earlier one dont think I want to get into hacking up wires
My tach bounces like a beach ball 0 to 8 grand in0.8 seconds
wish the bike would go that fast haha even went out bought another tach did same thing, sprayed with silicone even went after the 3 white wires and cleaned them up and seems to be charging fine so figured on replacing the whole cluster I guess my speedo gear is shot as well, as the new speedo dont work either and the cable is in perfect condition.I spin the cable by hand and i can get the needle to move. SO back to drawing board
Other wise pretty darn nice bike
Once again thanks
Ljay

Originally posted by Geezer
The plugs are different to the wiring harness. So yes they can be made to work. I did it but I had to salvage pulgs from a scrap harness.

A better bet would be to use a round speedo from an earlier 750 or a 1979 special That way you wouldn't have to change the tach.

Geezer

[Geezer]

Clean the electrical connections at the tach and coat the terminals with dielectric grease and the tach will be much less jumpy.

I put the whole front end off a standard on an 80 special when building the Mongrel. It works for me but I don't recomend it for the average guy.

Geezer