Tach needle ?

[GLoweVA]

Are the Tach Needles and Speedo Needles interchangeable?
My SG has a broken off tach needle (It's just a nub)
I saw the tech tip on the faceplate refurbish and he just pried the needle off with a fork.

So, I'm trying to figuring out where can I get a needle.
Any ideas?
Maybe one of you out there has a junk meter (speedo or tach) that you can sacrifice the needle for me. ?

Thanks

[CaptonZap]

You might also go to a scooter place that caters to Oriental scooters, and see if you can get a dead speedo from them.
The needle on a Kymco 50cc scoot looks like the same needle as is on the XS. JAT, CZ

[GLoweVA]

I suppose when I get around to pulling the tach apart, I can pull the needle off and go down to the yamaha dealer and see what they might have in the service dept.
Hopefully someone there might be nice and give me a dead one that isn't worth anything to them.

[CatatonicBug]

I have a speedo I just swapped out, and the plastic housing is cracked. If you want it, it's yours for shipping cost. The hard part is going to be accessing the needle. You can't get to it without cutting off the metal ring that holds the glass to the front of the gauge.

[GLoweVA]

Thanks Bug. That'd be great.
The tech thread here: http://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-t...especials.html
talks about prying the metal lip with a small screw driver to get the face off and then using a fork to pry the needle off.

I'll PM you with my address and stuff.

Thanks again.

[petejw]

i tried doing a swap the other day,
the thingy the needle slides on is a
slightly different size and doesnt fit,
ull need to get a tach needle for the tach.

[GLoweVA]

Pete thanks for that little piece of Intel. Bug is gonna send me a speedometer. I'll try my best to make it work. Maybe if I have to I'll glue the sucker on there.

[petejw]

Pete thanks for that little piece of Intel. Bug is gonna send me a speedometer. I'll try my best to make it work. Maybe if I have to I'll glue the sucker on there.

no worries george, let us know how u go.

[3Phase]

That's weird, Pete, maybe the RH models are different. I've swapped the tachometer and speedometer needles between US model Standards and Specials and the needles are all balanced and fit the same.

Once you have the bezel and the glass removed you can carefully twist the needle off the tachometer spindle. The galvanometer has positive mechanical stops inside it but the needle doesn't so you won't break anything.

The speedometer is a little trickier because it has a stop pin for the needle but not for the mechanism and the spindle is preloaded with spring that will relax after you take off the needle. Take the speedometer assembly all the way out of the inner housing. Mark the metal bell on the inner end of the spindle and its shroud with a pencil or a laundry pen when the needle is at rest so you can put the needle back on with the original spring preload and Barbara is your mother's sister.

Hold the speedometer assembly in one hand with your thumb against the bell to keep it form turning, then carefully twist the needle off the spindle with your other hand.

Assembly is reverse of disassembly.

FWIW I used the plastic fork the first time I worked on the speedometer but I wouldn't do it that way again. Even if you're really careful it'll leave marks on the old oxidized black paint on the face plate and trying to fix them will leave clean marks on the old oxidized black paint.

[petejw]

lol scott, it wouldnt be the 1st time,

the spindle the needles fit in were a different size
on my bike, i wouldve thought they were all the same.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey George,

Those needles are quite delicate anyways, mine had broken apart just from sun exposure, aging, and then shock/vibration alone!

Scott, I wasn't worried about the tach face because I had plans to replace it anyways, but I'm sure scratches are very possible using any method to pry the needle up off the spindle. I guess just pulling up on the needle with something that would provide even pressure on both sides of the needle/spindle junction would be good. Oh...Duh...reread your post about spinning/twisting the needle up and off the spindle since it has stop points.

T.C.

[3Phase]

Yep, T.C., the needles will break or crumble if you look at 'em wrong. Wait! Strike that! They'll break or crumble even if you don't look at 'em

The black paint on the dial face has a fine surface texture to it that if you magnify it looks a lot like a sprayed acoustic ceiling so that it will back-light at night without glare. If you touch the dial face it doesn't really scratch the paint as much as it scuffs or compresses the 'fluffyness' and leaves a mark. Trying to remove marks, oil or grease from the dial face it is almost the same as trying to fix a sprayed ceiling. It can be done but it's not easy on something that will be sitting about two feet away from your face for thousands of miles.

After repairing my 160 MPH speedometer using your Tech Tip -- thank you very much for that again by the way! without visibly messing up the speedometer face I decided not to use a fork when I repaired the tachometer. Everything was going just fine until I gave the needle that one last twist to seat it in position and I left a half-circle mark in the paint with my fingertips. Argh!

After the last five needle repairs/replacements I've gotten a little better at it.

[petejw]

scott, just out of curiousity, when u removed the
needles, did the little brass 'thingy' that sits on the
spindle and inside the needle, did that part stay
on the needle or the spindle?

looking at what i have
the outside diameter of the brass 'thingy' look the same but the inside diameters
were slightly different in size as was the spindles.
were your spindles the same size for both the tach and speedo?

[3Phase]

Spindle and Needle

Pete, here's a picture of a disassembled (broken) tachometer and one of my collection of pet broken needles.

On the inverted needle mount base you can see the counterweight and the melted plastic blobs where the needle is attached but there is no brass bit anywhere. The speedometer and tachometer needles are identical.


Click the image:-

XS1100 galvanometer spindle and needle mount base for the tachometer.

[petejw]

scott, heres a pic of the back of the broken needle
from mine.



does look different to yours.