Topic: Let's play: Name those gauges...

[csendker]

I have 3 sets of gauges, which one is which?  Supposedly all three sets are for my '75 550K, but I don't believe it.

#1: Speedo & tach both black face.  Speedo reads to 85 mph, odo on top & trip on bottom. Tach 9,500 red line. Reset on side.

#2: Speedo & tach both light green.  Speedo reads to 130 mph, odo on top & trip on bottom. Tach 9,400 red line. Reset on side.

#3: Speedo & tach both darkgreen.  Speedo reads to 130 mph, trip on top & odo on bottom. Tach 9,400 red line. Reset on back.

The black speedo is the only one that reads the right speed, but the tack reads waaaaaaaay low.  The black set is obviously wrong, but came with the bike - PO?  The light green speedo reads wrong - can't remember which way, but the tach seems much more accurate.  I haven't tried the dark green ones yet.  What the heck do I have??

[Green550F]

is the front wheel factory?
perhaps the guages came with a wheel swap?

[csendker]

I know the immediate PO dumped it at least once on a gravel road, or so his dad said.  I've got scratched marker lenses & a scratched generator cover to prove it, but no major apparent damage.  The bars & brake lines were low-riders, since swapped to OEM by me.  The front wheel looks to be the right size, but the speedo gear may have been swapped with the new gauges.  The frame # & engine # are further off than I would have expected, so no guarantees they're even a matched set either. The odo reads 38,000+ miles, but it's a replacement, so who knows?   It was last registered in CA, now it's in NY.  I don't even know if it was ridden cross-country or trailered.  Come to think of it, I really don't know jack about the previous life of my bike....yeesh.

[Einyodeler]

The #1 set is from a CB650.
The #3 set looks almost identical to my `73 CB500 which is the year they got the larger style gauges
The only difference is that my speedo has a mark at 70 mph which was the national speed limit at the time.

[jsaab2748]

Set number three is like my 74 550 k0 as well, manufactured  7/73

[upperlake04]

Number 2 is very similar to the 78 750F, the only difference I see is the 150mph  speedometer.  A good guess might be 78ish.

[DammitDan]

#1 is definitely from an '80-'82 CB650.

#2 looks almost like a '79 CB650, but I could be wrong.

Try getting some speedo drives off Ebay for those.  The drives are considerably cheaper than the speedo/tachs 

[SteveD CB500F]

Let's ressurect this thread:

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=6961.0

This time I promise I will put them in the Gallery as a reference. Anyone with "strange" clocks/gauges can then look them up!

Post a picture of your clocks / gauges together with model and year (and locality if relevant)

[Geeto67]

Any time you see an 80 or 85 mph top speed for a SOHC4 speedo, the gauge has to have been made after 1980. Honda put 80 mph speedos on pretty much all their bikes during the regan administration due to thier recomendations to the automotive industry that the manufacturers not tempt vehicle operators with high top speeds on new vehicle speedometers.

[RRRToolSolutions]

Hey Geeto67, aren't you a Kaw triple guy too? If so, Gordon here. Good to see folks like us with many interest.

Regards,
I Like Bikes !!!

[Geeto67]

Hey Geeto67, aren't you a Kaw triple guy too? If so, Gordon here. Good to see folks like us with many interest.

Regards,
I Like Bikes !!!

I though I recognized your avitar and screenname from the kaw triple board. I've always been a cb750 and kaw triple guy, just seem to be doing more with cb750s these days because my kawi's need too many obsolete parts. Anyway, good to see you over here Gordon and nice job on that cb750 (i was looking at the pics in another post).

[csendker]

Any time you see an 80 or 85 mph top speed for a SOHC4 speedo

That's what was pointed out a while ago and started this whole thing.  The black set came with the bike, but obviously aren't original; heck I'm not even sure these came off a SOHC4.

Let's resurrect this thread:

Thanks for the link, I forgot about that one.  But maybe with the exception of the '76 550K, I don't think any of mine match anything.

Is there any identifying number or something to help ID these things, like the ubiquitous Honda part number stamped somewhere on them?  And how unique and/or universal are the speedo gears?  The one I have now seems to match the black set, but doesn't seem to be geared for the green set I tried.

Right now I have a good black speedo & good (presumably) green tach.  I'd like to end up with a matched set, preferrably the correct, or close to correct green but more importantly where both work properly.  It seems that the speedo gear would be easier to rectify than the tach, but I don't know what I really have to start tracking down the right gear.

[Geeto67]

For speedos there seems to be only two or three standard ratios for speedo drives and japanese bikes tend to all use the same. Very few stock speedos are accurate anyway and even less accurate after 30 years. The tach's on the other hand are really where having a model specific tach is important as the ratios tend to vary with engine (why cb500/550s don't use the same tach as a cb750).

the only SOHC4 speedo that reads 80 or 85 is the cb650 since it was made until 82. You could very well have a DOHC 750 speedo and tach set, my 1975 cb750 came with a set off of an 81 cb750, they read pretty accuratly but I still swapped them out for originals. Clearly #1 is out since you know they are not stock.

I am pretty sure #2 and #3 are not cb750 gauges since they only go up to 130mph (cb750 gauges traditionally go up to 150mph). I personally think #2 is not a cb550 gauge since the redline looks funny. The dark ones, #3, are most likely from a 76 cb550 and will probably work the best - try them out and let us know.

BTW you can check the accuracy of the tach with a dwell meter (use the rpm setting) - if you are not doing it this way then you have no good reference for if the tach is accurate or not.

[csendker]

Of course, #3 is the set that I haven't tried yet.  They're going on tonight, just in time for the rains to come. 

BTW you can check the accuracy of the tach with a dwell meter (use the rpm setting) - if you are not doing it this way then you have no good reference for if the tach is accurate or not.

I am not doing it this way and I have no good reference.  I just know the black one is way off by ear, and the light green one seems much better.  Maybe I should get me one of those dwell meters...

[Geeto67]

Of course, #3 is the set that I haven't tried yet.  They're going on tonight, just in time for the rains to come. 

BTW you can check the accuracy of the tach with a dwell meter (use the rpm setting) - if you are not doing it this way then you have no good reference for if the tach is accurate or not.

I am not doing it this way and I have no good reference.  I just know the black one is way off by ear, and the light green one seems much better.  Maybe I should get me one of those dwell meters...

Let me tell you a story about judging sound by ear:

I own a 1967 GTO and have owned the car for 10 years. I know it intimatley, inside and out and thought I could even tell the revs by ear. I went to the chassis dyno and at the time the car's tach had stopped working. So the dyno guy asks me to rev it to redline and I stand on it - hard. I let her rip till I thought that engine was about to blow and then shut her down. The dyno guy asked me why I stopped at 4K.

My point is, unless you are listening for mechanical noise, judging an engine by ear is as inaccurate as it comes. 

here is a $30 dwell meter from sears:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?pid=00902165000&vertical=Sears&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

and a super fancy one:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Mechanics+Tools&pid=00921029000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Automotive+Testing+Equipment&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

[MikeDeB]

Here's a pic of the gauges from my 76 550K that I recently sold.  I would guess that gauges #3 are the correct gauges for your 75 550K.

[csendker]

Printed on the backs (? means the printing has washed off):

Set #1; Black:
Speedo:
?-9576
?
AT
Tach:
?
?
4T

Set #2; Light Green:
Speedo:
?-7431
2240 REV = 1 MILE
10Q
Tach:
057200-1150
? = 10000 RPM
10Q

Set #3; Dark Green:
Speedo:
057100-5592
2240 REV = 1 MILE
10M
Tach:
057200-0390
1500 ? = 10000 RPM
10M

Also, the 'dark green' is really more of a 'blue green' and as hard as I look, it has no kph scale to be found on it.  I think I'm heading back to the black set for the time being.

[dusterdude]

the light green ones look like k2/k3 750 to me.

[MikeDeB]

Also, the 'dark green' is really more of a 'blue green' and as hard as I look, it has no kph scale to be found on it.  I think I'm heading back to the black set for the time being.

The "dark green" used to really be dark green.  They, like the 750 gauges of the same years, would fade to the "blue green".  I've opened up a few sets of gauges that appeared to be "blue green" and around the outer edges, where they didn't fade, they were dark green.

Set #1 is from a 80-82 Honda.  One of the Custom models; hard to say which one but definately not for a 75 550.  They look just like the ones off a CB650C that a friend of mine just parted out.  Set #2 is likely from a 77-78 550 K/F since it is a lighter green and has the inner KPH scale which was introduced in 77.  Set #3 is the most correct for your bike.  Light green ones, like on my old 76, were particular to that year.  Set #3 is appropriate for the 75 and possibly the 74 model years.

[csendker]

Thanks for the ID's Mike.  Well at least I'm now very proficient at swapping out the gauges.  I put on set #3 last night.  I fired it up this morning and found out that instead of a normal tach, I have one of those rare 'maximum RPM' indicators.  The tach ran up; haltingly, but never went back down.    Not wanting to temp fate with a now-questionable matching speedo, I'm back to square one.  Now I just have to research the zillion threads on loosening up and/or rebuilding my gauges.