Topic: Replacing my stock Speedo & Tach , What will work ?

[ProTeal55]

Hello ,

In the never ending quest to make my CB more my own , I was thinking about replacing the stock gauges with some
smaller units, such as Autometer's or something along those lines. Looking to go about half the size of stock...
Plan to backlight with blue L.E.D's , or maybe red for a more sinister look...

I plan on building a custom mount , to have them somewhat in the same location, just for ease of viewing.

My question is , what do I need to look for / accquire as far as gauges that will accept the stock cables ?
I mean , I can't just go get any speedo out of a catalogue and the cable on my CB750 will work , right ?
Do I need to get year/model/make specific , or is their something else I should be looking for ??

As usuall , all help is much appreciated.......

[ProTeal55]

Found these at good ol' JCWhitney . I take it both of these will adapt to my stock cables

Speedo
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-Browse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2008923/showCustom-0/p-2008923/N-111+10211+600010224/c-10111
Tach
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ItemBrowse/c-10111/s-10101/p-100000147046/mediaCode-ZX/appId-100000147046/Pr-p_CATENTRY_ID:100000147046

[Geeto67]

the jc whitney gauges rattle themselves to death in about a month. Drag specalties used to make them for the honda (I still have a speedo), so check swap meets. Cobra makes them for metric bikes so they might have some really nice ones that fit.

Giving up one of my good tricks here...but....I use a superhawk/cb450 black bomber headlight and speedo unit. The small headlight gives the bike an old feel and the gauges in the back of the light make the front look clean. I usually take the stock gauge housing out and replace the lens with a piece of sheetmetal, then mount the gauges in the sheet metal (painted black and pinstriped). Looks real trick.

[ProTeal55]

So the JCWhitney gauges aren't even worth buying  ? I guess if they fall apart they arent....
You get what you pay for......

Is their anywhere else I should be looking ? Did a decent search eariler this morning , and came up with nothing.
Did a search for Cobra gauges ----> Nothing....

I just want to insure that whatever gauges I end up buying will actually work with the cables on the bike...........

[Geeto67]

This is gonna be one of those situations where you will probably need to call up the conapny and chat with them. Drag Specalties may still have some of the old honda ones lying around, much better quality. I guess I should be more specific about the jc whitney gauges. The two stroke street bike I put a Jc tach on rattled itself to death in a month. They replaced it, and it happend again in about two months. If your bike is a soft ride, then they may last you longer, if not (and somehow I doubt it is soft given how low it is) you roll the dice and takes yoru chances. There really are very few drive ratios out there for speedos, (1:1 and some other crazy one) and if you look at the jc whitney ones for different bikes a lot share the same part number. Check around on ebay for those old drag specalties mini gauges, and with ratio in hand call cobra about their mini gauges, their online store is weak.

[ProTeal55]

I am drawn to the JCWhitney gauges becasue they are small , and clean.
But if they are garbage , they are not worth wasting my money on.

My ride is not bad as far as vibration goes , but it does hit kinda hard with the
front end lowered as much as it is. Kinda like a semi-hardtail.....

I am gonna look into the Parts Unlimited catalogue tomorrow , and see what they
have available. Drag Specialties is the American division , Parts Unlimited is the Metric side.
So any speedo with a ratio of 1:1 will work on my CB ? I know tach's are pretty much universal..

Anyone else changed their gauges from Stock to Aftermarket ?

[ProTeal55]

Speedo---->
Drag Specialties part number #DS244136
Measures 2 1/2
Retail around $40
http://www.dragspecialties.com/fatbook/index.shtml

Tach---------->
Doesn't seem that Drag sells a matching tach, but I did find these.
http://www.partsnmore.net/item_index.php?part_unique=2641
http://www.partsnmore.net/item_index.php?part_unique=2643
Look to be almost the same as JCWhitney , but was told they are somewhat better in quality...

Would be nice for both the speedo and tach to match.....
What to do........?

[Geeto67]

Somebody chime in with the ratio for a cb....I forget what the actual number is (it's like 2 hundred something to 43). The 1:1 ratio is a harley ratio.

Or call LRT at hondachopper.com and ask him what the part number is for the ones he supplies. I still have a few used drag specalty gauges around left over from the 70's, but I have uses for them.

[Geeto67]

2240:60  <-----I think this is the speedo ratio for a honda but don;t quote me on it, P/N 7805-6844(white face) and 7805-6845 (black face).

For a tach, why not convert to electronic, or better yet use an autometer? Autometer sells one for 4 cylinder drag bikes, I see them all the time on kz and cb drag bikes (well used to see them...drag strip is closed now). I think it might be the same one they sue on harleys since is measures coil pulse. Electronic is way more accurate than cable.

Somebody chime in with the actual ratio for a honda speedo cable (or better yeat proteal, search the previosu posts, this came up a while ago). I think if I keep guessing I'll do more harm than good.

[ProTeal55]

Geeto67---> Thanks for the info , and keep it comming....
The Speedo on PartsnMore website has the correct ratio of 2240:60

I never thought of going with a electronic tach, good idea...
Have to do some autometer research and see if I could get a matching tach and speedo.
Really want the two gauges to be of the same brand / series...

[eldar]

When you mount the gauges, make sure you use soft rubber spacers. This will absorb your shock and still hold the speedo still enough to read.

[ProTeal55]

I was planning on doing some serious rubber mounting when all was said and done.

After looking into Autometer's line of products , I am forced to look somewhere else.
Their is no way , that I am gonna spend upwards of $300 + on a Tach for a bike I paied $800 for.....
Don't get me wrong , Autometer gauges are 100% the way to go , and they are all I use in my cars , but not on the CB..

Anyone else have a place for me to look

[Geeto67]

I got a brand new autometer tach for an HD at a swap meet for $75 brand new. They are out there so look around. The autometer in my GTO didn't cost me $300, I think it was $90 something new. Me thinks you are shopping at the wrong speed shops if you are looking at $300 for a tach. If you want to go super cheap autogauge is autometers cheapie automotive line.

Drag specalties sells electronic hd tachs for dual fire and single fire (the arlen ness mini tachs are cool looking but xpensive), the problem is mounting them on a cb and getting them to work. HDs if I recall have a wasted spark and one coil pack, CBs have 2 or 4 coil packs and no wasted spark. hooking it up is all up to figuring it out. Come to think of it you could probably use the 4 cylinder car one hooked up to the stator instead of the coils (most imports have coil packs and I have seen some with autometer gauges).


BTW, it that your '55 chevy in the avitar and is it pro touring or pro street?

[eldar]

Sunpros can be pretty accurate and fairly durable. There was a small sunpro 2 or something like that for about $40 the was accurate to within 30 rpm. I think the main thing to look for is weather resistance.

[ProTeal55]

The prices I got were from Autometer's website. I just did a quick search off their pro-cycle site.
I am not physcially buying anything till spring , so I am not in any sort of rush to get the gauges replaced.
I am leaning towards the matching speedo & tach from PartsnMore , unless someone can get me part numbers for a
autometer/autogauge speedo AND tach that will work on my CB....

My 55 is more of a pro-Touring car than anything. The pic in my avitar is actually a photoshop of my car , of how it will look
once I get my wheels that I ordered. Same stance , just has the stock steel wheels on it as of now. Turbo plans are
in the works 

Expensive wheels and tires for Chevy = not allot of cash for CB 

[Bodain]

I had a similar thought with my CB550... I saw something on Ebay that looked great. I decided to imitate his fine work.




Very easy to do!

[DiscoEd]

I had a similar thought with my CB550... I saw something on Ebay that looked great. I decided to imitate his fine work.




Very easy to do!

Did you print those gauge faces up yourself? They look really great! Care to pass on the Technique?

Regards,
DiscoEd

[ProTeal55]

Those superhawk gauge faces look sweet - def. better than stock 
Though , I am looking for something smaller than the stock " basketball" sized units........

Keep the ideas comming 

[Bodain]

Did you print those gauge faces up yourself? They look really great! Care to pass on the Technique?

Yes. I printed them myself using HP Photo paper..

Disassemble gages. You must cut the small chrome band that holds it all together. Once this is done you can completly
disassemble both units. The needles can be removed by very gently prying them off. Now remove the two screws that
hold on the face plates.

Take both old faceplates and scan them. Now that you have electronic image. You will manipulate the image to get what
you want. First I convert the image to two color. Back and white, then I remove everything from the image that I don't need.
I remove everything accept the division marks. Now rotate the image such that the first division mark "ZERO" is at the bottom.
Now come back and add numbers and text. Print final product on HP photopaper and carefully cut them out..

Spray paint needles. Install new gauge faceplates, Install  needes at 180 degrees " straight down" Reassemble unit and install on bike.

Points to consider... I do not expect HP photo paper to hold up in direct sunlight. Matters little to me.
1. I can replace them in 20 minutes
2. This is not my number 1 rider. This is just my fiddle toy.

Also. I had to manufacture the round faceplates that support the paper faceplates. I used .090 Lexan.

This is the short description.  If you are interested in the speedo and tach images I've created, give me email address and I will send them. You may or may not be able to use them.They could be a starting point for your own application. There seem to be small differences in speedo/ tachs between models.

[ProTeal55]

Carpy over at WWW.CB750CAFE.COM sells the gauge inserts below.
You can order them with or without "cafe" .They are fade resistant as well.
I would do these in a heartbeat if I wanted to keep the stock style gauges.............

[Geeto67]

Those superhawk gauge faces look sweet - def. better than stock 
Though , I am looking for something smaller than the stock " basketball" sized units........

Keep the ideas comming 

some early cb550s have small gauges, about 1/2 the size of cb750 units. They might work. I just gave a set away to Rosko a while back (who hasn't posted here in a while)

[ProTeal55]

Geeto67---->

I was thinking if other model/year gauges would be an option.....
What year CB550 ran the smaller gauges , and how big were they

[Geeto67]

Geeto67---->

I was thinking if other model/year gauges would be an option.....
What year CB550 ran the smaller gauges , and how big were they

I am pretty sure they are 1 year only -  1974. Have to check though since my 74 cb550 is a chop and lost the stock gauges long ago (I have drag specalties cabe drive minis from the 1970s). They are literally 1/2 the size of the stock cb750, about half way between cb750 and mini 1" gauges. The face is probably 2 3/4 or 3" at most. I think the cb750 gauge is probably about 4" in daimeter at the face. I have to wait for ROSKO to get back from his honeymoon to get into his shop to measure them. come to think of it I might trade him something for them back. I gave them to him to see if they would work on his cb350 twin.

Edit: it may be the cb500 four, not the cb550. The years would be 1971-1973 if that was the case. The gauges came with my cb750 and I was told they were 550 gauges. I think these are them:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/honda-cb500-gauges-1972-cb-500-for-rebuild_W0QQitemZ4590803440QQcategoryZ34284QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Clyde]

CB750 Tach's have a ratio of 4:1. This is the ratio between crankshaft and cable rpm. Remember camshafts turn at half engine speed.
CB350/400/500/550 have a ratio of 20:3.
Most Speedo's of that time use the 2240 rpm = 60mph
Good Luck
Clyde

[TwoTired]

Only the 71 and 72 Cb500s have the smaller 2.75 inch dials.  The 73 500 and subsequent 550s/750s had the 3.5 inch dials.

As Clyde stated though, the 750 tach uses a different multiplier than the CB500/550.
Cheers,