Topic: Are you Refacing or Defacing your gauges?

[ElCheapo]

I just got in this set it appilques for K1 gauges from eBay. To say the least I am not happy with them. The letters are fuzzy and it looks like it was printed on someones home ink jet printer. Horizontal lines in the background color. The gauge faces are not even the perfect circle they should be, they were hand cut . Just nasty, nasty, nasty.... Barely worth a daily abuser.

For the work involved in doing a reface this faces don't seem like they are worth the 4-5 hours it might take to do the whole thing.

Right now I am working on recreating our beloved Honda gauge faces in Adobe Illustrator. This taking quite a bit to get it done, almost all parts of it must be drawn by hand. So far I have the tach lettering done, now for the redline part and getting accurate background colors. If anyone has a N.O.S. speedo or tach I would apprieciate a photo of it in normal sunlight so that I can get the color perfect.

These will have tack sharp edges on all of the labeling. Working with my local Professonal printer for a material that will be easy to use and install, pass a 100 point show inspection, and resist fading away better than the Queen of England.

I will be offering the gauge faces here to you guys first. I plan to do all of the Honda Gauge faces I can get my greedy hands on. I'll let you guys know when the first gauge face file is complete and I will post it here along with a high res scan of the other guys.

[clarkjh]

You gona do MPH/KM, I have the face out of my 74 550K.  I need to make a better scan.  Thinking of doing four scans a 90 deg. then layer them together to remove the fuzy edge.

[ElCheapo]

I have plans to do all of them MPH and KPH. Figuring the calibration lines right now. I want them dead accurate to O.E.. The only way to get rid of fuzzy lines is to work in a vector image rather that a rasterized image. Rastered = Jpeg, gif, etc. Vectored - Adobe AI.

[clarkjh]

guess I'll have to plug in at work and scan there.  Also I don't think these are 74s, I'm thinking 76 or so.  Wern't 74s green and not blue?

James

[6pkrunner]

Were these the ones from the guy in Italy, or the guy in the US?

[clarkjh]

On the bike when I bough it, the whole front end seems like its 76 or so.  Just a feeling, haven't found SINs to back it up though.

James

[Bodain]

These are pretty good looking .jpg, been there done that.

[MikeDeB]

I just got in this set it appilques for K1 gauges from eBay. To say the least I am not happy with them. The letters are fuzzy and it looks like it was printed on someones home ink jet printer. Horizontal lines in the background color. The gauge faces are not even the perfect circle they should be, they were hand cut . Just nasty, nasty, nasty.... Barely worth a daily abuser.

For the work involved in doing a reface this faces don't seem like they are worth the 4-5 hours it might take to do the whole thing.

Right now I am working on recreating our beloved Honda gauge faces in Adobe Illustrator. This taking quite a bit to get it done, almost all parts of it must be drawn by hand. So far I have the tach lettering done, now for the redline part and getting accurate background colors. If anyone has a N.O.S. speedo or tach I would apprieciate a photo of it in normal sunlight so that I can get the color perfect.

These will have tack sharp edges on all of the labeling. Working with my local Professonal printer for a material that will be easy to use and install, pass a 100 point show inspection, and resist fading away better than the Queen of England.

I will be offering the gauge faces here to you guys first. I plan to do all of the Honda Gauge faces I can get my greedy hands on. I'll let you guys know when the first gauge face file is complete and I will post it here along with a high res scan of the other guys.

After you've completed the computer work all you need to do is figure out how they'll be applied, ie., a thin acetate sheet or a stiffer, but thin, plasitc card.  I've used both and the stiffer, card type, ones with the odometer holes cut out are much easier to apply.  Once you have done all that, you'll have built the better mouse trap (and I really hope you do as high quality gauge faces are hard to come by).   

[ElCheapo]

Those gauges look pretty good.

We are considering having the file screen printed to a die cut thin piece of aluminum which will not fade. Just finished the tach file tonight. Here is a jpeg version of the files. I am still working on the back ground colors. The red looks a bit goofy here. Much better in the original file.

[Teach]

Looks great!  I might be interested in a set for my 78 once you get them going.

[Quail "Owner of the comfortable k8"]

Looks great! I might be interested in a set for my 78 once you get them going.

teach
If trees could scream would we be so cavalier about cutting them down?  We would, if they screamed all the time for no good reason            Its like the man that says I would never kill a dog.....3 nights of non-stop barking and the same man has a baseball bat and a plan.



You could sell a crap load on this forum if they are better that those ebay ones that I tossed in the trash.  You won't get rich but it would pay for your time and expence.  And it feels good to help others keep these bike on the road looking good.

Another 78, it brings a tear to my eye.

[ElCheapo]

What do you guys think of these?

[ElCheapo]

Were these the ones from the guy in Italy, or the guy in the US?

In the US in case anyone was wondering

[Raul CB750K1]

If you made them out of aluminium, what about the backlight?

Also, maybe it would be a good idea to come up with new designs. That way you can make your cafe project better looking.


Raul

[turtle]

Hey guys this is a whole new idea for me. My gauges are still in pretty good condition over all (no dents in cases etc.) but the dial faces are all cracked and crazed. A result, I guess of the Queensland sunshine. Please tell me more - what do you print onto, do you do it on your inkjet, how do you stop it fading etc etc.

[6pkrunner]

If you can make them screen printed on aluminum and they looked like the originals you shown, I need 7 sets anyway.

[ElCheapo]

If you made them out of aluminium, what about the backlight?

Also, maybe it would be a good idea to come up with new designs. That way you can make your cafe project better looking.


Raul

I was thinking the same thing on the aluminum face Raul. While they would last like a tank the would not light up all that well. Printing on a semi transparent vinyl would be good as it would stay durable and allow for back lighting. I keep coming up with different designs for the face plates. It took along time get the first ones done but now it takes about 1 1/2 hour instead of 4 to get a set done.

[ElCheapo]

If you can make them screen printed on aluminum and they looked like the originals you shown, I need 7 sets anyway.

Yea it could be done, but Raul made a good point with the backlighting. Back to more R&D. Thanks everyone for all of the input as this is helping me make a possible incredible product. 

[Dennis]

If you can make them screen printed on aluminum and they looked like the originals you shown, I need 7 sets anyway.

Yea it could be done, but Raul made a good point with the backlighting. Back to more R&D. Thanks everyone for all of the input as this is helping me make a possible incredible product.

 

Question: What material are the original faceplates?
Just curious.
I've never disassembled one of these instruments!

[ElCheapo]

I cant say that I have ever had a set open either. I plan to open a set of cb500's today and then I will know more. Plus I will have a line of cb500 faces started.

[cbjunkie]

i'm pretty sure they are actually SIDE lit, and not BACK lit. aren't there LEDs that wash the light from the edge?

[ElCheapo]

just goofing now 

[6pkrunner]

Yes they are sidelit. The stock ones are some type of hard plastic that can warp and distort. Heated in the oven slowly with a weight on them can bring back the striaghtness, but the sun fade is a killer. Is this project a go fot you?

[ElCheapo]

It will be monday here in the states before I can meet with some printers. I am looking at making all of it die cut and screen printed with UV resistent ink. I want these to be easy to install. Easy as getting the set open, remove the needle, the two screws, install new face plate. One very important thing is that I must beable to keep costs below $10 a set in volume. We will see how the real world thing works on monday. 

[6pkrunner]

$10 a set!?!?!?!?[/b] - you'll have every owner knocking at your door. That would be incredible. Even $25 a set would be super if the replacement ones you make are spot on accurate. There are a great many variances in the gauge faces over the years and if you just did the most popular for now - wow.

And most popular, aren't those the K8s, dusterdude?