Topic: Working on some different Gauge Faces, need some opinions (Pics Inside)

[JAG]

Well I have been wanting to update my lighting in my gauges for quite some time per this thread:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=67321.0 (Thank you Industrial Cafe)

and I have found out that I have to sand down the original decals in order to put new ones on, so the light will be able to come through better.

I have had these on there since the beginning of my build that I purchased from Carpy:


So since they are being sanded down, I thought about trying out my hand at my own, and I can't quite figure out how I want to do it.

My bike looks like this:








Its your typical looking cafe bike complete with racing stripes.. However I did some distressed (silver leaf) style in my knee inserts and sides of my seat, so I thought I would start with that and incorporate it into the gauges maybe..

It didn't turn out so well.. It looks to me like it is the moon or something.




At any rate, I played with different backgrounds and different colors and this is all that I came up with..
NOTE: None of these are the final product. They all need the "rpmx1000" like you'll see in the last pic.




I really like the last one, but I feel like it's lacking something.. It seems too plain.

Just thought I'd throw this out there.. Maybe someone would have an idea to spice things up.. If not I know how everyone likes pictures!

[tweakin]

I really like the last one and don't think it is too plain.  Sometimes less is more.

By the way, nice looking bike.

[gecko672]

Cool stuff

personally I think you could play with size and even the font of the numbers in the last one. The numbers strike me as secondary to the increment markings in most of the designs.  Just to compare carpys, the numbers are dominant and the increments are secondary. the bottom one works better because the numbers are contrasted and stand out from the increment stripes but only just.
The third one with the pinup could work as well if you faded her into the back ground a bit didnt make her the feature. The numbers and increments work but she is brighter and competes with them. What part of the design do you want the eye to go to stand out first.

Just my 2 cents.
Cheers

[NewOldSchool]

Definitely like the last style with the Black/Grey/Red, but I would personally lose the Cafe' lettering in any of the designs. Its like when people have a Lexus and get custom plates saying "MYLEXUS." Unnecessary, but do what you like they look great!

[JAG]

Cool stuff

personally I think you could play with size and even the font of the numbers in the last one. The numbers strike me as secondary to the increment markings in most of the designs.  Just to compare carpys, the numbers are dominant and the increments are secondary. the bottom one works better because the numbers are contrasted and stand out from the increment stripes but only just.
The third one with the pinup could work as well if you faded her into the back ground a bit didnt make her the feature. The numbers and increments work but she is brighter and competes with them. What part of the design do you want the eye to go to stand out first.

Just my 2 cents.
Cheers

I really just think I want the gauges to be asthetically pleasing, but focusing more on the job of the gauges. Yes I would like them to tie in with the rest of the build but I want them to be more functional. The purpose of changing them was to upgrade the lighting to LEDs. So I really want to be able to have those "tick" marks and numbers to pop out at night time, however I want them to be easily read at a glance while driving down the road. I am trying to figure out if there is a way for the "tick" marks and numbering to be almost transparent, (for night time visibility with light shining through) but easily read during the day time..
   Transparent yet visible??? Hmmm..  Is that even possible? I guess I could reduce the opacity of the tick marks and numbers but maybe keep a bold outline around each one of the.

I'll have to work that out..

Definitely like the last style with the Black/Grey/Red, but I would personally lose the Cafe' lettering in any of the designs. Its like when people have a Lexus and get custom plates saying "MYLEXUS." Unnecessary, but do what you like they look great!

Hahahaha I agree, it does seem a bit overkill.

[domer]

just my #$%*ty opinion... but ive been working on these god damn faces for weeks now (who knew honda had so many different faces???) but the font looks kind of bland (maybe something more like the "750" font used on your side covers?) and the angle of some of the small tick marks looks off... that could be me though. the carpy one really looks like #$%* imo. numbers arent placed right, small ticks are all kinds of screwed up...

[JAG]

just my #$%*ty opinion... but ive been working on these god damn faces for weeks now (who knew honda had so many different faces???) but the font looks kind of bland (maybe something more like the "750" font used on your side covers?) and the angle of some of the small tick marks looks off... that could be me though. the carpy one really looks like #$%* imo. numbers arent placed right, small ticks are all kinds of screwed up...

I'm really at a loss myself bud. But hang in there you'll get something working right. I'm tooling with them now. I never really liked the carpy ones, I just thought they looked better than the OEM green.

I think the bigger they are the better you can see them at a glance, but I agree the numbers could be "juiced" up a bit..

[JAG]

Just tinkering around I made the "tick" marks smaller. Does that look worse, since it doesn't curve all the way around now?

 I removed the smaller incremental tick marks (I can't get them to line up accurately).

Change the size and fonts of the numbers..

Vivaldi

Papyrus


They just seem soooo boring without anything else on them. The pin up girl is cool if I did fade her into the background a bit more. I know it probably won't go with the rest of the theme on the bike. The "Misses" said absolutely not.. She says it looks like someone would pick that out if they "cursed every 5 seconds, drank beer and smoked cigarettes"... Ummm.. That would be ME in a nutshell. But no bueno.

I know that probably didn't change much in overall look of the gauge, I'll keep tinkering. I am also going to try out more background ideas..

[tango911]

by making it not curve around all the way, your tach will be off will it not.

[ev0lve]

I'm looking at this and thinking it would be cool to sweep the dial with light from underneath. Maybe a pie shaped piece of foil underneath that would let light through as it swung around? Would have to not weigh more than the indicator I suppose.

Anyways, cool looking dial and I like it clean like that.

[NPHLYT]

So explain to me why the tach has to have the x1000 RPM? You know what the multiplier is, and so does everyone else who has a MC license......

As for the "CAFE" I agree that it is stating the oblivious.

The pin-up girl would be fantastic, especially if she were faded into the background. My wife would not have a problem with it at all, besides, the chance of her getting onto my bike is slim to none. She does not like the two wheelers.....

As far as the lettering goes, look up the font that is used on the gauges of a Mazda Miata (about 1996), I like the way the 2 looks, but the others are pretty cool as well.

[domer]

i think its throwing me off cause the way your ticks are laid out is opposite of mine... looks good though. what program are you using?

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=79629.75 the latest ones i did are at the bottom of page 4

[JAG]

Here are some more. Stole the idea from an MV Agusta.



Black Stripe/Red Stripes

White/Red Stripes. I didn't cut off the ends to make them go with the circle of the gauge, but you get the idea.

i think its throwing me off cause the way your ticks are laid out is opposite of mine... looks good though. what program are you using?

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=79629.75 the latest ones i did are at the bottom of page 4

I'll check the link out.. I'm just using Photoshop and Illustrator.

So explain to me why the tach has to have the x1000 RPM? You know what the multiplier is, and so does everyone else who has a MC license......

As for the "CAFE" I agree that it is stating the oblivious.

The pin-up girl would be fantastic, especially if she were faded into the background. My wife would not have a problem with it at all, besides, the chance of her getting onto my bike is slim to none. She does not like the two wheelers.....

As far as the lettering goes, look up the font that is used on the gauges of a Mazda Miata (about 1996), I like the way the 2 looks, but the others are pretty cool as well.

The RPM multiplier is just something to add on there, I thought it looked cool.

The Cafe is gone!!

That's a good idea, I will check out the Miata fonts.

I'm looking at this and thinking it would be cool to sweep the dial with light from underneath. Maybe a pie shaped piece of foil underneath that would let light through as it swung around? Would have to not weigh more than the indicator I suppose.

Anyways, cool looking dial and I like it clean like that.

That would be neat. Most cars have the light under the dial indicator now anyways.. Interesting.. I wonder how that could make work??

[JAG]

As far as the lettering goes, look up the font that is used on the gauges of a Mazda Miata (about 1996), I like the way the 2 looks, but the others are pretty cool as well.

you talking about this???

[JAG]

Here is the same stripe on the white gauge










Without rpmx1000..

[domer]

the stripe is cool, but i think it would conflict with your check.... maybe run the check through the gauges?

[JAG]

the stripe is cool, but i think it would conflict with your check.... maybe run the check through the gauges?

I'm not sure I follow what you mean, I'm sorry..

What are you referring to when you say "Check", and how would I run it "through" the gauges?

[domer]

sorry, the checkered stripe... maybe have it continue from the tank "through" the gauges. kind of hard to describe what im thinking...

[JAG]

sorry, the checkered stripe... maybe have it continue from the tank "through" the gauges. kind of hard to describe what im thinking...

Okay. Let me see if I got ya. You may be on to something here.. The paint job has painted on checker boards flanked on either side with a red pinstripe.

In the gauges are you suggesting, creating the same thing? Do a checkerboard in the center, flanked by two red stripes, to therefore match what is on the seat and tank???

[domer]

that is one option or you could have it split between the 2 gauges so it kind of looks like one stripe going down the bike

[JAG]

that is one option or you could have it split between the 2 gauges so it kind of looks like one stripe going down the bike

Interesting approach.... I'll try it out!

Thanks.

[NPHLYT]

The Miata gauges you put the picture up for are aftermarket and the font is completely different. A quick search turned up nothing as far as original goes. Sunday I will try to take a picture of mine so you can see the font.

How about McCafe?

I keeeed!

[JAG]

Well not to rehash on an old thread but I am still working on the gauges.

Where I work at I have access to a CNC machine, and I have been thinking even with new LED lights and a new gauge face, It will still seem dark with our factory gauge plates since they have that blue/green tint to them.

So I decided to mess with the same size plastic but this time transparent.

I mic'ed all the original tick marks, holes, and diameter, and came up with an exact replica (well almost) of what we have.

I still have to work out the speed and drill bit size on the CNC with using a plastic medium but this is what I came up with so far.

I thought about using a transperant decal and color what ever design someone would want except the numbers and tic marks so that the light shines through better, OR one can use any color plastic and once engraved the numbers and tic marks would be clear, but the plastic would be whatever color you would want. I am going to try this same design with black plastic with the transparent numbers and tics.

Also toying with the idea of just coloring in the tic marks, numbers, and what ever insignia you may have..

I could keep going on and on but the sky is the limit. I think most people would just want a plain reproduction of their gauge plate and slap on any decal you would want..

As you can already probably tell I am thinking about offering these for sale at a reasonable price once all the kinks are worked out..

Again this is all just quickly done to see how easy it would be to do, and the finished product would be much more polished.

What do you yall think??

JAG

[brandEn]

I like it a lot. I would be in for a set once your ready to sell. Count me in! I would like to see those clear ones mounted. Might be cool looking.

[NPHLYT]

I concur with the above statement. I like that a lot as well. I may even want to see the rat's nest below..... I am twisted like that.