Clear lens for tach?

[neilson]

The clear lens that covers the tach is a little cloudy on my bike, I've looked but have been unsuccessful in locating this part.  It doesnt seem like it would be much to replace but I cant seem to find it.  Not a huge deal, just something that will bug me every time I look at it.  Does anyone know how to polish this lens or find a replacement?

[annguyen1981]

I'm not sure about polishing it, but if you are looking for a replacement, the gauges are sealed.  You cannot find the cover at ANY dealer.  You need to buy the whole assemby.

[neilson]

OUCH

[manofthefield]

There are plastic polishing products out there that you can try:

This was just one brand i found on a quick search

[airbrush]

arent all the guages supplied with glass lenses?...i know mine is. Maybe it just needs to be cleaned? dirty on the inside??...you can take them apart, but they are a Buddha Loves You.

[neilson]

So it might not be worth the time?  Well maybe some rainy Saturday when I'm bored....

[Alphamazing]

To take them apart you need to pry up the metal crimp on the backing of the tach housing. You can trust me on this, because I've had to do it when mine busted apart. After that you can pull the front glass away and clean it to your heart's desire. Getting it back in will be the tough part. First you'll have to bend the crimp up enough so that you can put it  back over the PVC-type (It is NOT PVC) white plastic ring. Then you'll have to bend the crimp back down over the lip of the white plastic tach housing. I used a hammer and a 1/4" socket wrench type screwdriver thing. It's basically a 1/4" socket stud on the end of a screw driver. I used the flat edge and tapped around the crimp until I got it flat enough. BE CAREFUL if you do this, because you run the risk of breaking that white plastic housing. If you do that, you'll need to use JBWeld to stick it back together, and then you'll have to be even MORE careful about pressing the guage crimp back in.

Also, another method is to get a pair of pliers and carefully squeeze the crimp back into place. This one can be a bit more difficult and requires some finesse.

Or you can do what starwalt did and file off that guage crimp and just seal it and glue it down with RTV, I think.

[neilson]

Sounds like a lot of effort for a little problem.  I'll get to it sometime I guess and just take care of the general maintenance for now.

[starwalt]

The cover is glass.

The "clocks" are not hermetically sealed and they will pull ambient air into the housings with heating and cooling cycles.

Other than replacement, you will have to gain access to the inside face of the glass. AlphaFire's method works. My method works. The GS Resource method works. Each has its' pros and cons.

Heck, you may come up with another way to solve the problem we never thought of!

[robinm1]

The neatest way to get into the intrument internals sounds a bit brutal, but gives the neatest results when finished, that is to carefully hacksaw around the intrument case, about a inch or so below the stainless steel trim, lift off the top, complete with glass intact, clean the glass to your hearts desire, put the top back on and either glue a thin strip of plastic around the cut, or a strip of duct tape, slip the instrument back into the plastic cover and done, the only one who would know you have had the intrument open would be you, no tell tale marks on the stainless steel trim or anything. Dead easy

[JamesG]

You could try removing the tach from the instrument panel. Drill a small hole in the side of the body right behind the bezel at the "six o'clock position. Use a can of compresssed air electronics cleaner with the plastic straw. Hold the can upside down so you get the "fluid" to come out. Spray that around at the inside of the glass. Hope it removes the haze and evaporates.

Other wise its:
TACHOMETER 492853-001  $194.72

[neilson]

Thanks for all the help guys, I'll be taking it apart this weekend.  Just need to figure out which method to use now.

[Cal Amari]

In all fairness, I guess you should see this page:

http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_inside_gauges.htm

starwalt wasn't crazy about the method used on that page; this is what he wrote about it:

"... I saw that method and don't really care for it. It is easier to get a splash resistant seal around the edge of the clock than try to reglue/tape the entire housing.

Regardless, getting into them is invasive and requires the moxy to just do it. If the clock is totally barfed up internally, I guess it really doesn't matter how you get in there..."

Just thought you should see another approach... and of course, YMMV...

[starwalt]

The real killer aftermarket product for the GS would be a good alternative to the clock/gauge panel as we know it. With a census of more than 15k GS (a guess - half of new population since 89) in the USA, I think if someone developed an easy to install, reasonably priced kit, they could sell 5k to 8k easily.

Reasons for this aftermarket product

1) High mortality rate of this section due to crashes of even minor levels
2) Sun fade of the meter faces
3) Moisture intrusion/material deposition (this thread)
4) Reliability increase due to elimination of the interconnecting mechanical cables
5) Completion of the updated look vs the classic look - merely esthetic, but cool

This could be accomplished with sending transducers for the tach and speedo, but the only legal issue would be mileage recording.

<sigh> Another good idea yet to be developed. 

[neilson]

Thats a good idea.  I had no idea it would turn out to be such a pain in the ass to get into and I really would like to make it look like it had never been messed with.  Kind of seems like the ol catch 22....sigh