I really feel that the gauges on my 09 GS500F look very outdated.  They look out of place on a full-fairing bike.    I was wondering if anyone has done anything to remedy this.  I was thinking about paying to have an aluminum gauge panel built that looked more modern.  Has anyone fitted a gauge cluster from a different bike onto their GS500?  I'm going to be adding clip-ons soon and I would like to ditch the top plate cover.  Has anyone done this with a custom gauge set-up before? pics?

one thing you can do is change the bulbs out with led's, blue, green, red, whatever you want. lots of people here have done it and it looks awesome.

That's cool and everything......but.....I want to completely re-style the gauge panel somehow.

do a search for the following:

Veypor
Koso USA
Mgadget (Changed-Moto Gadget)

They are very cool but really pricey.

There is a guy on the board that made custom inserts for his GS.. His screen name is airbrush

I have the photoshop template for them somewhere. If thats what you want to try I can email it to you... Its a PITA to get the gauges apart cleanly.. you basicly have to cut them in half.

 

here is a pic..

Oh yea aluminum panel ... yes wont look modern, will look redneck.
Modern redneck ... just make it from diamond plate ... yea ... nothing classes up something like diamond plate. Good stuff, Buddha's undies are made of diamond plate. Yea ...
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: The Buddha on June 23, 2009, 10:32:08 AM
Buddha's undies are made of diamond plate. Yea ...

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41SXA6ZJKEL._SL500_SS90_.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.amazon.com/American-Chopper-Fire-boxer-shorts/dp/B000691OGO&usg=__IuTdeNoZmvsFIOYkIyw-r7mxTa8=&h=90&w=90&sz=3&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=uvsAzNPBSBEg5M:&tbnh=78&tbnw=78&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddiamond%2Bplate%2Bundies%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Like that but more thong-ette like ... and real diamond plate instead of that cheesy printed crap.
Cool.
Buddha.

I cooked these up, but haven't done anything with them as yet. Probably not radical enough for you anyway, just some thoughts on doing it different/better than the stock layout, IMHO of what's different/better. Intended to go with a "mono-bucket" cover rather than the stock twin-bucket, and said cover might extend all the way down around the headlight, and might sprout a windshield off the top. But it's all in my head and not getting actively worked on at present.

Broadly conceptualized, with various mis-matched layouts/options to explore the idea:

Modded to suit what wlaidzu was going to put on it, and not:

It can be drawn a 100 different ways. The thing that will make it look like crap or nice is the fact that  the edges etc ... if they are cut with a jig saw and left open, that will look redneck. The stock ones have rolled down edges. The guage back sides need grommets and have to be securely bolted in. Dunno how you were planning to do that.

And having said that, I saw a guy who had a maxim 700 with guage cups he machined out of billet. He said he made the carrier out of hand bent flat bar and the entire thing looked insanely cool. It actually ironically looked stock, he had sanded and polished the cups and it ended up looking just like the stock chrome colored plastic. He said he would leave it machined looking next time but he said it took him longer to make the bracket than the guage cups.

Anyway ... maxim/virago series has a wholly different guage mechanism than a GS. Google image it.
Cool.
Buddha.

I definitely wasn't going for a cheesedick redneck look.  I most certainly would be paying a fabricator to make it once I made a template.  Obviously, I would roll the edges for looks. 

Or use a thick plate, with the guage surrounds thinned enough to let them mount (needs to be thin enough for grommet), and a nice milled edge - radiused if you like. For a shop with a CNC mill, nuffink to it, and engraved lettering should be a freebie or tiny cost increment.

I was actually thinking to have the "pod" completely cover the edge of the plate - but in that case a thick plate would be nice to put screws into.

it was already mentioned but i like the look of the vapor gauge and you can also buy their cluster surround for a finished look.

the guy i talked to at trail tech recommended gauge kit #75-704 for my 06 gsf (heck the gs period)

for kit #75-704     $129.95

for dash 022-PDA    $49.95

sooo..... for $179.90 plus shipping you could have the complete set up and no fabrication

sounds pretty cheap and easy to me considering the options


here's the link            http://trailtech.net/vapor.html

hope this helps

Quote from: scottpA_GS on June 23, 2009, 09:43:01 AM

There is a guy on the board that made custom inserts for his GS.. His screen name is airbrush

I have the photoshop template for them somewhere. If thats what you want to try I can email it to you... Its a PITA to get the gauges apart cleanly.. you basicly have to cut them in half.

 

Actually it takes only a little while with a screwdriver to unbend the lip around the back of the gauge housings enough to get the glass bezels off.... then when you are done doing what you are doing ...just bend them back ( flat screwdriver..small hammer...take your time and it turns out nice..).

The how to is  in my old White Face gauges Post...

Check out some of their stuff, its all pretty much universal.

http://www.kosonorthamerica.com/

Wow.  That Koso place is amazing! EXACTLY what I was looking for!  Thanks.  I will have to do a writeup on this once I get the money together!

I wonder what it would take to fit gauges under my windscreen instead of on the bars.....That would look MUCH neater.  Analog clusters for 500EX's are going for fairly cheap on eBay.  Anybody have any thoughts/opinions on making one of these work on my F?

Quote from: Bridger on June 24, 2009, 12:28:21 AM
Wow.  That Koso place is amazing! EXACTLY what I was looking for!  Thanks.  I will have to do a writeup on this once I get the money together!

i e-mailed koso abt the GP STYLE SPEEDOMETER RX-2 unit and asked if the fuel gauge could be turned off or something else displayed there

the reply i got was that you could have a temp gauge display instead, i would guess you could set it up for air temp or maybe oil temp somehow since were not water cooled either

I heard someone say something about mounting a bicycle computer on a bike once. Obviously it would be cheap, and have a couple second lag as far as your actual speed, but would something like that actually pass an inspection? Not much use on a 500F, but I think it could really clean up the front of a naked bike, and would be rediculously cheap if you were just trying to get something working, although you wouldn't be able to see it at night.

I also have one of those old e-trek GPS units which would be great, but every time you started the bike you'd have to wait 10 minutes for it to link up to 3 satellites, and it would keep going out when it got cloudy.