82 XJ650RJ seca gauge cluster teardown

I've seen the posts by bigfitz on the 550 gauge teardown and some info on the 750 and 650 turbo. However, I can't seem to find out to take the gauge glass off in order to gain access to the gauge faces. Any suggestions?

 

Big hammer i good tap should do lol . Actually i havn't seen fitz on tonight if you don't hear in the morning pm him

 

Unfortunately some of these bikes came with "canned" instruments.

The only way to access the guts is with some minor surgery. You need a razor saw (hobby shop) some ABS cement and a steady hand.

You have to slice the plastic can open around its middle and then glue it back together when you're done; if you scribe a few index marks around the circumference on the proposed cut line it will go back together square.

OR:

Find an old-school speedo shop in your area, and go talk to them. Confirm beforehand that they can "stomp" a new metal ring on the instrument for you, then go home and get medieval on the metal ring.

I've used both methods with success.

The third option is eBay.

 

What about swapping to seca 550 or maxim gauges?

 

I've been considering that myself, my 650s speedo leaves a lot to be desired.

The 550 Max's gauges are "chopped off" flat on the bottom; I was thinking about using a 550 Seca cluster and replacing the fuel gauge with a digital clock. Plus it gives us more speedometer options:




I haven't tested fitting yet; if you're in more of a hurry, I can get you the measurement between the mounting holes, etc., from one of my spare clusters.

 

I'm not in a rush but after taking the gauges apart they are in pretty sad shape. It'd be cool to use the 550 with a clock swapped for fuel. Let me know if you think they'd work on the 650. Thanks!

 

Do you think my 650 gauge faces would fit in a 550 housing?

 

Only sort of; they could be made to work.

The problem is this: the "canned" instruments' internal 'frame' places the input shaft stub at a different angle than "cluster" instruments.

Take a close look: The two on the left are "cluster" instruments, the one on the right is a speedo from a "can." Notice the difference in the angle of the back of the frame.




However, the 550 instruments, both speedo and tach, should be 100% compatible with the 650 Seca, since it has a mechanical tach too. The only barrier will be the meter bracket mounting hole spacing, and I haven't measured yet.