More light for the Fuel/Temp Gauges

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AApple

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Duncanville, Texas
My Bike Models
1981 GL1100 Innerstate("The Turd")SOLD!!, 1996 GL1500 Innerstate
A lot of folks have commented on how hard it is to see the fuel/temp gauges at night, due to the dimness of the light in them. I had the same issue...couldn't see the gauges at night. I found a solution that worked really well for me. I posted the info in my thread on "The Turd", but I figure it would be good to have it listed here in the "Tips/Tricks" section for easier viewing.

What I did was remove the deflector/bulb shield, and spread it out. This allows the light from the bulb to shine directly on the faces of the two gauges, instead of being shunted to the back side. Since the time change recently, it has been dark enough in the mornings for me to positively state that this mod works. I can see the two gauges with no problem at all. Plenty of light shining on them now. :yes:
I had already re-assembled my cluster before I remembered to take any pics, so I used a spare cluster to show the mod.

Fuel/Temp cluster with deflector

The deflector is held in with some type of glue. Mine came out fairly easily...it almost fell out. There are three sides of the shield folded at 90 deg angles, around the bulb.


My mod was to open the three sides up, and fold them out to almost straight. The very top part doesn't need to be fully straight. In fact, it needs to still be angled slightly toward the gauges, to force the light from the bulb onto the gauge faces. Also...it will not fit back together if the top is fully straightened out. This is what it should look like when finished bending.


Install the shield back onto the cluster, and yer done. You may want to add a dab of glue, or silicon to the base of the shield to keep it in place. I dint, but it is prolly better to glue it back in, just to be safe.


Put the cluster all back together, install it on the bike, and enjoy being able to actually SEE the gauges at night! The end result is a vast improvement over the factory set-up. The gauges can be seen clearly, but there is no glare, or light shining outward from the cluster. Even with my sunshades on, I can see the gauges. I considered adding some tin foil to the shield to make it shinier, but, just left it as it was for now....it really doesn't need it.


Hope this helps others with the same problem of not being able to see those two gauges at night, or when it's dark. :BigGrin:
 
I will be doing a gauge swap for my '82 speedo and turn signals this spring and this is one of the mods I will be doing!

By chance, did you change the lamps to LED?
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=169911#p169911:36nmvz1f said:
mcgovern61 » Wed Mar 16, 2016 11:42 am[/url]":36nmvz1f]
I will be doing a gauge swap for my '82 speedo and turn signals this spring and this is one of the mods I will be doing!

By chance, did you change the lamps to LED?

Only one bulb for the Temp/Fuel gauge, Gerry, but I did not change it at all. Still the stock type incandescent,. Same bulb as the other instrument bulbs. :good:

brianinpa":36nmvz1f said:
Will you all stop adding things to my list of things to do!!!! :smilie_happy:

Great idea Joel!

elvis.gif
....sorry man.....uhhhh...jus tryin tuh TCB man...
:smilie_happy:
 
Entirely possible...but the shape of the shield after my mod should still keep any excessive heat from getting to the plastic part of the trim around the cluster. The cluster has a glass cover, so it's not gunna melt, but it's certainly possible for the plastic around the cluster to maybe be a little warmer than normal. The bulb itself is no higher than the face of the gauges, so there is plenty of room there. The shield still covers the top/rear part of the bulb....it's just not as close to it as before....if that makes any sense. I'll try to get a pic of the set-up from the side, to make it a little more visual. :yes:
 
If you swap the bulb to a LED bulb that should reduce the heat issue ( if there is one ?)
Love the mod on the shield Joel :good:
 
LED bulbs would be nice. Do they make LEDs for this app? (#57 bulb)
 
Here's the ones I got for my 83...older bikes had the push and turn bulbs. I ended up going back to the regular bulbs for the turn/oil/neutral lights. The LED bulbs I got are a 360 degree bulb and only the two LEDs on top were visible...if you're replacing those with LED, get as narrow a beam as possible. The ones like I pictured worked great for illumination of the speedo and tach...the temp/gas gauge was an improvement but a taller bulb with another row of LEDs would have been better. Wish I had thought of opening up the reflector....if I'm ever back in there I will definitely do it!
 

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[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=169981#p169981:3ak64ewf said:
Ansimp » Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:09 pm[/url]":3ak64ewf]
If you swap the bulb to a LED bulb that should reduce the heat issue ( if there is one ?)
Love the mod on the shield Joel :good:
Sure do. An easier way to get more light on the gauges is to simply replace the bulbs with LED ones. Even choose your color. The LED bulbs are multi-directional and will shine light through the gauge.
 
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