Steamy rev counter

Hi, interesting thread,
I restore the ND gauges for Laverda’s and other models, the early style gauges , ones where the right angle is held on with 3 screws and has a chrome or silver rim on the button of the pointer/needle, do fog up, I have seen this with old and new seals and globe holders, i drill a 3mm hole down the bottom between the warning lights on the back case, this seems to make things better. The later model ND gauges have a hole in the back all ready.
All ND gauges have a damping pod(oil pot) for where silicon oil is placed to stop the needle/pointer bouncing. This is only accessible if the gauge is completely strip down. Hope every has a safe &merry time.
I will crawl back under my rock (-:
Regards
Jasonb
Manly auto instruments
 
I've noticed my speedo (or tacho - can't remember which) fog up on occasions during cool weather. It was always a mystery why it only happened while the bike was in motion.

Hey Jason, my speedo needle oscillates like a bastard (about +/- 20kph) at around 100kph but it's pretty steady at other speeds. Is that symptomatic of a loss of damping oil? If I send it to you for a re-furb, what's to stop the oil tipping out during transit when you send it back. Do you post them in a Gömböc shaped box? I doubt the posties would take any notice of a "this way up" sticker.
Is it something I can top up myself if I can get the case open?

en.wikipedia.org

Gömböc - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Jo
Dellortoman said:
I've noticed my speedo (or tacho - can't remember which) fog up on occasions during cool weather. It was always a mystery why it only happened while the bike was in motion.

Hey Jason, my speedo needle oscillates like a bastard (about +/- 20kph) at around 100kph but it's pretty steady at other speeds. Is that symptomatic of a loss of damping oil? If I send it to you for a re-furb, what's to stop the oil tipping out during transit when you send it back. Do you post them in a Gömböc shaped box? I doubt the posties would take any notice of a "this way up" sticker.
Is it something I can top up myself if I can get the case open?

en.wikipedia.org

Gömböc - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
Click to expand...
We'll see what the pro says. I've seen those symptoms with a cable requiring lube.

Paul
 
Hi as Paul has said, always start with the cable. I use grease not oil, (a light grease) something light Slickoleume lite grease, just a dollop in your palm and run the inner through as you insert into the outer cable. The damping fluid is silicon damping fluid it is reasonable heavy fluid, yes they leak especially if you gauge are baking in the sun or stored upside down.
 
JasonB said:
Hi, interesting thread,
I restore the ND gauges for Laverda’s and other models, the early style gauges , ones where the right angle is held on with 3 screws and has a chrome or silver rim on the button of the pointer/needle, do fog up, I have seen this with old and new seals and globe holders, i drill a 3mm hole down the bottom between the warning lights on the back case, this seems to make things better. The later model ND gauges have a hole in the back all ready.
All ND gauges have a damping pod(oil pot) for where silicon oil is placed to stop the needle/pointer bouncing. This is only accessible if the gauge is completely strip down. Hope every has a safe &merry time.
I will crawl back under my rock (-:
Regards
Jasonb
Manly auto instruments
Click to expand...
Jason, thank you for pointing out my erroneous comment that "there is no oil damper in these gauges" your reputation here in Aus is highly regarded. When I pulled apart my 4 gauges to replace the faces and seals etc, there was no sign of fluid escape in any of them. They had been upside down and all over the place during this process and had not leaked anything out. So I incorrectly deduced that there was never any oil damping in them, in the 40+ years I have had 2 of them working fine. the other 2 were sat in a box for 37 years, and put in use for the last 3 years. So thanks to you I did some more internet research and found out where the damper pot is hiding inside these units, and how they work. Fortunately, all 4 gauges are still working as expected with or without oil in the damper pot, I don't know. Once again thanks for sharing your knowledge here. (y)
 
Last edited:
One instrument, I think speedo has fogged from memory once recently and before that, I think maybe a couple of times decades ago and that's so hazy a memory I cannot be sure. That recent time was just as I left home on the latest EXTREMELY wet Snowy Ride and the fogging disappeared approx 3/4 of an hour later. That must have been extreme humidity
 
Bloody hell, I’m happy if I make it home, gauges are there for aesthetics and to provide a general guide, they are in no way accurate, eyes forward chaps, not down…
 
That's why I love using my phone on the dash as a GPS, very accurate speed shown plus Speed Camera alerts. That's when I can see the bloody thing in bright sunlight. I don't actually look at it much but I do get a kick out of the difference between it and the indicated speedo speed especially when speeds get up there. I defiantly don't look for long then.
 
Dellortoman said:
Hey Jason, my speedo needle oscillates like a bastard (about +/- 20kph) at around 100kph but it's pretty steady at other speeds. Is that symptomatic of a loss of damping oil? If I send it to you for a re-furb, what's to stop the oil tipping out during transit when you send it back. Do you post them in a Gömböc shaped box? I doubt the posties would take any notice of a "this way up" sticker.
Click to expand...
I think the symptoms vary greatly - my revcounter would wildly oscillate on start-up and settle down after a while. This went away with a refurb by Max Mahlmeister. He also blames prolonged upside-down storage for the loss of oil. But lube the cable first and if that doesn't do it I would suspect a do-over is in order.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top