swapping an 120mph speedo for a 85mph speedo on my

[wilcom]

I was always bothered by my 85mph(Gov Mandate in specific years)speedo. The traffic in Southern Ca is moving at 75mph at all but peak congestion hours, if I want to live and not be run over I was running 75-85 too.

The problem was that I couldn't , at a glance, tell how fast I was going. The pointer was always in the last 5% of the meter and it all looked the same.

I purchased a 1979 R65 speedo (120mph) off eBay for less than $25 delivered and it easily fit in the same place as the stock speedo. Now what a difference, I can actually see how fast im traveling because the pointer is now in the mid range of it's travel.

The drawback is, if I wanted to reset the trip meter. The 1979 meter (non-LS) has the reset button on the back of the meter and the stock LS has it on the front where it is accessible. Now if I needed to reset the trip meter it  would take 5 minutes to get to the reset button hidden by the LS fairing. This drawback is minor(to me) and is far out weighed by the convenience of knowing the correct speed.

The swap was easy, slip the gauge surround off and the meter is hanging there with two nuts, zip zip and your done.

[Bob_Roller]

Went out and looked at the low range speedometer on my '81 R65 and one of the LS's higher range indicators, didn't realize that both had the same W number 1318 .

I just may swap out the low range for the higher range on the '81 R65 .

Always wondered how fast the '81 would top out at .

[mrclubike]

I think it would be a better idea to go to the next taller rear end gear (37/11) and then get the taller speedometer to match it

The taller final drive is very nice to have  even with the stock 650 cylinders   

[wilcom]

I think it would be a better idea to go to the next taller rear end gear (37/11) and then get the taller speedometer to match it
 

I may do that eventually, I have the tall rear drive on the shelf. Right now I just wanted to know how fast I was actually going and for $25 and 20 minutes to change it I didn't think I could go wrong.

I will have to sort the bike before I change to a tall rear drive. My bike runs well and zips thru the gears, but in top cog at above 70mph I'm down on power, enough to make me think it might not pull that tall rear. Above 70 mph the 79 R65 that I had would spank this 84 all day long.  I do have a 82 LS that I just got running and haven't ridden other than to the store and back. I will have to get it on the road and see how it's power compares.

[wilcom]

By the way "Mrclubike" , you being our resident LED Guru, I changed the bulb on the speedo to LED when I swapped it out and it didn't get any brighter. It changed colors from an orange glow to a nice white glow, but the intensity was the same...... did I go wrong somewhere?

[Bob_Roller]

What LED bulb did you install ??

I put LED's in the speedometer and tachometer of my silver '82 LS and a great improvement in visibility to these old tired eyes !!!

[jp9094]

Here is a photo of my gauges. Speedo with LED and Tacho with incandescent. There is a notable difference.

FWIW

[Bob_Roller]

Here's a thread I started about 5 months ago about LED's in the speedometer and tachometer .

The business I purchased the bulbs from no longer sells them .

http://www.bmwr65.org/YaBB2.612/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1561247929

[Ed Miller]

Always wondered how fast the '81 would top out at .

Mine will do 105 which is right at redline based on the tach.  So it would do it all day if I had anywhere I could do that.

[mrclubike]

The only bulbs i didn't change out was the instrument bulbs
Sorry cant help there  :-/

[wilcom]

The business I purchased the bulbs from no longer sells them .

I checked the thread and no mention of the type of bulb in case I got the wrong one. I think I just ordered a LED replacement for a 194 bulb.... will have to look. I'm dealing with a fire I had in a off site storage..... Lost all the boy stuff, tools golf clubs model airplanes and the list is going on and on. Will get back to the R65 in a few days to see why my lights work but not brighter.    The third pic is what is left of a nice Hannigan fairing and a early vintage Pichler fairing, so sad.

[dogshome]

Something wrong if power goes down over 70. She's buzzing by then and notices hills, but should be happy to accelerate. Leaky carbs perhaps.

[Bob_Roller]

Sorry to hear about the fire, was it caused by an electrical fault ??

The LED's I used in the indicators were SAE 194 replacements .

If I can get a picture to load I'll post it .

[wilcom]

These are the ones I used, 15 for 12 bucks offf Amazon or something like that, wasn't expensive. 

[Bob_Roller]

Look  similar to the ones I have .

Also, if you decide to put them in the tachometer, you need to trim metal leads, or move them to one side of the bulb base, not let them go over the end to the other side like they are now . .