r1150rt Speedo replacement

[Mickh]

Hi all, the speedo needle on my 2004 r1150rt broke.  I understand this can't be repaired and have sourced a second hand one from eBay.  I can't find anything online that documents how to perform the replacement.  A secondary issue I am having is the tacho is jumping all over the place and sometimes stops working.  There is a slight change in the motor sound when it's jumping but not indicative.  I'm wondering if it could be faulty and worth changing at the same time or is there another explanation.  Thanks Mick

[RogerC60]

If you live in or near a large city the public library might have the Clymer manual for your bike. It's M503-3. If you work on your bike a couple of times a year it might be worthwhile to get your own copy. 

 

Taking apart the instrument panel is covered in chapter 10.

 

Edit: I just checked, and the library in Akron Ohio (not exactly the biggest city in the U.S.) has a copy.

[Claudio]

Hi Mick,

 

I did a speedo swap a few years ago on my 2003 R1150RT.  Just go slow and you'll have no issues.  The swap is pretty straightforward.  I don't have experience with the tach.

 

A few considerations/tips:

- On my bike, a fair bit of fine grit/dust made getting the speedo out of its final housing a bit challenging. A shot of compressed air and some gentle tapping helped a lot to loosen it.

- I replaced all the bulbs for my tach and speedo since I was in there (none of them were burned out but since I was already in there...why not).

- I took the opportunity to clean and re-lubricate the windshield mechanisms since they are easy to get to at the same time.

 

[awagnon]

I had to replace the speedometer on my 2002 RT at about 65,000 miles when it developed the squeal of death.  It's easy to do and I went with an authority or police bike speedometer.  The cost was the same, but it seemed to be dead-on accurate.  Last night I pulled the speedo and tachometer on my 2004 RT to replace the bulbs with LED's.  Much better now in the dark.  Again, pretty simple to do.