Did some Rainy Day work on the Cobra bike

[Chrisj CMA]

So we had a little hurricane.  Wind blowing rain more or less an ugly morning starting at 0400.  So I remembered I had a project I was saving for such an occasion.  I had some LED bulbs that looked like they would fit the Valkyrie's gauges so I tore into it.

First removed the speedo, after totally removing it I remembered you don't have to unplug the power to get the bulb out but oh well more stuff got cleaned 

Put the speedo back on and then did the tach.  Perfect!

The adventure into bizzaro world started with the last nut.  The acorn nut that goes up underneath the tach.  Yep, I dropped it.  But, no problem, I dropped the washer first and it hit the floor right in front of me.  Well, the acorn nut didn't hit the floor, it didn't hit anything it just went into the abyss!  I looked everywhere, even moved the bike no luck.  Judy even helped for a while, no good, it was gone.

So I found a suitable replacement from my stockpile and finished up.

But, that thing was bugging me, where did it go?  I just knew that nut was caught in the wires behind the headlight.  Nope.  But guess how much cleaner those wires behind the headlight are now!

At the very beginning I wondered if it went inside the frame at the neck cover but dismissed that idea as being too far fetched

I'm talking about that hole at the top of the cover where the wires go in.  I even pried the top of it open and looked in with a flashlight but didn't see anything

After a couple more searches I bit the bullet and unbolted the gas tank, canted it to the left enough so I could get to the fastener for that plastic panel and remove it.  Well Ill be, guess what was hiding in the wires...yep the acorn nut from the tach. 

So mystery solved and job well done.  Now the lights are bright and things are even cleaner than before.

[The emperor has no clothes]

I hate to admit it, but I've done that more than once. There are a couple black holes on this bike I've explored. 

[msb]

Two similar experiences in recent memory. Dropped a valve stem cap when checking tires before a ride and the darn cap just disappeared. Long story short, found out 30 minutes later when I rolled the bike out of the garage  that it had fallen directly into one of the  opening  cavities in the wheel.
Second one was at Inzane this year in Billings when I had to tighten the holding bolt on a front turn signal. Taking the speaker cover cowling off the fairing to get inside, one of the screws dropped into that very small opening behind the top of the rad. 5 minutes to fix the turn signal, another 45 minutes or so to get that screw out

[Farside]

  I've noticed more than a few times that I too would like a brighter dial on both! 

[John Schmidt]

Chris, judging by the picture it looks like you have better light dispersal on the tach than on the speedo. Which LED's did you use, I need to do something similar. As for losing various parts that might fall, never to be seen again in this universe, I usually will lay a towel or similar under the area where I'm working. That has saved my bacon more than once. However there is one time in the last couple years where something dropped, bounced off the towel and hit the floor. No problem....so I thought, however I never found it until months later. I have one of those steel dishes with a magnetic bottom for holding parts while dismantling stuff. I had it sitting on the shelf at the bottom of my little red scooter stool I use in the shop. One day months later, I picked up that little dish and heard something drop from under the stool. It was the piece I had lost earlier, it had been caught up by the magnet which was sitting at the bottom of my shop stool.

[Chrisj CMA]

I used lights from superbright.com

WLED-WHP cool white polarized

About the light dispersal, you stick the bulb in the hole, you get what you get. Not much one can do about it.  However, it was pretty light in the room and with the old lights you could barely tell they were on. I'll take another shot tonight when it is dark

[Chrisj CMA]

I've noticed more than a few times that I too would like a brighter dial on both! 

We'll get you some LEDs I'll help you put them in

[Chrisj CMA]

OK its dark, the dispersion of light looks much better.  I think the reason the tach is more lit is because of the indicator lights that wouldn't be on during riding.

[John Schmidt]

Yes, that's better and I think you're probably right re. the indicator lights also being on. I'll have to take a look at those bulbs in your link. 

[Fazer]

I am expecting a few Blue 194's any day now.  Doing the mod Mark81 posted about a while back.

[DK]

Red instrument lighting is required for night vision and depth perception purposes. Cockpit flashlights are supposed to have a red or blue/green filter.

Is this a valid consideration for our purposes?

See:

[urlhttps://www.ucmo.edu/aviation/fly/documents/NightFlying-VFR.pdf][/url]

[Chrisj CMA]

Red instrument lighting is required for night vision and depth perception purposes. Cockpit flashlights are supposed to have a red or blue/green filter.

Is this a valid consideration for our purposes?

See:

[urlhttps://www.ucmo.edu/aviation/fly/documents/NightFlying-VFR.pdf][/url]

No

[henry 008]

OK its dark, the dispersion of light looks much better.  I think the reason the tach is more lit is because of the indicator lights that wouldn't be on during riding.

is this the same tach and spedo that's on my standard?

[old2soon]

Red instrument lighting is required for night vision and depth perception purposes. Cockpit flashlights are supposed to have a red or blue/green filter.

Is this a valid consideration for our purposes?

See:

[urlhttps://www.ucmo.edu/aviation/fly/documents/NightFlying-VFR.pdf][/url]

                 Long time ago the Navy Aircraft I flew in had red lighted instruments. We also were NOT Allowed white lights on the flight deck at night. As to the O P you'll just have to figure out what werx best for you. RIDE SAFE.

[Chrisj CMA]

OK its dark, the dispersion of light looks much better.  I think the reason the tach is more lit is because of the indicator lights that wouldn't be on during riding.

is this the same tach and spedo that's on my standard?

Yep, stock OEM '97 standard

[Harryc]

When I put in your part number at superbriteleds this one comes up. Is this the right one Chris? https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-wedge-base/194-led-bulb-1-smd-led-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/204/907/

[Chrisj CMA]

When I put in your part number at superbriteleds this one comes up. Is this the right one Chris? https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-wedge-base/194-led-bulb-1-smd-led-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/204/907/

Looks the same, the one I used said it was polorized.  Don't really know what the difference would be.  Should work

Did you notice in the specs these are polarity sensitive?  So test it before buttoning up the guage, if no workie, unplug and spin 180 degrees.

[Harryc]

Ok thanks