Until now and to the best of my knowledge, to customize your gauge on a stock Harley-Davidson you had only 2 options: paint the face (I used to do this 15 years ago…) or use a cheap vinyl sticker (yuck!). A company in California offers you a new more noble option, stainless steel Gauge Face Kits but only for 2000 and up Harleys. They offer a variety of etched designs and colors and can even produce small one-off series for custom club logos, etc. Dealers can see them for the 1st time at the V-Twin Expo this Feb. 7th-9th at booth 322. Retail clients go to Harley Gauges (website needs some fixes).
Looks steampunk! I’m all for it. But one thing I still haven’t figured out is how to get the guage apart without ruining the bezel….
The company’s site says “Until now, there has only been cheap vinyl sticker gauge faces for your Harley Davidson motorcycles.” This isn’t the case. Since the early 1950s, people have been designing and silkscreening new faces for gauges. It’s a common procedure for automotive gauge restoration shops. An early example of modified gauges with new, silkscreened faces can be found in the 1954 Bell Auto Parts catalog, showing the 180-mph speedometer and 8,000-rpm tach that Maring & Company built from two 1939 Ford speedometers. You can see a picture of them here:
http://www.roadsters.com/maring_180_8k.jpg
Removing the bezel from a Stewart Warner gauge involves one of two techniques. If the lip is wrapped around the case, it can be gradually pried free with a flat screwdriver and a shim between it and the case. But if you look at the side of the gauge and you can see the edge of the bezel and the edge of the case, the gauge was pressed together, and they’re tough to get apart. (This is why restoration shops may say that the cost of the job depends on how long it takes to get the gauge apart.) Tools to do this have to be made, and resemble a concave support below a hinging concave knife.
I have seen these in person… they are cool. But man… EXPENSIVE… Todd’s Cycle has them on his site http://toddscycle.com/parts/nu/nu.html
Best news since the pop top beer can
hot bike baggers just used these. article in next issue.
cool stuff- looks good too. stands out from the crowd.
There’s a couple of companys doing cool gauge faces check out http://www.hdgauges.com and http://www.eyezongauges.com. Eyezon does total custom gauges.
I have dealt with the http://www.hdgauges.com people Frank mentioned very easy to work with. All you have to do is remove your gauges and ship to them they do the install for you. They even changed my lights to leds and included a new needle to match the gauge face.