Hard to read speedo - some suggestions please

Greg123

Joined
Mar 8, 2015
Messages
8
Location
Nottingham, UK
First ride at night, wow what an awful speedo. Most of the time eg when in town and on 50/60 mph roads you are looking right down at the bottom of the dial for the numbers. My car goes up to 160mph on the speedo, has very clear big numbers and half way up it's 80. Meaning 50-100mph is right at the top section and dead easy to read. Anyhow not much I can do about that. I need to know about 30mph, 50mph and 70mph as they are town, restricted (and well policed) roadworks etc and national speed limit. The dim lighting I'm planning on fixing with Cree 501 LED bulbs in the dash. But I had an idea as it will be very bright, how about a yellow permanent marker or similar and colour in all the other speed numbers? Then you have a speedo with yellow numbers apart from a bright white 30, 50 and 70 jumping out at you. A quick glance at such a speedo would be a load easier to read.

Anyone done anything like this?
 
I usually use my GPS for speed. I can read it most of the time... except when it is dark and I'm going over the speed limit. I just can't see red letters on a blue background!
 
I'd check those bulbs too.
I have always thought I need a dimmer on the dash lights...

If you really need to bright them up you might put an LED shining down on them from under the top of the dash (above the existing lights).
 
The bulbs in my instrument panel had blue condoms over them, I removed the coverings and the instrument panel was a lot brighter.
 
Was it a big job to get the dash out and when it's out is it any easier to access the headlight bulbs? I have to sort them out too.... Getting twin 40w Led H4's and a Cree LED 502 tower side. That should brighten things up a bit.
 
SupraSabre said:
I usually use my GPS for speed. I can read it most of the time... except when it is dark and I'm going over the speed limit. I just can't see red letters on a blue background!
Click to expand...

This is my solution as well. On my garmin, you can select the mode so that the entire screen is a speedometer. Super easy to see!
 
Greg123 said:
Was it a big job to get the dash out and when it's out is it any easier to access the headlight bulbs? I have to sort them out too.... Getting twin 40w Led H4's and a Cree LED 502 tower side. That should brighten things up a bit.
Click to expand...
You don't have to take the dash out to change the bulbs. Taking the windshield off and the garnish as well as the dash cover should give you easier access to all the bulbs. In fact if you were going to do a straight h4 bulb exchange you can do that without removing any plastic.
Given what you wish to do with replacing your bulbs with LED's and (ballasts?) you may want to take the headlight out wich gets more time consuming and more plastic to take off. I seem to recall there are some threads on this forum dealing with the conversion or you can google it.
What year is your 1100?
 
Ricochet said:
This is my solution as well. On my garmin, you can select the mode so that the entire screen is a speedometer. Super easy to see!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have that mode too, but then it makes it too many moves to change the song (mp3) if I don't like it! ;)
 
kiltman said:
Taking the windshield off and the garnish as well as the dash cover should give you easier access to all the bulbs.
Click to expand...
+1...
And while at it change all illumination bulbs in the instrument cluster...
a) will the glass tubes have darkened over the years
b) do those bulbs have the tendency of cascading failure... and you won't like to get into there every couple of days chasing the next blown bulb... ;-)

With all bulbs in order the instruments are lit up excellently; I wouldn't go for any brighter light as such will only mess up the night-vision...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom