Changing speedometer & tachometer back light bulbs

I have an '83 750 K LTD twin and both my meter back light bulbs seem to be burned out or the harness is not still connected. Both back lights have not worked since I got the bike. I looked at one manual here from the 78/79/81 Twin manual:




Trepidatious as all the rest of my electronics work, and I can see the meters dimly in the night because of the light given off by my orange turn signal lights. Don't want to run the risk of jarring some other wire loose. The rectangular key ignition pod (see photo) is separated from the meter pods so theres no risk of jarring any of those wires loose as far as I can tell.

It would be really cool if I could have the meters lit-up at night.



I'm assuming the meter bolts are fixed to the horizontal mounting bar so that they'll stay in place for re-installation of the meter backing plates?PLUS, if the headlight has to be loosened/moved aside (as it looks like it was in the pic) tp gain access, there is possibility to jiggle wires loose there as that is where the loom terminates.

A lot of possible problems associated w/ changing a couple of small bulbs. Maybe this is why previous owner left it that way?
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No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationThe bulbs you buy now days don't last. You have to take off the covers then unbolt the nuts with a 8mm socket to get at the bulbs. There might be a cut out on yours but not on mine. I bought LED's for mine. I got tired of only one light or none at all. The new gauges I bought and the bulbs burned out in a couple weeks. I'll switch bulbs from my old ones and have brighter and long lasting light.
Steve

Remove the acorn nuts & meter covers, then remove the meters. To disconnect the meter elec pigtails you'll have to remove the headlight ring/lens assy to gain access to the connectors. The bulb sockets are press-fit in place & they can be a bear to remove --- silicone spray helps. I installed Eiko heavy duty bulbs from the auto parts store, but some guys get Leds.

Note: I use Liquid Wrench silicone spray lubricant. The CRC product has acetone which isn't good for rubber.

They should come out without disconnecting wires. If they are hard like mine were, it took two small screw drivers to gently pry them out.
Steve

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationHere's the ones I bought.
Steve

750Kruzer wrote: I have an '83 750 K LTD twin and both my meter back light bulbs seem to be burned out or the harness is not still connected. Both back lights have not worked since I got the bike. I looked at one manual here from the 78/79/81 Twin manual:

Trepidatious as all the rest of my electronics work, and I can see the meters dimly in the night because of the light given off by my orange turn signal lights. Don't want to run the risk of jarring some other wire loose. The rectangular key ignition pod (see photo) is separated from the meter pods so theres no risk of jarring any of those wires loose as far as I can tell.

It would be really cool if I could have the meters lit-up at night.


I'm assuming the meter bolts are fixed to the horizontal mounting bar so that they'll stay in place for re-installation of the meter backing plates?.

The manual pictures you posted are from the KZ-750 twin B model.... I recognize the meters as they are mine. The small screws that hold the meter backs on go into the threaded bracket..... and re really easy to shear off if there is rust.

I'm not sure how the lights go into your meters, I haven't worked on that type.

BTW, they are such a royal pain in the ass to change (including removing my fairing) I bought some very high quality LEDs to replace them so they will last my lifetime. Not confident in Chinese junk off ebay.....

I think I used these:

www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/ba9s-ba...trofit-car/958/2359/

They should come out without disconnecting wires. If they are hard like mine were, it took two small screw drivers to gently pry them out.

The 750K meters should be the same as my 650-CSR. If the rubber was nice n soft, then it would be easy to change the bulbs. But the socket rubber is probably going to be hard & difficult to remove, so changing the bulbs with the meters off the motorcycle will probably be the easiest thing to do. Pulling out those 30+ yr old sockets was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do on my csr. doh.

Im going to go over it tomorrow since I wasn't planning on riding anyway (I rode today :lol: ).

martin_csr wrote:

They should come out without disconnecting wires. If they are hard like mine were, it took two small screw drivers to gently pry them out.

The 750K meters should be the same as my 650-CSR. If the rubber was nice n soft, then it would be easy to change the bulbs. But the socket rubber is probably going to be hard & difficult to remove, so changing the bulbs with the meters off the motorcycle will probably be the easiest thing to do. Pulling out those 30+ yr old sockets was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do on my csr. doh.

You were right. The socket looks like it had thick rubber shrink-wrapped around the bulb to hold it in place. It was the consistency of saddle leather left out in the desert sun for a year (see last pic). :dry: It was no "push in and turn counter-clockwisetp remove" as the manual showed but just straight push down which was a relief. All the rubber was hard/dry rotted but hopefully will hold together after reinstall. Just want my meter lights to work, not do a concours restoration Had to cut away some of it to extract the bulb as there is no way a new bulb could be fitted w/ that old non--pliable boot rubber on there. Only took away enough to get the job done. Left the rubber around the housing where it pushes into the meter to get a tight fit.

Did the tacho side this time. Had to go slow as my model was a one year model w/o a specific service manual dedicated to it, only a supplemental covering other items. You can see how the back of my meters are flat in the back instead of pointed like in the manual pics above Going to see how that works before doing the speedo side.

It was quite difficult getting the bulb holders out of the meter housing as I wasn't sure if they were screw-in and didn't want to break them. After managing to move them side to side a bit, I determined they were not screw in so I wrangled them straight out which was not easy as the rubber is from 1983

Will turn the key on tonight to see if they work. If that didn't do it then I'll just leave it alone as that it would mean it was part of the wiring harness and I really like this model BUT its a one-off year model and many parts are not available anyway such as the carburetor air inlet boots to name just one.

Had to disconnect the bulb and move to the side to access meter housing nuts:

Just got home and turned the key (compare to dark speedo on the left)

I use clear silicon when I put mine back in.
Steve

Did the speedo side today. Realized that I could just make a few slits along the thick rubber housing to facilitate removing the bulb then place a strip of electrical tape around it after inserting new bulb. Did not want to take the chance of shattering the bulb in the tach socket side and my fingers upon removal based on the "twist in and turn" impression I got from the above service manual page. Turns out, mine are straight press in/pull out-type sockets and all 4 bulbs were burnt out. I'll see how long these last. They are long-life bulbs.