1980 KZ750H Gauges

I have a couple of questions about the gauges on my 750:
1. I have found replacement crimp rings for reassembling the 650/900 gauges. Does anyone know of a source for 750 Ltd gauge rings? I've searched but can't find anything. The dimensions are around 104.5/112mm. Hard to tell exactly as the rings aren't completely round.
2. Does anyone have any photos of how the thumb screw for the trip meter is assembled? I think I may be missing some parts and it fell out on disassembly so I have no idea how it should go in.
3. This is more of a call for opinions before I paint/reassemble the gauges: Black or chrome (paint) bezels? I think the chrome may look good with the rest of the bling on the 750H, but it may just end up being a bit too much. Anyone tried any colours other than black and the hideous stock aqua-marine?

Appreciate any help I can get on this. Thanks!

There aren't any new crimp rings available for the 750H meters. or any other parts. My 650-CSR would use the same ones. I've done extensive searches but never found any.

The trip reset knob is left hand threaded. So all you should have to do is hold it against the end of the shaft & start turning counter-clockwise, same direction as if you were resetting the trip odometer. If your meters are already disassembled, use needle nosed pliers to hold the reset shaft while installing the knob.

The 750E has black meter covers, so you could find pics to see if black is to your liking. The E also has a black headlight bucket.

I like the aquamarine around the meter faces. Below is a pic comparing meters with aquamarine & black. I took a couple of meters apart & did the restoration work on the one on the left in the pic, but didn't finish the job because of the crimp rings. doh. The meter on the right is a nos speedo that I may install. Krylon ColorMaxx Satin Sea Glass is a good match for the aquamarine inner housing.

KZ750E. not mine. note the black meter covers & headlight bucket.

Thanks Martin!
I figured the rings weren't available, thanks for confirming. I have two that are in pretty good nick so I'll install them. I also have two bezels in the original colour and two that I have sandblasted and primed. I will definitely keep the chrome covers and headlight bucket. Ed's bike looks pretty good in black but the fenders are black as well and the 750H fenders are chrome. I'm trying to keep it as original as possible so will stick with the bling.
The chrome paint I have requires a glossy black base coat. I think I'll just see how it looks in black compared to the aquamarine and then decide whether to try the chrome paint.

Regarding the trip meter reset knob: it's the shaft that I don't know how to reattach. It has a groove in it that should slot in somewhere but my speedo doesn't seem to have the opposing piece.

I'm not sure what you're planning to paint. Do you mean the chrome meter covers or the inner housing liner?

Maybe you've found a good quality chrome paint from Caswell or somewhere, but the rattlecan stuff I've tried from the auto parts store didn't come out that good. looked more like aluminum or silver.

I only removed the reset knob, so you're on your own for that. I don't think I have a good pic of the meter internals.
... not sure if this pic is any help. ... note: the manual says to keep the meters face up. don't store them face down.

I'm going to paint the inner liners - the covers are still chrome (one is NOS, the other has been replated). I have a pretty decent chrome paint, but it still looks a bit like aluminium/silver. Below is a photo of the attempt I made on the handlebars (in the end the paint ended up being too thick so I stripped it and had the chrome redone).
Regarding the trip reset knob I think I'll have to pull apart the backup speedo. The knob has gone on that one but I think the shaft is still there. Will update with some photos in case anyone else has the same question.

Thanks again for the quick replies.

Chrome might actually look pretty good around the meter faces if you use chrome paint on the green inner housings. Silver would look good too, if that's how the chrome paint turns out.

Here's a crimp ring jig someone else made. It would be used on a lathe or press of some sort. I guess that's a Triumph meter in the pic.

I'm leaning more and more towards black. The housing will definitely be gloss black (ebony) like the tank and side covers.

I thought about getting something machined to make it easier to crimp the rings. Similar to the one you posted but really just a stepped cylinder that would slide over the housing and hold the ring in place to stop it from deforming. Then you could just hammer the back edge of the ring down with a small round punch. In the end I've decided I'll try crimping with pliers (ans a lot of masking tape). If that doesn't work I'll have to fork out some cash to get something made up.

Here is my stock 1980 KZ750 LTD. kzrider.com/gallery/gallery-categories/k.../1980-kz750-ltd-7094

I like both black & aquamarine. When I bought the 750-CSR speedo, I didn't even notice that it was different from my stock meters.
To support or hold the crimp rings, some guys use stainless steel band clamps for re-crimping. That's probably the simplest way to support the rings.

Just an update on the trip meter. The shaft on my speedo had been broken off, no wonder I couldn't get it back in! It was a pretty clean break which was why I thought it must just slot in somewhere. Got the shaft out of the back-up speedo and now all is good (except that the second shaft is a bit bent, but it'll do for now).