1982 Spectre 1100 Tach issue.

I've been riding my 1100 Spectre this year and I've learned that this bike is more advanced than I'd thought. I expected electronic ignition but was surprised to find that it also has self canceling turn signals and electronic gauges.
I had an assignment this past weekend for which I had to be on site at 0 Dark:30. The Spectre was in my heated garage. The bike started and ran fine on the way to work. About a half an hour after I'd arrived I decided that I needed to move the bike but when I started it up I noticed that the tach was dead.The needle seemed to want to move but was unwilling to return to zero after I shut it down.
As I was preparing to ride home I wondered if the issue wasn't lubrication related, within the gauge. The bike had been sitting out in the sun and sure enough, once started, the tach was back to working fine.
I have yet to disassemble the tach, but before I do I'm wondering if any of you have ventured there before me?
TIA
Bill

I was very recently in the electronic tach on my KZ700. I don't know how similar the guts are, but i can give you some pointers possibly on where to look.

Hello KeylAmi,
I've ruined guages before so any lessons I can learn without having to patch up my own missteps are cheap by comparison.
I'm thinking that there is a spring bound pivot, for the needle, that needs it's lube renewed.
In it's 43rd year whatever grease was used to lube the tach needle pivot has dried out or hardened. Dried out so much that when it gets cold it acts more like glue than lubricant.
Thoughts?
Bill

 

Ebay item 204365343651

Alright!
there’s two springs. Opposing each other. But they’re also conductors. It’s how the power gets to the coil, so it moves around the ring magnet. There’s a central shaft, that passes through the whole thing to a bushing at the bottom (opposite the gauge face). That is likely where you’ll find a deposit of crusty once-was-oil. Being extremely careful to not get any on the gauge face, you can spray some “contact cleaner” at the bottom to flush it out. Then a single drop of some high quality thin oil applied. 

you can also inspect the rest of the mechanism at this time. I strongly suggest against trying to remove the needle or the gauge face. The plastic is old and *very* brittle. 

if you’d like to test the movement once you’ve cleaned and oiled it, use something soft and pliable. Meaning not your finger. The needle for the gauge won’t take very much to snap off. I broke mine. And fabricated a replacement from acrylic sheet. Soft so it won’t scratch the gauge, pliable so it will bend before the needle does. 
mid you want, I can take pics of mine so you can see what you might be dealing with before you take the plunge. 

  '84 KZ700 meter case 

The round individual meter cases that came on the 81-82 1100 model years are held together with a steel crimp ring.
Disassembly requires un-crimping or essentially prying it open (from the back) with great care to avoid destroying or distorting it's shape beyond the point where it can be reused.  Exact replacement crimp rings were unavailable when I had a rare 160 MPH electric speedometer expertly repaired a few years ago, and what was would not fit suitably.
I believe the Spectre model crimp ring is black (painted?) vs unfinished satin stainless steel.
My humble opinion is to avoid all the effort involved, and replace the entire gauge with one known to function properly.




 

daveo,
yes, the crimp ring is definitely a point of concern when considering servicing the unit.

Though i wonder on the proximity of the holes for the backlights to the area in question.
Perhaps one of them is close enough to the gauge spindle to carefully add more lube? It does make cleaning the old out extremely difficult.

KeylAmi! Wrote

" Being extremely careful to not get any on the gauge face, you can spray some “contact cleaner”  "

+1 
contact cleaner will destroy a gauge face likety split . Another one of those things I found out accidentally

Thanks Dave,
I once actually tried to service a speedometer by carefully prying the crimp ring open. Wouldn't go there today.
But Here's what a simple visual inspection revealed: The small bolt that secures the gauge to the backing plate threads into a brass insert that may have been part of the molding process. As I peer down into that threaded hole I see something made out of steel that looks suspiciously like the end of a bearing with a tiny shaft in it.
What do you see in your gauge KeylAmi!
Bill

On a semi related note I used a zoom spout oiler for swamp coolers to oil the drive bearing on a old speedo I was working on. 
Was able to reach in there with the gauge facing up as not get any oil on the face plate. I used the oil liberally (sic)  then remove one screw to let the oil drain out.  (noise gone) The zoom spout is now part of my tool collection. It can get in most anywhere and I use it for cables, fans just about anything that needs lube without taking it apart. HD and most hardware stores carry it. 
Steve

from memory, no clue.
I will take a look tonight, and try to get some pictures as well.

Photo dump!