I saw a 220mph blue speedo up there in the main pictures what bike is it from?

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I know I want one too!

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Illumino Gauge Faces

Kofla

NINJA ZX-14 MotoVlog

* Last updated by: KoflaOlivieri on 7/27/2012 @ 8:23 AM *

@KO: I've noticed you do a lot of link work. It is appreciated.

;)

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@KO: I've noticed you do a lot of link work. It is appreciated.

Hagrid, I am more of a visual person, so I rather show images (due to my limited English vocabulary) than explain what I am trying to say.

Kofla

NINJA ZX-14 MotoVlog

Ever notice how damned hard it is to read the OEM red guages right at sunset?

I have the illuminoGauge. Have not installed yet. It will cause an small increase in weight due to the electric ballasts required to popperate the light. Also, requires cut and splice of OEM gauge wire if I recall.

It is a cool looking mod but IMHO, for how often I go 200 (never came close yet) I would rather stick with the 0-190 OEM face. Seems like that would be more easily relied upon for following the speed limit because of the larger spaces between increments. .....now if it is breaking the speed limit (like major breaking) the 220 mph face would be the way to go. Not gonna ever be accurate all around the clock but you carry a GPS for best possible precision.

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I need to make a write up of the Illumiglo installation. I just did that about a week ago, and I was inspired by Rook to do a how-to so I took some pictures during the process. The gauges, once installed, do look very cool. On the minus side, they are tricky to install. Some notes:

- No matter what the instructions say, you HAVE to take the needles off the speedo and tach. It is tricky to get them back on correctly.

- You do have to splice into the wiring harness to power the lighting. Note here that the wiring diagram in the manual is as you're looking at the instrument cluster, not at the wiring bundle. If you get this confused, then the speedo will be dark and the dimmer switch for the gauges will dim your oil light......

- When you remove the instrument cluster from the bike, it resets all your data (trip, fuel mileage, etc) except total odometer.

- Once installed, my bike now idles at about "700" rpm instead of the usual just over 1000. I did not compare the position of the numbers to the stock ones, but I sure wish someone would. For now, it seems that at least the "1" position is off by a few hundred RPM. And with the small post that the needle rests against at 0, you can only install the face in one place, so I don't think it's the case that I put it on wrong. If the numbers on the face are indeed off, then that is really a deal breaker for me, though once stuck on there is no going back.

Some pics (they really are very bright):

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I thought it was just me having a hard time reading the red at night Rook!! HAHA. They do look a lot brighter Caroobs. I am putting this on my to-do list. Anyone use bluegauges.com as linked above by KoflaOlivieri? Appears they sell the face plates but you can also send your cluster in and have just the backlighting changed. The all white looks easy to read:

* Last updated by: dericrey on 7/30/2012 @ 4:37 PM *

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I like the white a lot. If I had seen that before I got the blue, I would definitely have gotten that done for $45. I still might...

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If the numbers on the face are indeed off, then that is really a deal breaker for me, though once stuck on there is no going back.

It would seem that the odo would be no problem to print correctly since the increments would be exactly the same as the OEM odo. I wonder if the needle got twisted just a tiny bit when putting the needle back on?

Is it true that you really cannot go back to the stock faces after installing the illumiglos?

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Caroobs, those look great!

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Yeah the needles definitely got twisted a bit taking them off and putting them back on. I tried to be very careful but I'm not sure how to avoid it. I spent probably half an hour trying to get them both back on correctly, taking the cluster off, adjusting the needle just a bit, putting it back on, etc. My advice - don't reassemble the cluster entirely; Just plug it in and turn on the key to test it first.

Thing is, when you turn on the key, they max out then zero out, pegging the needles to the post. I don't know for certain, but it seems that the gauges sort of calibrate themselves with this process (to a point) each time you turn on the key. I know from gps that the speedo gauge is still right on. So I don't think it's a needle issue.

My guess is that the position of the lines on the illumiglo gauges is slightly off on the rpm gauge than from the stock. I know for sure at idle my rpm gauge is off by about 400 rpm. I wish I had them side by side to see if the hashes exactly match up. I do wish I had thought to check that out before installing.

As for taking them off... I don't know. They stick onto the existing faces, and that 3M is sticky stuff. I'm sure you could peel them off, but I'm not sure what damage they would cause to the existing faces. It might not matter if you want to put something else on top, but as for going back to stock... I don't think I'd try it.

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Rook:

Ever notice how damned hard it is to read the OEM red guages right at sunset?

I have difficulty reading the OEM center LCD on the 2012 ZX-14R during daytime, almost any time of day. It's usually low contrast, and dark. I also use sunglasses behind my face shield, and my tired ole eyes dont do so well with the lack of contrast for that display.

I can't see the temperature, the gear number, the gas gauge (not clearly), the ODO or trip meters, etc. It's a problem for me that I dont know how to solve.

I wrote BlueGauges to see if they could offer me a daytime solution, and got this reply:

"Scott Woodruff bluegauges@yahoo.com
Jul 29 (3 days ago)

sorry, backlight isnt meant to be seen in daylight"

So, anyone looking to make a sale-able item, look to daytime / dayglo lighting for these LCD panels, I think there may be a market...

On a different, related topic, anyone else spend a lot of saddle time looking at the Speedo? I do! Man, it's hard for me to hold a legal limit on this rocket! My other cycles? No problem... This one, geez, I gotta keep looking or I'll be 15 over before I blink an eye. I bought and installed the cruise control thinking it will help with that some, and it does, but I find myself minding that gauge alot more than I used to, on other cycles.

I do it because I remind myself how much I *hate* to deal with the traffic school, the fines (I'm cheap), the insurance (my eyes bleed at the current bill), and the guy who wants to give me the ticket. I really dislike dealing with all that, and so.... Speedo Check! Again...again...again... I do love this ride, but it does have some baggage.

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I can't see the temperature, the gear number, the gas gauge (not clearly), the ODO or trip meters, etc.

I have a hard time making the display out when the sunlight is at a certain angle. LED/LCD combination would be ideal but I don't think the technology has been developed yet. Would be very cool. How much you wanna bet someone is working on it?

I spent probably half an hour trying to get them both back on correctly, taking the cluster off, adjusting the needle just a bit, putting it back on, etc. My advice - don't reassemble the cluster entirely; Just plug it in and turn on the key to test it first.

Thanks for posting the tips Caroobs. I am going to get a tranparent copy of my tach face and overlay the OEM face for comparison. Seems like getting that perfect should be a no brainer since the tach increments should remain the same between the OEM and the illumiglo face. You never know however....that is the challenge with aftermarket stuff--they need to make it work for a hundred dif bikes. OEM stuff just needs to work for one model or maybe a few that have the identical part.

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That would be great Rook! If the hashes are indeed right on the money, then I'll go back to trying a needle adjustment. It really bugs me that my rpm gauge is off by that much... not really a big deal as I rev up, but it's a 50% error at idle!

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I will check the precision of the marks when I install mine and post back on this thread .

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One thing you guys might be able to do, which we do in the Concours 14 world a lot, is take a smoked or other helmet visor (shield) and cut the ends off it, so it fits on the top of the gauge cluster like a visor.

You can hold it on with good outdoor double sided tape, or silicon adhesive, or even good "velcro" like Cee Bailey sells.

This makes the LCD display much more visibile in bright sunlight, and looks pretty cool as well.

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Privateer:

That's an excellent idea, thanks.

I'm reading that you recommend "smoke" tint as the preferred choice? My greatest (highest) priority would be for maximum contrast increase.

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cool. how'd you do that?

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I used bluegauges.com. The guy does great work and is fast about it, you wont be down long at all. i just did my busa in blue and white and that was the third time I used him.

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Love that blue lighting clock look

I stil have yet to install my Illumiglo faces. I might do it just for the novelty but I don't like the extra pound of ballasts you need to install. The speedo goes to 200 which is nice. I bet you could print off a 200 mph face drawn in Illustrator and replace the stock one using bluegauges lighting.

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Rook it would just be easier to send him your gauges and pick the colors you want, the guy is good man!

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I may do that eventually but i already have the Illumiglo and I am stuck on the 200 mph speedo. Someday i will design my own faces and then we'll see if the a set of bluegauges LEDs will work. I would like to keep the red needle. My Glow Shift gauges have white faces, red needles with blue numbers. They all match. Should look kickass!

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