Easy Path to a 150mph CBX Speedo

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Randakk
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Easy Path to a 150mph CBX Speedo

Post by Randakk »

I’m happy to announce that my friend and business associate Pete Boody of Pistol Pete’s Services is expanding his vintage Honda gauge rebuilding service. For many years, Pete has been the top Honda GL1000 gauge restorer. Now, Pete is adding coverage for the Honda CBX.

Pete recently did service work on 3 of my CBX “clocks:”

’81 CBX speedo
’81 CBX tach
’79 CBX speedo

As you may know, the CBX gauges are in plastic housings. Special expertise is required to open (and close) these gauges without harming them. Pete has developed special tools and expertise to handle these details. He can do cosmetic as well as mechanical repairs.

Pete's service for CBX gauges will include rebuilding, repairing slow needles, cleaning, lubricating, resetting odometers (if allowed in your state), calibration for correct rpm and mph and in the not too distant future he will be able to replace the face plates with near original appearing plus better illuminated ones that can be seen at night. As you know the CBX and other similar gauges is a bear to see after dark. I for one will like this feature and it is a clear representation of Pete’s commitment to add extra value to the restorative work that he does.

My gauges looked fine, but were very sluggish. This is a very common problem with these instruments that Pete can easily resolve. He also understands how to treat the gauges so that anti-fog capabilities are maintained. Many gauge service firms don’t have this capability.

Most interesting of all: Pete has developed a way to convert the later “Jimmy Carter” 85 mph speedos to 150mph speedos!

If you’ve ever tried to buy a 150mph speedo, you know how rare and valuable they have become!

Pete’s work is first rate and highly recommended. Details and contact info for Pete is here:

http://www.oldwings.com/services.html#gauge
Randall Washington (Randakk)
Founder & Chief Executive Rider
Randakk's Cycle Shakk, LLC
Pinehurst, NC USA
www.randakks.com

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Re: Easy Path to a 150mph CBX Speedo

Post by Larry Zimmer »

Great! Thanks for the info, Randall.
Larry Zimmer
cbxlarry@sbcglobal.net

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NobleHops
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Re: Easy Path to a 150mph CBX Speedo

Post by NobleHops »

That is great news indeed. Thanks for encouraging this Randall.

N.
Nils Menten
Tucson, Arizona, USA '80 CBX, sort-of restored :-)

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Re: Easy Path to a 150mph CBX Speedo

Post by spencer »

I believe I may have been the first to take advantage of Pistol Pete's new gauge face replacement service. There has been a bit more discussion on the CBXWorld website, but for those of you who do not go there, I will share a few pictures. These same pictures are on CBXWorld, plus a bunch of pictures from Pete.

I sent Pete my speedometer and tachometer. The speedometer worked OK, but when I reset the trip odometer, it always reset to 100.0 instead of 000.0. The tachometer had been removed from my CBX last year because it had become sluggish and the needle did not respond to changes in the engine speed well. Both gauges had moderate fading. Pete and I have had some discussions and two tries before we got things to where I like them. We had to resolve a problem of color of the gauge faces. I am now satisfied with them, and in fact really like them.

When I first received them, I thought the color was very close, but maybe just a little dark, towards red color. I installed them in my CBX. It's hard to take pictures of gauges with the camera on a tripod, when the gauges are installed. Also, these pictures were taken inside my garage, under bright florescent light. Which accounts for the green tinge to the pictures. There is also glare from the overhead lights. This is what they looked like installed.

5070

What really surprised me was when I turned the ignition on. The gauges lit up! I had never noticed this before, with the stock faceplates. Even under the bright lights, it was noticeable. These first two pictures were taken with exactly the same exposure, and I believe you can see the difference between when the ignition is on and off. When the engine is running, and voltage is higher, the difference is even more than these pictures show.

5071

Then, I turned the lights off. There was still some light coming in the window right next to the CBX, but it was fairly dark.

5072

I rarely ride at night, and I can't remember what my gauges looked like at night, but they are bright now. Compare them to the voltmeter, which has not been refurbished.

Both gauges now work as they should. Pete was able to repair both of them, in addition to installing the new faceplates. If you are thinking about replacing faded faceplates, or repairs to your gauges, you might send Pistol Pete an email. I think he does nice work.I wish this service had been available a year ago, when I paid $325 for a working tachometer that was faded even more than my gauges.
SCH Rochester, MN

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Re: Easy Path to a 150mph CBX Speedo

Post by EMS »

A1, spencer! Great report of a great job! Kudos to "Pistol Pete" 8)

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Re: Easy Path to a 150mph CBX Speedo

Post by NobleHops »

Pete, I don't like to look the horse in the mouth and all that, but would you consider service or at least faceplates for the voltmeter too?

Spencer, thanks for the great write up and info.

N.
Nils Menten
Tucson, Arizona, USA '80 CBX, sort-of restored :-)

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Re: Easy Path to a 150mph CBX Speedo

Post by pistolpete »

Thank you Spencer for the great evaluation of the gauges.
When I decided to undertake this project I wanted to offer an additional bonus to folks who send me their X gauges for new face plates. This "extra" was to illuminate the faces so that they could be easily read at night. The OEM gauges were somewhat lacking on this so it has become a part of the replacement service. It is really cool when you see them light up first hand as the display just seems to jump out at you and as Spencer said, even in moderate external lighting are they highly visible.

As to the voltmeter, it is on my calender to improve this device as well. It will take a bit of extra engineering to do this but I hope to be able to make it happen soon. I hope you all can have a little patience with me on this as I wanted to be sure that the speedo and tach's were up to your high standards before I tackled the voltmeter.

I have a few limited "approval run" faceplate processes remaining if some of you would like to send me your sets.
You can see the timeline for developement of the faceplates at www.oldwings.com/services.html#gauge

Let me know if I can help.

Pistol Pete

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