[hejira 858]

Hi,
Does anyone know of a good colour match for the speedo and tacho needles?
Nothing shows up on a search (although I'm sure I remember something from ages ago), and it might just save me wandering round a model shop, tacho in hand.....
TIA

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[bobross900ss]

I was searching around the other day on another topic and ran across a posting where the poster had painted the needles red. Looked really good and stood out against the white background much better than the off-white standard needles.

 

[FredSmoot23]

go to ducati chat, scroll down to gauge restoration, one set of red needles, one set of black needles pictures shown.

Fred

 

[Iwannaduc]

Looked really good and stood out against the white background much better than the off-white standard needles.

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure they were not white to begin with. I think the paint faded over time and now looks white after nearly 30 years.

Mine appeared silvery white when I got mine. I'd seen a picture of new a 1992 900SS that sold in the later 20 teens with just 9 miles on the odometer. The needles on it were red, so that's what I painted mine.

 

[belter]

they were always orange from my memory.

 

[JAFA]

Mine are orange, on both the SS and the 851

 

[EIGHTfortyEIGHT]

fluorescent orange on white faces for my 98FE, the fluorescent part is why they fade so quickly in the sun

 

[hejira 858]

Thanks for your responses guys.
Just for clarity, I'm not looking to repaint all (Speedo, tacho, and oil temp) needles, which would have been easier. The original colour of the needles seems (to my eye at least) to have held up pretty well (not enough sun in the UK to do any damage!), so I'm leaving speedo and oil temp alone. I'm now running an electronic tacho, from a different make of bike, and am in the process of changing dial and needle to match OE, hence my question.
Looks like a trip to a hobby shop after all.

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[FredSmoot23]

Getting the gauge opened to access the needle can be a bit of a challenge. Put the gauge face down on a piece of non-slip material, use a thin, flat blade screwdriver or table knife and gently pry the rolled edge up a little at a time. Work your way around the gauge, make taking three or four passes around to raise the bezel edge from folded over to more upright. The black paint will flake off, you can touch it up when you have re-crimped the bezel back down (going back together). Press the thin bezel down into the folded over position to complete the job, again, small steps, not all at once. That just make lumps and sharp edges that are no good. I used a wood tool I fashioned from a scrap of pine (soft). Make lots of small movements of the bezel metal to return it to close to its original shape and look.
Patience will pay off and you can take pride in a project well done when you have finished.
Good luck!

Fred
former industrial design modelmaker

 

[hejira 858]

Getting the gauge opened to access the needle can be a bit of a challenge. Put the gauge face down on a piece of non-slip material, use a thin, flat blade screwdriver or table knife and gently pry the rolled edge up a little at a time. Work your way around the gauge, make taking three or four passes around to raise the bezel edge from folded over to more upright. The black paint will flake off, you can touch it up when you have re-crimped the bezel back down (going back together). Press the thin bezel down into the folded over position to complete the job, again, small steps, not all at once. That just make lumps and sharp edges that are no good. I used a wood tool I fashioned from a scrap of pine (soft). Make lots of small movements of the bezel metal to return it to close to its original shape and look.
Patience will pay off and you can take pride in a project well done when you have finished.
Good luck!

Fred
former industrial design modelmaker

Hi Fred,
The tachometer I'm using is all plastic, so no access by opening the bezel. I've cut the unit open (halfway up the bezel - it's relatively deep - in the zone between the glass and the dial), using a Dremel cutoff disc in my vertical drill stand and carefully rotating the tachometer (upside down on the drill table) against the disc. When dial and needle sorted, I'll just glue the bezel and glass back onto the body.

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[Monster4Lee]

Sometimes I wish mine had those old school type gauges.
Usually when the sun shines over my shoulder so I can't read the TFT gauge at all.
I don't like that old John Denver song either.