Cluster/Tacho Rebuild

My speedo failed not far from my house and all it was, was the return spring (the spring coil that pulls the needle back) had broken off the crimp. So this was a golden opportunity to look for something else in MPH rather than KMH.

I opted to what seemed like the closest bike in terms of the gauges, this being a CBR125 04-08 variation and ordered some gauges, but not a complete cluster for reasons I will explain. The CBR is water cooled and I imagine much more sophisticated, as well as having a temperature gauge which doesn’t exist on the XTR-S, which means different wiring and plugs, plus single units are cheaper. I took the tacho off and decided to replace all bulbs with 3D LED bulbs in a T10 size, its an easy procedure, but it will require testing, as the LED may be sitting back to front then it will not light, all you have to do is pop it out and rotate it 180 degrees.

Then it was time to replace the speedo, a Honda CBR 04-08 is a direct swap, and the new trip meter is also in MPH unlike the stock one. In the UK, you don’t have to declare the new mileage from a tacho change, but if you do sell the bike you must legally tell the new owner you changed the gauges before the sale. But I do advise you do check the law for your country and region as it maybe different.

I also decided to tear off all the sealant around the unit when the cover is off, due to it being worn, I replaced it with draft excluder tape you would typically use on doors and window and it has been doing the job fine. The next part was the rev gauge as the whole tacho now looks a bit out of place, the CBR125 04-08 is a very similar unit, but completely different and will not work as a direct swap, so i merely took the foil and needle off and transferred it with the following end result.

A much neater unit and a lot better for the UK roads or in any country with MPH being present as a main speed. The Honda CBR125 04-08 MPH gauge new was only £25, whilst the rev counter was £12 second hand as it was merely for the foil, overall a £37 cost to repair and neaten the unit, which is cheaper than a new cluster for the Lexmoto or a complete CBR125 cluster.