GB250 tacho shell

[Serialunderachiever]

No - nothing to do with mexican food. I'm on the lookout for a tachometer shell for my 1987 GB250 - the counter never worked since I bought the bike, but Parrott's fixed it up for slightly less than the price one of my kidneys fetched on eBay. The guy there reckoned vibration might have been an issue in mangling the hairspring and, sure enough, there's supposed to be a lug on the outside of the shell that holds it steady against the mounting, but it's been broken off at some stage.

The part number stamped on the inside of the shell is -897TA, and it looks similar to equally old GB400s and 500s. Does anyone happen to have one kicking around in the back of their garage by any chance? I tried Econohonda without any luck.

[xwhatsit]

Feh, tricky little bike to find things like that, most of them here are Jap imports. On one hand you could check out Okshon, an English brokerage to Yahoo Japan Auctions -- in Japan, they still made the bike up until very recently and it's a very popular model. Most owners seem to buy the fancy little miniature Daytona clocks and put clip-ons on the bike, and the old bits get sold on Yahoo as a result. Here's a search for `GB250' in `Motorcycle Meters': http://www.okshon.com/v.cgi?p=gb250&...auc&YYsearch=1. On the second page I can see a pair of complete original gauges going for 1000 Yen, which is about $10. Still three days to go, though.

On the other hand, you could just get some JB Weld or similar and fabricate something to hold it still.

[Serialunderachiever]

Feh, tricky little bike to find things like that, most of them here are Jap imports. On one hand you could check out Okshon, an English brokerage to Yahoo Japan Auctions -- in Japan, they still made the bike up until very recently and it's a very popular model. Most owners seem to buy the fancy little miniature Daytona clocks and put clip-ons on the bike, and the old bits get sold on Yahoo as a result. Here's a search for `GB250' in `Motorcycle Meters': http://www.okshon.com/v.cgi?p=gb250&...auc&YYsearch=1. On the second page I can see a pair of complete original gauges going for 1000 Yen, which is about $10. Still three days to go, though.

On the other hand, you could just get some JB Weld or similar and fabricate something to hold it still.

Cheers for that - I had hoped to avoid going down the Jap auction route, as I've read some comments about Ok!shon in other forums that aren't particularly complimentary. http://forum.hfactorx.org/index.php?...;threadid=1732 for example.

I know that finding parts is a bit of a challenge - Dirt Action Service have had it in their shop for about 4 months while they tried to source bits for some top-end work - but it's just such a cool little bike I'm keen to see it running properly. I originally bought it for Mrs Serialunderachiever to learn on but she's lost her nerve, so I've adopted it. The handling is very much like a Royal Enfield GT Continental that I used to own many years ago (although the starting and stopping is a bit better with the Honda and the scenery scrolls past a bit quicker.)

[xwhatsit]

Cheers for that - I had hoped to avoid going down the Jap auction route, as I've read some comments about Ok!shon in other forums that aren't particularly complimentary. http://forum.hfactorx.org/index.php?...;threadid=1732 for example.

I know that finding parts is a bit of a challenge - Dirt Action Service have had it in their shop for about 4 months while they tried to source bits for some top-end work - but it's just such a cool little bike I'm keen to see it running properly. I originally bought it for Mrs Serialunderachiever to learn on but she's lost her nerve, so I've adopted it. The handling is very much like a Royal Enfield GT Continental that I used to own many years ago (although the starting and stopping is a bit better with the Honda and the scenery scrolls past a bit quicker.)

Wow, that's an interesting link. I've had nothing but good experiences with them, there's a bloke on here who spent big money on a Ducati swingarm too. Have to wonder, though, after reading that link; then again, Paypal is linked to my credit card, so I could always reverse charge it if it really went tits-up.

As the motor is the same as squillions of XR250s and the CBX250, I wouldn't think getting engine parts would be difficult at all.

[Bonez]

The newly imported CB400SS singles my have similar if not the same shells. Can you not drill the shell and locktite a small self tapping screw to act as a lug?

[Serialunderachiever]

The newly imported CB400SS singles my have similar if not the same shells. Can you not drill the shell and locktite a small self tapping screw to act as a lug?

Thanks for the thought. I had contemplated making up a lug (it's about 3cm long) and either gluing or screwing it to the case, but the original lug has snapped off with about 1/2 the thickness of the side of the shell attached to it. If I had the bit that had snapped off it would be no problem, but if I smooth off the broken edge, I won't have enough material to hold the lug securely.

The other thing I'd thought of is that there's someone at work with a GB400 of similar vintage. He parks it out of view of the cameras, and it'd only take 5 minutes with a 12mm socket and a Phillips screwdriver to get the shell off........

On the other hand, the Jap auction option seems a bit more socially acceptable, and I see there's a new tacho shell on there for about $50.

[xwhatsit]

Well if you do feel confident in Okshon, hell, don't do that, there's plenty on there which are both complete clocks for less than that:

http://www.okshon.com/v.cgi?YYurl=ht...tion/v70291978
http://www.okshon.com/v.cgi?YYurl=ht...tion/x48476267
http://www.okshon.com/v.cgi?YYurl=ht...ion/c191442753