Work continues by splitting the two halves of the KZ900 tachometer drive unit.

Notice the round magnet with the "notches" in it. . This magnet spins inside the aluminum cone in the top half of the drive unit, and it is the magnetic field that makes the needle move in your gauge. Over a period of time magnets lose their "strength".  When calibrating a gauge for accuracy, this magnet is removed and replaced by another of differing "strength", until the gauge is reading accurately. This is one of the most time consuming phases of the restoration.

Next we mask, and then air brush the exact correct redline area, ...restore the face plate, needle and screws,....and re-assemble the parts to the calibrated drive unit.

Looks a little different now, doesn’t it?

Next we dip the bottom mounting bracket in acid to remove all the rust and corrosion.

Then of course it’s primered with etching primer, and repainted to match as close as possible the original factory finish. This color we are using is very hard (three step mix) paint, and should last another 30 years.  Note: this paint continues to harden over a 30 days period - we recommend you wait for several weeks before refitting these instruments to your bike.

The finished drive and faceplate is now bolted to the bottom mounting cone.

Now for the top half assembly.

The top bezel is wire wheeled down to bare metal, and painted with the best paint available.

The top half is actually five pieces.  The new glass that we cut ourselves, the inner dome {black } and the two rubber seals for both.

We assemble all five pieces to make up the inner and the outer parts.

Then we slide on a freshly polished connector ring, and pop the two halves together.

The connector ring is pressed together by a specially constructed tool of our design.

When finished the connector ring will have absolutely no visible marks on the top half of the ring while on the bike. The bottom half of the ring will have very minute marks where it was re-pressed back together, but will be flat with no dimples.  In December of 2003, we upgraded this specially designed tool used to press the rings on the gauge. It is much better that the previous method in preserving the factory look.  Note that the underside of the ring is not visible with the black lower cone installed.

It looks like this when finished.

With the new paint process we are using, your gauge should look good for another 10 or 20 years.

    Click to read about Custom Gauge Restoration

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