Changing speedo clock face

Hi Everyone. Wondering if someone can help. I have just got a usa xj650 seca which reads in mph but is in red from 55 and the numbers are spaced differently. I have the UK speedo face and I want to put the uk speedo face on. Is it just a face change or will my speed readings be up the shoot? Heres a photo to show what I mean

 

The new face appears to be calibrated in km/h but labelled mph. I'm reliably informed that incorrect removal of the needle can seriously damage the speedo, make sure whoever's doing the work knows what they are doing.

 

Here is a how to that you can read.

https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/speedo-and-tach-dissection-with-pics.15303/

 

Somebody is gonna want that DEEP red face. Mine is almost white now!!

 

Thank you. Yes I understand the workings of the speedo but my question was will my uk calibrated face still read correctly on a usa mph clock?

 

Maybe it's the way the question is worded...or lost in translation.

If you are referring to the rate of speed...by the looks of the pictures (the one you are holding) seems to match the inside markings (in yellow) of the "usa mph clock". The inside markings are km/h. Roads in the UK are in MPH...no?

If you are referring to the odometer and trip meter?...it will still show miles traveled not kilometers traveled. Even though your "uk calibrated face" will show km/h although it's labelled mph.

Where did you get the "uk calibrated face" from?...Aftermarket item?

 

Looking at the pics it seems like the yellow markings line up.

I would look for a complete gauge to swap, finding a gauge for a Seca 650 in the condition yours is in is not easy. Super rare over here to be in that shape. I spent a lot of time trying to take apart these speedo's carefully and I was never able to figure out a good way to get the needle off without damaging the shaft or the gauge internals.

 

That won't work - why would it? The needle will still be in the same place, pointing at a different number.
That USA spec one is rubbish, unless you're rebuilding an original to spec.

 

It appears in the pic that the corresponding KM on the right face would match up to the KM markings on the left face. Hard to tell from the pic how close they are though. Looks like the face on the right says MPH on the bottom though too.

The bigger issue is pulling the needle off, its pressed onto a knurled end and really hard to get off without damaging anything and then you have to figure out how to calibrate it again.

 

I agree with Jay, might be best to leave as is.

There's got to be some satisfaction bottoming out that bureaucratic bullshit equipped gauge. Mount a small GPS unit for those occasions you exceed this.
It looks like the calibration will not line up anyway.

 

My Japanese maxim lights up a red light on the rev counter at 80km/h. Still on at 140 the other day....

 

Some funny response here. Yes the faces will interchange, and yes the speedo will read accurately.....there is no difference in the wheel drive clutch (hub) nor in the internal speedo gearing. Of course as user tj. pointed out, the odo counter will still read and record in miles vs. km.........no easy way to change that besides acquiring a true non-USA gauge unit.

I would also be curious as to where you obtained that faceplate.....?

Finally, please take heed of the advice regarding just how difficult it is to swap out a faceplate, due to the needle removal issue. If the needle SHAFT is removed from the mechanism it is, basically, NEVER going back in again and still have the instrument operate properly (or at all). And removing the pointer from the shaft w/o disturbing the shaft is a job best suited for supernatural creatures.......

 

So 80mph is the same as 130mph now is it? Unless you recalibrate the hairspring it will be wrong.
I agree about the difficulty with taking the needle off though - there are little instrument pullers made for this, provided the needle has a hole through it, otherwise be careful.

 

@Minimutly I'm curious about your Japanese market Maxim. I assumed they were all destined for export to North America.
This red light, is that a requirement for all Japanese market bikes? Are there other differences in this bike?
I've read that bikes greater than 400 cc's are rare in Japan and most larger models were exported then imported back.

Back to the thread discussion, I know we're talking about speedos but I, ahem, attempted to fix the original ultra rare electronic tach on my 650RJC.
Before I knew what I was doing I had a thousand tiny parts spring loose, knew then it wasn't going back together.
The tach was sticking and probably could have been revived with some spray. The red on the face was perfect, the junkyard replacement not so much.

 

I'm not sure that I understand. 130kph is about 80mph, he wants to have the speedo register in kph. Although that may actually be a 140mph faceplate, the original poster seems to believe that it is marked in KPH (regardless of what it says on the bottom), hence his statement "I have the UK speedo face and I want to put the uk speedo face on". Aren't speedo's in the UK from that era registered in kph?

 

The engine number is only the first few digits - that's one clue, the other is Japanese script and this red light in the tachometer, triggered by the speedo reed relay. Speed in km/h. More than that I know nothing.

My seca had an electronic tachometer that didn't work (and shouldn't have been there anyway). When I stripped it the rust from inside was jamming it. Could have been fixable.

 

U.K. Is mp/h, always has been. Same as headlights dip to the left.
The dial reads mph, but this corresponds roughly to km/h, if you use the dial positions as references.
I thought I had an answer, a high km/h speedo, but alas the speed still doesn't correspond to the op's clock.
@John Scarbro , if you can find a mph face to match my clock (110 mph) we can do a deal...

 

There was another thread on that speed warning light, too bad the pics are no longer.

https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/speed-warning-light-at-80kmh.45048/

Going back over this thread again, I'm not sure if the OP wanted a 140 km/h or 140 mph speedo. The latter would not work as previously mentioned.

 

Pretty obvious to me what he wanted - a mph clock...
The plate change will not work. It's interesting to see the different internally calibrated speedos - My European spec one goes to 220km/h or 140 miles, the Japanese seca one I bought on eBay next to it goes to 180 km/h or 115 miles, the USA one goes to 85 mph. Someone will know what the uk spec one should go to?
And, since as @chacal says, the the wheel boxes are the same, as are the wheels, that means there are at least 3 differently calibrated clocks for the 650 seca (I'm assuming that's what we're discussing here).
Another slight anomaly I found whilst rebuilding my binnacle, the bulbs/lamps are tiny bayonet ones, not wire ended push fit as Haynes says they should be...
Maybe worth a sticky this lot?