Changing 650 Gauges?

I've had a 650 Maxim for a little over a year now, and have slowly been getting it how I like it (Restoring worn parts, fresh coat of paint on the tank, etc.). I was curious about replacing the gauges, though I may end up just cleaning up the current ones. Even though there are lights in the setup, does there need to be an analog to digital conversion if I was to purchase a digital-style? This may be a stupid question, I'm fairly new to working on this bike.

Thanks!

 

I'm curious about digital-style. Are you talking about lights or gauges?
The existing gauges are lit by small incandescent bulbs. Some have converted to drop-in replacement LED bulbs (from superbrightleds.com).
The speedo and tach are analog and mechanically driven. It would be pretty simple to run an electronic tach and cover the hole in the head for the existing cable. There are some threads that cover this and more in much more detail.

 

Dkavanagh,

I meant digital gauges. I actually didn't know they were lit, which must mean that mine is burned out. That doesn't sound too bad, and maybe I'll look into finding a new LED for an existing backlight. Thanks!

 

The main gauges are lit by 2 bulbs, positioned high in the speedo and tach. Those also illuminate the fuel gauge and volt meter. (assuming yours is anything like my '81).
Do the rest of your lights function, like neutral, high beam, turn signals and oil?

 

I don't have an indicator for fuel gauge or voltage, not sure if those are common or not. They all do, to my surprise. The previous owner did some weird stuff to the bike, like bondo and painting over every Yamaha logo he could, and writing a sharpie all over the blue high-beam indicator.

I'll post some pictures elsewhere if you're interested to see it.

 

You can use pretty much any 12V gauge you'd like. The speedo is mechanical but there are many different sensors you can purchase to replace the cable with a sender. There are simple magnet ones to ones that screw onto where the cable went. If you have an Maxim that is pre 82, the tach is cable driven as well. Len has a block off plug for that and you'll just need to run an additional wire up from one ignition coil.

 

Your Seca has this, the Maxim 650's did not.