4L1 cheap alternative speedo clock - have i wasted my money?

[shaunthe2nd]

I have just bought a RD250LC 4L1 fitted with clocks in km.
I was considering modifying the clock with new facia etc to convert to mph for speedo, although the trip would still register km's.
Replacement LC clocks in mph seem to require a mortgage.

I've found this cheap alternative set off an XS250 (or could be a 400?) that look almost the same as the LC mph ones.

Has anyone had any experience of these?
Have I wasted my money?

The first pic below is a clock off a 250LC, and the second one is the XS250 one i have bought.
Spot the difference!

[ulsta]

8170

[shaunthe2nd]

Dec 2, 2013 21:57:44 GMT 1 ulsta said:

8170

ha ha, very quick and funny!
was hoping for some advice though....

[oldelsieboy]

I'm sure dusty350 posted a while ago about swapping speedos, think he mentioned XS650 clocks.

Might be worth a pm.

OEB

[dusty350]

Hi
Pm sent. Xs650 speedo goes up to 140mph so not exactly the same as an lc speedo.
Dusty

[midlifecrisisrd]

It will fit.

I have fitted xs and xj speedo's and the internals can be fitted in lc case or just fit the complete thing but it does not have the locating fixings on the case.

The ones I had were tested against an Lc speedo on a cordless drill and were in the same ball park.

Steve

[shaunthe2nd]

Dec 3, 2013 1:00:39 GMT 1 midlifecrisisrd said:

It will fit.

I have fitted xs and xj speedo's and the internals can be fitted in lc case or just fit the complete thing but it does not have the locating fixings on the case.

The ones I had were tested against an Lc speedo on a cordless drill and were in the same ball park.

Steve

Thanks Steve, my plan is to fit the complete XS speedo into the LC housing.
It hasn't arrived yet, so i'm not sure about the fixings. Is there a work around I can do?

If it does work, its a much cheaper solution than buying an LC mph clock.
I picked it up for £30. LC mph clocks seem to be anything £100 to £200.
From the pics i have looked at it seems to be visually identical.

Fingers crossed.
Shaun

[dusty350]

Hi Shaun,
I have replied to your pm. Are the Xs250 clocks you have bought like these Rd400e clocks ?



The Rd clocks tend to be more green than black. If you just change the speedo then it will look odd next to your lc tacho which is a black background. I'm not sure if the mounting stubs on the back of the Xs are in the same place as the Lc stubs, I've never tried, but I do have an old Rd tacho down the shed- I'll see if it fits the Lc clock cases.

Dusty

[shaunthe2nd]

Dusty, thanks for your messages.
The XS 250 clock i bought is the 2nd pic in my original post.
Thats the pic off ebay, it hasn't arrived yet though so fingers crossed.
The pic does look to be more black faced than green and the wording on the face looks very similar.
It looks like it may have a different trip know but i reckon that's an easy fix.

The first pic in my post is an LC one.

I had a look at yr rebuild thread and you have some good info on changing the face if I have too, doesn't look too hard, just looks like you have to be careful.

I will let you know how i get on when it arrives. Cheers.

[dusty350]

Hi Shaun,
You may be in luck regarding fitment. I've been down the shed and tried an Xs650 tacho in the plastic Lc clock cases, and it will fit if you make the stud holes in the plastic casing slightly wider. The Xs650 clock faces are black, and I swapped the speedo over to replace an Lc speedo in Kmh and it looked fine - I split the case and changed the internal workings. Good luck.

Dusty

[shaunthe2nd]

Dec 3, 2013 21:20:34 GMT 1 dusty350 said:

Hi Shaun,
You may be in luck regarding fitment. I've been down the shed and tried an Xs650 tacho in the plastic Lc clock cases, and it will fit if you make the stud holes in the plastic casing slightly wider. The Xs650 clock faces are black, and I swapped the speedo over to replace an Lc speedo in Kmh and it looked fine - I split the case and changed the internal workings. Good luck.

Dusty

That's great, might have hit on a cheap alternative there then!

[midlifecrisisrd]

Dec 3, 2013 10:37:49 GMT 1 shaunthe2nd said:

Dec 3, 2013 1:00:39 GMT 1 midlifecrisisrd said:

It will fit.

I have fitted xs and xj speedo's and the internals can be fitted in lc case or just fit the complete thing but it does not have the locating fixings on the case.

The ones I had were tested against an Lc speedo on a cordless drill and were in the same ball park.

Steve

Thanks Steve, my plan is to fit the complete XS speedo into the LC housing.
It hasn't arrived yet, so i'm not sure about the fixings. Is there a work around I can do?

If it does work, its a much cheaper solution than buying an LC mph clock.
I picked it up for £30. LC mph clocks seem to be anything £100 to £200.
From the pics i have looked at it seems to be visually identical.

Fingers crossed.
Shaun

Complete internals should fit perfectly. Should just be a case of prying the bezel and removing the glass then the 2 screws either side of the drive to remove it from the case then the same with the lc case then swap.


Steve

[shaunthe2nd]

Well it wasn't quite as easy as I'd hoped, but after about 2 hours of fiddling about I got there in the end.
The actual housings were slightly different and needed some mods to fit. grrrr.
This picture shows my 350LC clocks to the lower, and the one i'm holding above is the converted set I'm going to fit on my 250LC project. This is the one where I replaced the km speedo with a mph one from the XS250.
I also managed to set the odo to read the correct mileage when i converted back from km. Result!

Try again with picture... now showing speedo zero'd...

[shaunthe2nd]

Just noticed the picture seems to show the needle at 10mph. it does actually rest at zero!

[stew]

daft question but are front wheels same size

[copper99]

Nice work there chaps...we are a creative bunch eh.