Gauges

1985 RZ350

R1 Gauges

The R1 gauges varied over the years. The ones shown are the 2000 version which have an LCD screen to the left and a small LCD for engine temp only set in to the analog tachometer. Earlier versions had a larger LCD in the tach area, and later versions include a shifter light above the tach.

The 2001 R1 gauge cluster has a couple of nice features I plan to use:

  • It has a clock which is run of unswitched DC - handy when you use the bike for commuting or just need to be somewhere on time.
  • The tach is already compatible with a 2 cylinder 2 stroke so no pulse reducer or augmenter is needed.
  • It has an automatic trip meter that starts when the fuel light is lit - more on this later.
  • The engine coolant temperature is in actual degrees F, not just a high and low needle so you get a very accurate reading.

The back of the gauges has an electrical connector, and three mounting points to attach it to the bike. What I like about these gauges is you get modern gauges in a slim package with all the info you'll need on an RZ.

One thing to watch out for is that while the USA versions of this tach can be switched between KPH and MPH by holding down the reset and select button for 2 seconds, I found out that there are Canadian versions that only display KPH. In the shot above you can see that when the power is first turned on the gauges show everything that the LCD can display and there is no MPH graphic. There is no other identification so without power they look identical. Luckily the eBay seller accepted the gauges back since this wasn't disclosed and I found another set of proper USA ones before installing them.

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