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S4RS dashboard

Tipusss

Tipusss

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Joined
May 12, 2013
Messages
57
Location
London
Bike
S4Rs
Hello, has anyone seen the damage to their dashboard due to heat? It is very hot in London and when I got to my destination I covered the bike and left it on the sun (in my usual parking spot). When I came back I saw this crack... There could be no impact where it starts from, it's at 5 o'clock on the right hand side dial. My charger does not touch the dashboard and I'm certain there could not have been any impact there.

Anyway, found a new cover on fleabay, from Italy (so vat plus delivery etc), pretty expensive, but it was better than buying the whole unit. Can anyone tell me if swapping this cover should be easy? Shall I apply any seal to make it waterproof, or will the gaskets (I am assuming there are gaskets there) be enough?

Also, while I'm at it, I wanted to increase the brightness of the back lighting. Does anyone know if swapping the bulbs should do it, or shall I clean the clock face from behind somehow?

Thanks everyone, quite upsetting to see this sort of silly damage out of nowhere, but hey
 

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Good luck in getting it sorted,I'm sure people on here have taken the dials apart,if not I seem to remember Gazza knowing of a company in Norfolk who could possibly fix it

Kimbo
 
Those cracks are common. Changes in temperature can have that effect.

It's a little bit tricky, but most are able to see what the next step is, once started. Spend some time figuring out which tabs to undo.

There is a seal and it's difficult to position perfectly, but again, pay attention and you should/could be good.

The screws are not meant to take off and on. The plastic "threads" will crack. If you're very lucky and a little careful you might avoid this. If not, the instruments won't be water proof.

You have three settings for the back lighting. Consult your owner's manual. LED, no bulbs.
 
stopintime said:
Those cracks are common. Changes in temperature can have that effect.

It's a little bit tricky, but most are able to see what the next step is, once started. Spend some time figuring out which tabs to undo.

There is a seal and it's difficult to position perfectly, but again, pay attention and you should/could be good.

The screws are not meant to take off and on. The plastic "threads" will crack. If you're very lucky and a little careful you might avoid this. If not, the instruments won't be water proof.

You have three settings for the back lighting. Consult your owner's manual. LED, no bulbs.
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Thank you so much, this is very useful!
 
Thank you everyone! I also found this video very useful:

Waiting for the screen replacement to arrive now...
 
Maybe spend a little more time, than he did, to position the gasket. Several sharp bends and tight spots.
 
stopintime said:
Maybe spend a little more time, than he did, to position the gasket. Several sharp bends and tight spots.
Click to expand...
Yes, will be more careful, hopefully. In another video I saw a guy gluing the gasket down with a superglue before applying the top cover. I don't really see the point in glue, especially if it'll potentially make the cover stuck, what do you think?
 
I guess you saw this video? It shows slightly different screws / assembley and disassembly arrangement on this set of clocks to other video you linked above. So I guess some units have different screw arrangements, so don’t force anything! At least until sure which variant you have!

He uses glue to hold the gasket in place whilst re-assembling. Might be an idea if too hard to keep gasket in place during assembley otherwise. But if so I’d certainly wait until the glue has fully dried before assembling so no danger you glue the plastic parts together - be a nightmare if you ever needed to separate them in the future…

 
yellowfever said:
I guess you saw this video? It shows slightly different screws / assembley and disassembly arrangement on this set of clocks to other video you linked above. So I guess some units have different screw arrangements, so don’t force anything! At least until sure which variant you have!

He uses glue to hold the gasket in place whilst re-assembling. Might be an idea if too hard to keep gasket in place during assembley otherwise. But if so I’d certainly wait until the glue has fully dried before assembling so no danger you glue the plastic parts together - be a nightmare if you ever needed to separate them in the future…

Click to expand...
Yes, that's the one I saw, thanks. Makes sense to wait for the glue to dry, yes.

yellowfever said:
And another maybe useful video? Shows careful seal refitting…

Click to expand...
Thank you! That is very nice! Going through the back in order to pry open the clamps that hold the top is a nice trick. I'll try that for sure! (But those rusty screws he put back are killing me! :eek:)
 
Hi guys, here's an update on the works. So I received the dashboard cover from eBay, it's not the original, but looked good and unused. Together with shipment and tax it was £125. Tried to install it, but it wasn't fitting perfectly. I then messaged the seller, who was very helpful actually and I manage to put it all together with a bit of a push and directing the screws at the "correct" angles etc (the screws holes were less than 0.5mm off, so a bit of nudging did the job). The seller then recommended I use an engine gasket maker called Arexson as it doesn't glue but provides a good seal. I couldn't find one in the UK and ordering from Italy would have been too long and too expensive. He then said I should use any engine gasket maker "as long as it is black" for obvious reasons. He must be a Henry Ford fan. I got this one from Amazon (picture attached). It was surprisingly easy to use and I even took it apart once everything was put together and it looks good. I hope it will hold the water off. One piece of advice though, do use disposable gloves as I didn't and then spend 20 minutes washing the sealant off my hands using alcohol wipes. Photo of the sealant and the finished assembly attached.

I have to say, neither of the videos were 100% accurate when it comes to the assembly of my unit. For example I found that mine has a few more screws here and there and that the dials don't rotate fully and even if they are off, once connected the dials automatically adjust to the right position. Mine was only possible to take apart from the back side as there are screws inside that keep the front panel, so it was definitely a good decision to go from there.

Regarding the dashboard cover. I'd say this replacement is a decent version. A little different from the original, but fits okay (after some nudging). The plastic behind the instrument panel has different texture to it and ended up quite a lot brighter than the original. I haven't ridden the bike in the dark yet to tell if it is an issue, hopefully not. The plastic is a tad more shiny than the original, but blends well, so no complaints there. Maybe the original is just old.

PS does anyone need a damaged dashboard cover? The right dial is cracked slightly and the glass is cracked too. It has a manufacturing stamp on it though, it was made in Dec 2005, so definitely the original :)

Thanks for the tips and support guys, it was a nice little project, probably at the edge of my "mechanical" ability though 😅

PPS I figured out to change brightness, thank you
 

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Glad you got it sorted - when I had my Multistrada the previous owner used to cover the dash with a cloth when parked in the sun which I continued to do in my ownership. Not sure if it would really help but the screen didnt crack :)
 
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