Hi Everyone,

I have a question for those of you that have installed a Dakota Digital speedo/tach. Specifically the HLY-2004 [dakotadigital.com]. I searched the forums and found great reviews of it. I read the installation guide before I bought the thing and it seemed like the right choice for me. I found one on ebay for $360 which prompted me to pull the trigger and buy it.

Now for my question: The darned thing doesn't fit in my console! It's about an 1/8 inch too large in diameter to fit in the cut-out. The inside diameter of the console even tapers in as it rises off the tank, so it's not just the cut-out that's too narrow. Even if the cut-out were big enough, the console walls are still too narrow for the gauge housing.

The Dakota site states that it is "designed to fit all single gauge tank mount applications 2004, 2005 and 2006 motorcycles as well as 2007 bikes..." I'm not sure how that statement could be interpreted any other way. It should fit in the console of an '07 Street Bob....

I'd really appreciate some insight from any fellow forum members that have installed this unit on a Dyna. I've read forum posts from '06 Bob owners that have installed this exact unit. Is the 07 console smaller in diameter? By a freakin 1/8 inch??? I wouldn't put it past the moco engineers to do something like that.

I know anything is possible on Ebay, so perhaps I received a fake Dakota knock-off that has a larger housing?

Thanks,
Jason

 

Contact them. Good luck, hopefully there will be some resolution.

 

Please excuse the bump. I posted this over the weekend and wanted to see if any week-day readers of the forum might chime in. The Dakota customer service phone line isn't open on the weekends, so I'll be contacting them today.

Any '06 and newer Bob owners out there running a Dakota speedo?

Thanks,
J

 

Looking at the pic on Dakota Digitals website, there is a lip around the speedo. If I were you I would take a Dremmel and grind down the inside of my console on my tank till it fit. If your grinding isn't too pretty the lip will cover it.

 

Folsom - That was my first thought, too. I've already cut holes in my console for my homemade garage door switch, so I'm not afraid of working up a homebrew solution. Trouble is, the inside of the console tapers up to the opening. The lip is flush with the walls, so I can't just widen the lip. I'd have to cut out the sidewalls, too.

I'm just having a hard time believing other Bob owners haven't run into the 4" vs 4 1/4" speedo issue before.

I just got off the phone with Dakota support. They've never had anyone report a fitment problem with this speedo on a Fat Bob tank before. They offered to have their R&D manager call me. He's out today, so I hope to hear from him tomorrow.

 

Ah, I missed the part about how the console tapers. Good to know Dakota Digital is going to look into this for you. Too bad you didn't buy it from them, my guess is they'd send you a replacement. I ordered a MCV-7400 off eBay, hopefully I don't run into any problems....

 

I looked at the harley parts book. The 2007 Street Bob (and FXD) run whats called a 4" speedometer and its tank is not a fatbob tank (smaller capacity). Other 2007 dynas (FXDF, FXDC, FXDWG) with the larger fatbob tank use a 5" speedometer. In the end their site was too generic they should have listed not only the years, but the models it would fit.

Sorry for the bad news!

 

Thanks for the info Curz!

I knew I my console wasn't the standard FatBob size as soon as I held the new speedo next to the stocker. I've just never paid close enough attention to the other Dynas I walk by at the dealership to notice they have 1" bigger speedos. Funny that H-D still calls it a "Fat Bob" tank and console, even though it's really not.

Ultimately it's my fault for not taking exact measurements before purchasing an after-market product. I'm now the proud recipient of a $400 reminder not to rely on product descriptions or fitment guides when buying after-market stuff.

Measure twice myself, buy once.

Depending on how this works out, I may offer this unit for sale here on the forum. PM me if anyone is interested. The mileage can be reset to zero by any H-D dealership. Never even plugged the darn thing into my ECM once I saw what I was working with....

 

Awww, Comp don't give up! Maybe a different console? A leather one perhaps? You can make it work! Don't waste the $400! Also wait & see what Digital Dakota says, maybe they have a solution. A new housing, perhaps?

 

I like the idea of a new console myself. But the smart money says the console mounts won't line up. A true Fat Bob dash probably won't line up properly with my tank mounts.

My wild-eyed and slightly crazy idea is to rip the guts out of my stock speedo and cram the Dakota board and LCD screen into the stock housing. Problem solved, or $400 wasted depending on how it turns out. I'm a computer engineer and know my way around a soldering iron. I imagine it might be kinda fun to see the inside of a Dakota unit in the process of butchering it.

I'm only going to try something crazy like that if the ebay seller and/or Dakota can't do anything to help me.

All this has got me wondering: Does Dakota even make a 4" speedo for Dynas? I've only ever seen 4 1/4" and 3 3/8" diameter round gauges on their site. 3rd party retailers seem to simply copy/paste their descriptions straight from the Dakota site.

Lesson learned. Thanks to everyone for your responses.