Dash indicator lights - tube replacement

Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police models

Created: 2013 May 24

Updated: 2013 May 24

Thanks to Gavin Woodworth for sending me this information via e-mail. In Gavin's own words:

I thought I'd let you know how I solved the indicator light tube issue.

I found a brass tube sold by K&S Precision Metals that fits so perfectly it's almost unbelievable. They make tubes for hobby usage in a ton of sizes, but the ¹⁄₂ inch OD tubing is the one to get. I found it at a local hobby shop, but they're available online as well.

I decided to replace five of my seven tubes as they were splitting and in generally poor shape. After cutting the tubing to proper length, I tapped them down onto the rear indicator light nuts. Light tapping with a hammer seated them snuggly. Amazingly, the dual-pole bulb sockets fit within the tube tightly without any modification, but not tight enough that you can't remove them by hand. The single-pole sockets seem to be slightly larger, so I zipped a cut with a Dremel length wise about 1 cm long to allow the tube to expand a bit (as the stock tubes do).

The end result works better than I could have hoped. They all fit perfectly and look pretty nice too...not that I'll be looking at the back of my dash much.

Anyway, thought I'd share. Maybe it'll come in handy for you or others down the road.