1.6ing along

[fredintoon]

The speedo on my Canadian metric-gauged XS11SG died. As the self-canceller also quit I deduced the speedo drive cable had broken, I checked and so it had. Well, I got another from Andreas a year or so back and so I installed it. Lasted all of 17KM. Asking on the list, yes your speedo can partially seize up to put enough force on the cable to break it. Ah well, it's got to come apart anyway because one of the dial holding screws can be seen laying around loose in there. The $15.95 for a new cable from Dennis Kirk was fine, the $14 airmail was a downer but what's a fellow in Saskatoon gonna do? So the speedo is off in my hand and you can't hardly turn the thing, even with a Robertson screwdriver and penetrating oil isn't helping. But I do have an MPH speedo from the US that's been in my "no use but too good to throw away" box for yearsand on it goes. Now the flashers cancel once again and the speedo & odometer work again. I just gotta remember to multiply the speed and the distance by 1.6 to stay in line with the metric road signs.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[hamjam]

"bummer dude" ;-)
Fred you might want to check these guys out http://ontariocyclesalvage.com/index.html

Scott is the owner and has done a lot for the guys here with XSives

Jim

[fredintoon]

No speedos

Hi Jim,
thanks for the link, I have bookmarked it.
Site sez they are too busy to answer e-mails so phone 'em. Also their alphabetical list of parts has speedo drives and tacho drives but not speedos or tachos or even "instruments" so most likely I'm SOL at that store.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[planedick]

X 6

The '79 I sold to Scott has a KPH speedo and he isn't very happy with it, but the only other option is the 85 MPH one. Maybe he would trade.

[hamjam]

Hi Fred
I'm closer ... so I phoned Scott .
He believes he has one ,If you want it he will pull it off the shelf, should be about $ 130 to your door, email me if you are interested. I will handle things at this end ok
Jim


Fred wrote
Hi Jim,
thanks for the link, I have bookmarked it.
Site sez they are too busy to answer e-mails so phone 'em. Also their alphabetical list of parts has speedo drives and tacho drives but not speedos or tachos or even "instruments" so most likely I'm SOL at that store.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[underdog57]

Fred I pm'ed you ...

Bob

[fredintoon]

Swapping

Plaindick sez:-
The '79 I sold to Scott has a KPH speedo and he isn't very happy with it, but the only other option is the 85 MPH one. Maybe he would trade.
Hi Plaindick,
(BTW, do we have a Fancydick or even a Cleverdick on the list too?) Now there's a thought. If Scott is in a mind to swap and can wait until late October when the snow flies in Saskatoon, I'm amenable.
BUT the XS650 speedo & the XS11 Special speedo are a straight swap and pre-Carter 140mph speedos off earlier XS650s are certainly available because that's what I have on my XS11SG right now. Maybe Scott could widen his search parameters closer to home?
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[fredintoon]

I'm too cheap for that

Jim posts:-
Hi Fred
I'm closer ... so I phoned Scott .
He believes he has one ,If you want it he will pull it off the shelf, should be about $ 130 to your door, email me if you are interested. I will handle things at this end ok
Jim
Hi Jim, thanks for the kind offer but I'm too stingy to lay out more than the cost of a new tire on a mere speedo when the one I have works fine even if it does read in miles instead of kms. I'm fine with miles, kms are a political expedient. A mile IS a metric measurement. From Milium Pace, a thousand left-rights of a Roman Legionary who was a little short bastard which is why a mile is only 1,760 of a Viking's longer strides.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[planedick]

When the snow flies....

I'm sure he won't mind waiting, it's ride time here too. The speedo is the square kind, is that the one?

PS, planedick comes from the RC airplanes I build and crash.

[fredintoon]

Need a round one

Planedick sez:-
I'm sure he won't mind waiting, it's ride time here too. The speedo is the square kind, is that the one?
>
Hi planedick,
alas, my Special uses the round gauges so Scott will have to look elsewhere. Rather than pony up the price of a used replacement metric speedo I will keep on doing mental arithmetic as I ride. That has to be good for the brain, right?
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[pggg]

50 k's - 30 miles
100 k's - 60 miles
150 k's - 90 miles
200 k's - 120 miles

[Ken Talbot]

The jingle they used here in Canada on the government's TV ads went:

"twenty gives you thirty, thirty gives you fifty, fifty gives you eighty"

It was set to an annoying little bit of music, but it did the trick. Even now, whenever I'm driving south of the line, that d@mn jingle pops to mind and gets stuck there.

[fredintoon]

Jingling along

Hi Ken,
Canadian metrification never bothered me as I was used to dual measurements from working on an English/French aerospace project. Do you know how long the Concorde is in mm? Well, I don't remember neither but it was a very long number.
That annoying jingle will keep you alert on the boring parts of a ride. Especially as with your speedo in KMs and US signs in miles you gotta sing it backwards?
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[skids]

Multiply by 1.6? I have a speedo that reads high and I have to multiply MPH by .9 to correct MPH!