speedo troubles

[Welsh1100]

It was bound to happen. When my speedo cable broke I bought a new one. It seemed to work fine. However...after a few short miles I heard the speedometer whining. The needle spun around so fast that it snapped.
I found a replacement thru a recycling yard and installed it. Instantly...the whining was back and once more...the needle spun and snapped.
The speedo was the last one the wrecking yard had. So now I am in search of a speedo unit for my 79 xs1100f. But more importantly...how can I prevent that one from breaking? I checked and triple checked that the cable was in line properly and not kinked. Any ideas?

[crazy steve]

There's plenty of these on EBay, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding one. Some owners have disassembled their speedo and repaired the needle (a difficult, touchy job) but I've personally had poor luck with this; even the slightest weight change on the needle throws the accuracy off in my experience. Do a forum search for 'speedo repair' and there's posts on how to do this.

As to the failures, do check to make sure the input at the speedo turns freely; this sounds like a lubrication failure. Some light machine oil (sewing machine, 3 in 1, etc) applied to the input should help, but don't get carried away or you'll end up with 'stuff' on the dial face. Sometimes the odometer mechanism gets gummed up and will cause this. Again, this requires taking the speedo apart to gain access. If you kept your broken cable, chucking a stub of it in a drill and using that to turn the speedo will allow you to check operation before riding it.

Wouldn't hurt to check the drive unit at the wheel either. These can be disassembled easily, so a clean and re-lube would be a good thing.

[clcorbin]

I just went through mine last month. It can be done, but it IS a pain in the butt! You have to be VERY careful when you are bending the flange out and go around it and do it in several small passes. A paint can opener actually works pretty good for this and a good set of pliers will help when the flange is bent out quite a bit but not enough to pull the cover off.

What I found in mine was there was quite a bit of "crap" inside the magnetic cup but the rest of the speedo was very clean. I did a very through cleaning on everything and relubed bearing points.

The biggest pain in the butt for me was the needle. I had to pull the needle off so I could remove the faceplate because I couldn't get the odometer reset extension to come off. Getting that needle back on in the correct location was NOT easy, but it was definitely do-able. I calibrated it against a GPS and it is now closer than it was (but because the scale is off, it will never be perfect).

During this whole process, I managed t break the needle in three different places! The first time, I barely brushed it and it snapped off. I would say "like a dry twig", but a dry twig is built like a steel I-beam compared to these needles. 30 years of UV hasn't done them any favors!

Luckily, I was able to glue it back together with good super glue (not that crap you find on the checkout line at the grocery store!). Given how weak the needle is to begin with, I am fairly sure the super glue is quite a bit stronger than the needle is. While I had it off, I went ahead and hit the needle with a couple of coats of Testers Florescent Orange paint. I don't know what your needles look like, but mine have faded to the point they are a pale, ugly yellowy white color. The paint looks MUCH better and I also have no doubt actually makes the needle stronger (yes, they are THAT weak!).

Good luck getting everything straightened out.

[cywelchjr]

I've hear several make this claim of the scale being off, but I can't buy it. There may be other issues, but i have checked mine at multiple speeds from 20 MPH to 75 MPH against a GPS and mine is almost exact at all speeds (actually it is so close as I can't tell any difference), 20 is 20, 50 is 50 and 75 is 75. There may be other issues with other units, but I'm pretty happy with how accurate mine is. I do know my XS400 is NOT that close, not even. My car isn't even as close, so I smile every time I think about the fact that I know I'm going exactly the speed the speedo says.

[TomRodgers]

Speedo??? We dont need no stinkin Speedo!!!!!

[cywelchjr]

Speedo??? We dont need no stinkin Speedo!!!!!

Especially with your avatar, it could get embarrassing.

[Poprock]

Since I installed a Metzler 110/90/19 front tire, my speedo is dead on with a GPS. It ran a little fast with a 100/90 Dunlop EII. On the money is nice.

[clcorbin]

I've hear several make this claim of the scale being off, but I can't buy it..

So because YOURS is accurate ALL of them MUST be accurate???????????

Calibrating a meter involves TWO things: 1) calibrating the zero point (known as "zero" or "offset") (which we can do by moving the needle) and 2) calibrating the GAIN of the speedo so when your bike increases by 10 mph the speedo ALSO increases by 10 mph. Most people don't have the equipment to actually calibrate the gain as you would have to adjust the magnetic field of the cup or the tension of the spring (not just the preload, the actually k value of the spring).

Of course, if you are thinking about the "scale" on the face plate (aka: the painted lines and numbers), then yes, they are all pretty much exactly the same.