Question about using 140mph speedometer on my 79 SF

[JeremyL]

My 160mph round speedo's needle broke off the other day and I've been looking for an affordable replacement. Well a member here has a 140MPH round speedo and since I'm not planning on doing anything faster than 140 or so I am fine with the 140mph speedo because his is in great shape. He mentioned to me that the 160 uses a 4 pin connector and the 140 has a 3 pin. I don't mind to chop off my 4 pin connector and wire it up on the 140 but will it work? Is there a wire I just don't be using or will it not work at all? I've tried searching the forum but all the 140mph speedo questions are about using them to replace an 85mph speedo which, AFAIK, is 3 pin as well.

Any ideas before I buy something that may not work?

[BA80]

I run a 140 MPH speedo on my SG because 85MPH just doesn't get it. All you need to do is take the harness out of your original speedo and put it in the 750 speedo. All it is is lighting and the counter for the self cancelling tS.

Swaps out easy.

[JeremyL]

I've had my speedo out before to replace bulbs and remember the harness running into it but don't remember it being where I can just unplug it and plug it into the other one? Do you care to say how you do it? Will I loose the self cancelling turn signals?

[donebysunday]

I thought I'd been swapping speedos onto/into my XS650s from all the Specials, I swear I had a 160 on my 83 XS650 Heritage, just plug and go ? Maybe extra lite in that one ?

[BA80]

The plugs are different but as I said, all you need to do is swap the harness out and your good to go. I think the 650's only go to 120.

If your going to buy one from fleabay or something, one thing you need to keep in mind is the 750s had 2 different speedos. One is an ugly green and doesn't match the 11 tach. You don't want that one. Also if you get one from Canadia the KPH #s will be the bigger ones so watch that too.

Tip: check all the bulbs before you put it all together so you don't have to take it all apart again to change one.

[BA80]

I've had my speedo out before to replace bulbs and remember the harness running into it but don't remember it being where I can just unplug it and plug it into the other one? Do you care to say how you do it? Will I loose the self cancelling turn signals?

No problem at all, just remove the chrome cover and the bulbs are in rubber receptacles and are taken out easily and swapped out. The counters for the TS are the same and have connectors in the wires. Save the old counter because I've had a couple go out on me. Good to have a spare laying around.

The self canceling feature will still work.

[jetmechmarty]

XS650's have 140 mph and 120 mph speedometers. All of the XS bikes swap speedometers and everything works, so long as you don't get one that predates self cancelling signals. XS650's go back to 1970.

[BA80]

I've had to change the plugs/harnesses on all I've swapped out.

[JeremyL]

The plugs are different but as I said, all you need to do is swap the harness out and your good to go. I think the 650's only go to 120.

If your going to buy one from fleabay or something, one thing you need to keep in mind is the 750s had 2 different speedos. One is an ugly green and doesn't match the 11 tach. You don't want that one. Also if you get one from Canadia the KPH #s will be the bigger ones so watch that too.

Tip: check all the bulbs before you put it all together so you don't have to take it all apart again to change one.

This is from a member here so had some parts for sale in the forum. He had both for sale (160 and 140) and they're both the black face in mph so that'll work but the 160 was pretty rough, although it was cheaper. I'd rather pay a little bit more for the 140 that's in better shape and lose 20mph. I've seen those ugly green ones and luckily this one is not. He just mentioned the 3 vs 4 pin connectors and I wasn't sure if it would work or not without having to do major surgery on it. Good tip on the bulbs btw lol, that'd be something I'd forget to check for sure.

[JeremyL]

I've had to change the plugs/harnesses on all I've swapped out.

When you changed the harnesses did you have to actually take the speedo apart (besides just removing it from the chrome housing obviously) to do it? Or was it a simple swap?

[BA80]

When you changed the harnesses did you have to actually take the speedo apart (besides just removing it from the chrome housing obviously) to do it? Or was it a simple swap?

No, just the cover Marty. Not a big deal at all.

[JeremyL]

No, just the cover Marty. Not a big deal at all.

Thanks for the report, but don't call me Shirley.

Ok I'm not funny but thanks for real though. Now I can confidently buy the nicer 140mph. Now I just need to make sure I can spend $40 on it. I keep slipping these little $40-60 purchases in this month on my bike and it's adding up to a few hundred so it's not really a good time to buy one but it's a great deal and I hate to pass it up.

[BA80]

Thanks for the report, but don't call me Shirley.

Ok I'm not funny but thanks for real though. Now I can confidently buy the nicer 140mph. Now I just need to make sure I can spend $40 on it. I keep slipping these little $40-60 purchases in this month on my bike and it's adding up to a few hundred so it's not really a good time to buy one but it's a great deal and I hate to pass it up.

Ha ha ha ha ha..............it's the beer talking there. For some reason I imagined I was talking to Marty.

[JeremyL]

Well I had to stop and think "wait didn't *I* ask that?" and had to look up to make sure. And I can't even blame it on beer. I was going to run out and get some and decided to wait until tomorrow, beer gut has gotten out of hand.

[GLoweVA]

Okay, I'll chime in here.
A few years ago I did a bunch of research on speedo swaps and here's the thread: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36699
What I forgot to mention in this thread was how to swap the wires around.
There's 2 ways to do this.
1. use your existing xs1100 wiring harness and unplug/remove the light bulbs and self canceling reed switch from your old xs1100 speedo and put them into the new(650/750/850/1100) speedo that's going in.
2. use the wires that come with the new speedo, but you have to go into the headlight bucket to the connector plug and using a very small screwdriver, push the pins out of the plug and then you can use your existing xs1100 plug and match the wires into the correct holes for the wires on the new speedo and plug it back up.

Hope this helps.

+1 on the fact that 85mph just doesn't cut it. You get about 3-5 times pegging that needle and then watch out, it won't take long before the needle starts acting weird on you and fails. It's happened to me twice now on my G and now it's starting on my SG. I've been keeping an eye out for a 120/140mph one on fleabay, but can't yet pull the trigger to spend more than $40 for one while the one on my SG's is still works somewhat okay for now.