speedometer is 10-12 off at hwy speed

[stal871]

I was on my 81 special, leading my group in a ride through the Bad-lands of western South Dakota last weekend, and they just couldn't keep up. (not that they had a chance, if I was actually trying to lose them) Anyway, come to find out, after riding side by side with a 2004 V-rod, when my speedo says 55 I'm actually going 65, and when it says 65 I'm doing damn near 80. I don't ever remember having a problem before. I think it just started all of a sudden. What do y'all think?? Do these things just flat wear out over time? I've never looked at the guts, can they be adjusted or lubricated back to accuracy?? It's not slow to respond or anything, and it is accurate up to about 35mph, so I doubt it could be as easy as a new cable. Please Help.

P.S. After determining that the new v-rod was not the one with the faulty speedo, we opened em up at the same time. Guess what, those things aint got nothin on a finely tuned XS11!

[randy]

Lube the cable.

[John]

Check the speedo drive bolted to the front axle on the left side. The drive gears inside may be stripping out, and slipping. They do wear out after 20 years or so.

[ratbyk]

Speedo Error

Do not get carried away while lubing the cable. If you put to much on there it can migrate up into the speedo head. It then starts to foul up the magnetic hub and spring that moves the the needle back and forth.
Remove the cable. Clean it. Smear a small amount of white lithium grease on it.
More is not better.
Ken/Sooke

[pgg]

The speedo. Strip it. Clean & polish it's guts.

[strom]

I have the same problem.
Just installed a windshield... it was a bitch to put on.
But... gonna check it out anyway.

Stal, if you come up with something, lemme know.

LP

[strom]

Gonna get my speedo apart shortly... if it can be taken apart.
Today I noticed that in bout 50-60 km I've done the odo shown just 10.... speedo is still bout 10 km/h off...

LP

[uk1.1s]

Faulty Speedo

On a ride across southern England a few years ago to see the solar eclipse we had here I was following SWMBO and wondering why my neck was aching.

She was on a well worn (and smoking) '79 Honda CB250 single like this one....



....doing an indicated 65mph (slightly downhill and smoking well). Her speedo too was slipping ....she just thought that the borrowed little 250 (my commuter bike) was making hard weather of 65mph...actually it was being thrashed at 90mph, about as fast as it would go.

Luckily about the same time the throttle rubber started slipping allowing the inner to rotate closed.... natures way of slowing down my dieing baby Honda.

[pgg]

My XS11's speedo used to read low, and I got 2 speeding tickets to prove it! Cops radar - 120kph. My speedo - about 105. Being thick, I didn't click until the next one. Cops radar - 124kph. My speedo - about 105. The second time I was hard out full on the brakes watching the needle SLOWLY drop as the cop suddenly appeared over a hill. Cop claimed his first reading was 140 plus. I didn't think radars worked behind hills. Told him he was all bull*** and demanded to see his radar screen. There it was - 124kph. Caught red handed. Gonna have to do a runner next time.

[strom]

OK, lubed and everything everything....
Speedo not tested fully yet, did a short commute, but odometer totally dead.
Any way of totally disassembling speedo?
Took off the outer cover (the one that you can change light bulbs and stuff inside).
Whats the long thingie with two wires for? Looks like a glass switch with two wires at each end and they contact in the middle?
How can I get to the guts?

LP

[pgg]

Strom , the thingie connects to the self- cancelling blinkers. Switches after a certain distance travelled. To get inside you gotta prise off the rim with screwdriver and pliers. Mine had small bits of surface corrosion and general gunk on some small moving parts inside. I cleaned up things with emery paper, and a squirt of juice here and there. Now the speedo reads a lot more accurate but I still use a digital speedo to moniter higher speeds.

[strom]

OK, speedo works... kinda.... sometimes it's a bit off, sometimes it's OK.

Odometer is more or less dead... did bout 150-200 km, but odo reads 4,6 km

Gonna pull it apart some time next week.

LP

PS: Got new tires.... avon venom-x front and avon roadrunner rear. Gotta sort out the suspension for a decet tire report, but OK so far.

[stal871]

Ok, stripped and cleaned and re-lubed the cable, removed speedo and thoroughly sprayed wd-40 all over the inside through a little tiny hole in the housing. I was hesitant to take it apart because it would require prying with screwdrivers and chisels and with my luck, result in breakage. It's still off at hwy speed, but maybe not quite as bad. Maybe one of these days I'll be in a bone-yard and run across another gear-thingy for the front axle and try that. Meanwhile, around town it's accurate and on the hwy I'll keep it about 10 under.

Thanks for the advice.
stal87