Speedo woes

Going zero MPH

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Andygears
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Speedo woes

#1

Post by Andygears »

Hi all, my speedometer quit a while ago, so I pulled it and spun it by hand, it worked so I dug deeper. Pulling the drive from the trans with it hooked back up, I spun it again, nothing! So I disconnected the drive from the cable and spun it, it worked! Looking at the drive and inserting it, in and out, I could get it to work turning the gear sometimes? Finally found one small area on the square inner cable that was slightly rounded, that spot was right where the drive gear located it when the collar was tightened and therefore rode by and didn’t turn the cable. Whew, that was hard to find but an easy fix: new inner cable from my local Indy dealer. All good, working & accurate.

Fast forward, it quit again! Starting at the bottom this time, the same thing happened, rounded off one small area of inner cable. I have no idea how old that 11 tooth drive is, could be aftermarket, whatever. I see online they’re about 30 bucks aftermarket. So I stalled the problem by wrapping the inner cable in the offending area with some aluminum foil, tried it & it works, and reinstalled the drive in the trans.

So is this common? Uncommon? are OEM drives broached square any deeper? (Mine looks like maybe 3/16 or so is square and beyond that open round). I can catch the undamaged corners below the broaching and keep it from pulling the cable from the drive until I turn it slightly. I know the foil won’t last but buying a new drive, I want one that’s better than this POS. Thoughts?

Andygears
RooDog
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Re: Speedo woes

#2

Post by RooDog »

You are inserting the inner cable down from the top, the speedo end of the housing?
And the last one I fooled with had a small thrust washer directly below the collar at the top of the inner cable....
....RooDog....
Little Stan
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Re: Speedo woes

#3

Post by Little Stan »

I've had to replace the inner cable about three times in 30 years, if yours if rounded try a new one.

-little stan
Andygears
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Re: Speedo woes

#4

Post by Andygears »

Yes cable in from the top, I’m thinking the issue is the female square in the drive gear is too big and/or too short. Wrapping foil seems a workaround for now. I want to get a different drive unit but who makes a good one? Or is OEM the only way? Thanks

Andygears
1950Panhead
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Re: Speedo woes

#5

Post by 1950Panhead »

Yes cable in from the top, I’m thinking the issue is the female square in the drive gear is too big and/or too short.
I have owned several bikes, never had this problem.
I have had seized speedos, drive gear says go, speedo says no thanks, drive gear always wins.
Original speedo gears are strong, Andrews makes nice parts, check for speedo drive.
Andygears
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Re: Speedo woes

#6

Post by Andygears »

Checked Andrew’s and Baker, neither list a speedo gear in any ratio/tooth number. I think the original gear was phenolic so I suppose there was some flexing going on and just wore that inner square over many miles.

So again I’m looking for a good replacement, V-twin, and Biker’s choice sell them and other unbranded units list from $30 all the way up to $75 but it’s impossible to tell if the high price one isn’t the cheap one marked up. What I mean is, there are probably only a couple companies making these, and some are likely better than others.

Andygears
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