tachometer doesnt work

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  • Guest

    #1

    tachometer doesnt work

    So the tach on my bike doesn't move at all, the previous owner said it never worked for her either. the cable seems to be attached fine and rotates when i move the engine round (checked when i did my valves yesterday) ive never taken a tach apart or anything similar so im not sure what to look for. any advice would be helpful.

    is there any ill effect on the bike if the tach doesn't work?
  • Cipher
    Forum Sage
    • Mar 2016
    • 3129
    • Toronto Ontario

    #2
    nothing to harm the engine. I have run my bike for days awaiting a new cable to arrive.
    Knowing your engine speed in a given gear at a given road speed helps for sure.
    You can reverse the math if your tach works but you lose your speedo cable.

    Did you remove the cable from its housing? The nipple can work loose and spin things under no load but then act bad when connected to the tach. The cables can also break partially and produce a jumpy needle.

    I would disconnect the cable from the tach side and statrt the engine to verify the cable spins in the housing and that the spinning changes with engine speed.
    Then remove and inspect things.

    WHat bike is this? You may need to get a replacement on ebay or another vendor.
    1983 GS 550 LD
    2009 BMW K1300s

    Comment

    • Guest

      #3
      Originally posted by Cipher
      Did you remove the cable from its housing? The nipple can work loose and spin things under no load but then act bad when connected to the tach. The cables can also break partially and produce a jumpy needle.

      I would disconnect the cable from the tach side and statrt the engine to verify the cable spins in the housing and that the spinning changes with engine speed.
      Then remove and inspect things.
      ok so worst case scenario is that i would need to replace the cable or possibly the whole tach

      Comment

      • Cipher
        Forum Sage
        • Mar 2016
        • 3129
        • Toronto Ontario

        #4
        yes yes yes
        indeed
        1983 GS 550 LD
        2009 BMW K1300s

        Comment

        • Redman
          Forum LongTimer
          Past Site Supporter
          • Mar 2004
          • 13719
          • Michigan, west Michigan

          #5
          Originally posted by SilentRaven
          ........................................ the cable seems to be attached fine and rotates when i move the engine round ..............
          THe cable on the tach end I assume.... but how about if you try to hold it with your fingers....? Could be broke somewhere but the ragged ends catch each other enough for it to spin with no load on it, but if you hold it with your fingers does it still want to turn out of your fingers...?

          .
          http://webpages.charter.net/ddvrnr/GS850_1100_Emblems.jpg
          Had 850G for 14 years. Now have GK since 2005.
          GK at IndyMotoGP Suzuki Display... ... GK on GSResources Page ... ... Euro Trash Ego Machine .. ..3 mo'cykls.... update 2 mocykl


          https://imgur.com/YTMtgq4

          Comment

          • JTGS850GL
            Forum Guru
            Past Site Supporter
            • Aug 2013
            • 9735
            • GA

            #6
            Just disconnect the cable from the engine and slide the inside cable out. See if the middle of the cable is snapped or the tach end is rounded. If not then go the classified section or ebay and find a replacement tach. Lots of them out there at reasonable prices. One of the benefits of owning a Suzuki. Cheep bikes and cheap parts that are plentiful.
            http://img633.imageshack.us/img633/811/douMvs.jpg
            1980 GS1000GT (Daily rider with a 1983 1100G engine)
            1998 Honda ST1100 (Daily long distance rider)
            1982 GS850GLZ (Daily rider when the weather is crap)

            Darn, with so many daily riders it's hard to decide which one to jump on next.;)

            JTGS850GL aka Julius

            GS Resource Greetings

            Comment

            • Cipher
              Forum Sage
              • Mar 2016
              • 3129
              • Toronto Ontario

              #7
              This 450 t shares its gauges with man many models
              I saw a tach for 38 ucks on ebay yesterday.
              Its like a cable issue but you are lucky the gauge itself can be gotten cheaply.
              1983 GS 550 LD
              2009 BMW K1300s

              Comment

              • Guest

                #8
                Thanks for the advice very one

                Comment

                • Guest

                  #9
                  so i got my new cable in the mail today and once i looked at the new cable the problem was obvious... my old cable didnt actually have a cable in it! swapped out the old 'cable' for the new one and now it works correctly! LOL

                  Comment

                  • JTGS850GL
                    Forum Guru
                    Past Site Supporter
                    • Aug 2013
                    • 9735
                    • GA

                    #10
                    I love it when a problem is obvious.
                    http://img633.imageshack.us/img633/811/douMvs.jpg
                    1980 GS1000GT (Daily rider with a 1983 1100G engine)
                    1998 Honda ST1100 (Daily long distance rider)
                    1982 GS850GLZ (Daily rider when the weather is crap)

                    Darn, with so many daily riders it's hard to decide which one to jump on next.;)

                    JTGS850GL aka Julius

                    GS Resource Greetings

                    Comment

                    • Guest

                      #11
                      i have no idea why some one would remove the cable!? when a new one was about $13!
                      Last edited by Guest; 07-23-2016, 09:50 AM.

                      Comment

                      • Cipher
                        Forum Sage
                        • Mar 2016
                        • 3129
                        • Toronto Ontario

                        #12
                        You are going to have a massive decrease in engine performance due to the increased load of the tach cable.
                        1983 GS 550 LD
                        2009 BMW K1300s

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