Can I change the Odometer??

[Planecrazy]

Hi All,

Recently picked up two GS1100G's. One has about 52,000 miles on it (the one I'm keeping) and the other has about 14,000.

I was told by the prior owner of the bike I'm keeping that the trip odometer has never worked. I'd like to swap the unit out with the other one, but I want the mileage to reflect accurately. Can these units be reset without too much trouble? I imagine that there are safety features built in to prevent this, but thought I'd ask anyway.

On a separate but related note, has anyone else had problems with a dead trip odometer? Mine spins with the reset knob, but apparently doesn't rack up miles. Is this an easy fix? Maybe I shouldn't bother with the swap if I can easily repair the faulty trip unit...

Thanks in advance for the advice that's sure to come!

Steve 8)

[Pete's GS]

Sorry, but you almost certainly can't change it but talk to a speedo shop. I once picked up a second speedo that I wanted to have reset to zero replace the original one but the shop couldn't do it. To see if your trip meter can be fixed, again, call the speedo shop. Shouldn't be too expensive, and I think they rather like working on motorcycle instruments.

[Anonymous]

Don't know about the G models but I had basically the same situation with my 1100E. After getting the speedo out of it's case there were two gears involved. The first gear in the system, coming from the point of view of the cable, could be removed. After taking it off I pressed the tripmeter button down about half way and other gear would spin free. Then sat there and watched TV and turned the miles off of it. Took about 15 minutes to remove 8,000 miles.
Didn't have a tamperproof device like most of the older car speedos I've seen.

[joeadams]

Could you just spin the 14k up to the 52k with a drill and just swap them? It sounds like it wouldnt matter much if they both said 52k.

I am probably way off on this one but my answer is short so I probably didn't waste too much of your time.

[jimcor]

...sat there and watched TV and turned the miles off of it. Took about 15 minutes to remove 8,000 miles.

The boys down at Honest Jim's Used Cars (Where Jim says: "Bring the little lady and we'll dicker awhile!") want to talk to you! 8O

[joeadams]

Now that I think of it, I actually did a very similliar thing with my truck odometer. I liked the instrument panel from 85 for S10s better and my dad had one in the yard at the time so I swapped them. It turned out that the number/barrel part of the odometer could just be pulled out of the 83 speedo and placed into the 85. I don't know if Suzuki odometers are like this but it was a pretty easy fix.

[dpep]

I started a similiar thread about 4-5 months ago because my speedo gear crapped out on a long trip and I wanted to put 3000 lost miles onto the odometer. Some of the members had used a drill successfully, but as I recall it would have taken the drill running non-stop for about 3 days to make up the 3000. To go from 14000 to 52000 (or to roll it over from 52000 to 14000) might wear out a few drills. I am hesitant to tear into my speedo; it works. If I can find an another one somewhere I might tinker.

[Planecrazy]

Thanks for all the replies!

I think I'll take a look at the trip odometer gearing first, and see if it's just a simple stuck engagement gear issue or like that. If that doesn't work, I might start playing with the other odometer and see if there's a shortcut to putting the proper mileage on it... I'll let you know what I find, but since I have the second unit available it can't hurt to try fixing the first one. Worst comes to worst I'll just mount the lower mileage gauge on the bike and keep track of the difference.

Regards,
Steve 8)