Speedo shelled out on me

[RobC]

Just curious, my speedo on my 82 gs850gl had an internal explosion. I found a speedo pretty reasonable but its off of a 86 GSXR 750 would anyone know if that would work on my bike? I'm not too worried about if it mounts the same, just if the speedo cable would fit. I can custom make a mount if i Need

 

[RobC]

Well I lost out on the other speedo, so I decided to try my best to fix what came apart.

Figured since it was toast anyway I couldnt hurt it anymore so I tore it apart. After cutting the plastic case, it was sealed to keep from being tampered with (guess they didn't plan on me getting my hands on it) I found a TON of metal shavings inside it. All the visible gears appeared to be ok, but there was (im assuming, because nothing was there) a gear that connected the needle shaft to the cup that spins around the magnet. To get to that area I had to split the frame apart and then sparingly applied epoxy to where the gear was supposed to be.

I then glued the frame back together as I had to grind on the tabs holding it together to get it apart. Got the needle stuck back to where it was supposed to be (it snapped when the speedo spazzed out) and after it all dried, I bench tested it with my drill and it seems to work. The plastic case is glued and drying now, I will try to get the pics off my phone and post em up. I wont get to test it out on the bike till tomorrow, got about a dozen wires disconnected troubleshooting my charging issue.

 

[Guest]

I know NOTTTHHHING! I see NOTTTTHHHIIIING!


Actually I have an extra speedo if you need one. Measure the across face and I'll let you know if mine will fit.

 

[RobC]

Thanks for that offer, I'll take a measurement tomorrow when I test it on the bike. I might not need one but will definitely let you know how it works.

So here are the couple of pics I took, was a last minute oh yeah I need to take a few shots of this so the quality is kinda bad.

Here is where the damaged area was

and a wider shot showing some of the disassembly.

 

[Nessism]

Love to see someone that's not afraid to tear apart something - even "tamper proof" parts like a speedo.

Speedo needle on my 850 occilates back and forth around the speed I'm traveling. Guessing the damping action in the needle is failing dispite low miles on the bike (3700 miles). After opening up your speedo Rob, do you see a reasonable way to fix it? Thinking about cracking it open today to have a look-see on the inside. Advice welcome.

BTW, most Suzuki speedos/tachs can be opened by prying the bezel ring open on front by working with lip in back. Easier than cutting the plastic open.

Ed

 

[Matchless]

Love to see someone that's not afraid to tear apart something - even "tamper proof" parts like a speedo.

Speedo needle on my 850 occilates back and forth around the speed I'm traveling. Guessing the damping action in the needle is failing dispite low miles on the bike (3700 miles). After opening up your speedo Rob, do you see a reasonable way to fix it? Thinking about cracking it open today to have a look-see on the inside. Advice welcome.

BTW, most Suzuki speedos/tachs can be opened by prying the bezel ring open on front by working with lip in back. Easier than cutting the plastic open.

Ed

Nessism,
I recently 'overhauled' both the speedo and tacho. Opened them up (bent the metal tabs open) and carefully washed out the cable drive part. Then I bathed the complete clockworks in benzine which some years ago was used to clean watches. Once I had all the old lubrication off all the gears, spindles and axles, I just relubricated with clock oil and some thin grease. Just make sure you do not miss out anything. You can check if the cup inside moves the needle without jamming and smoothly returns to zero. Sometimes old lubrication gets hard and dirty and causes some binding.
If you stick your speed controlled Dremel on the input you can test it while open as well.
I also used the opportunity to clean the glass inside and repaint the red parts.
The cable drive part I lubricated with a high quality spray on grease after assembly.

A jumping mechanical speedo in many cases point to a cable problem.

 

[RobC]

Nessism,
A jumping mechanical speedo in many cases point to a cable problem.

Thats what I had thought my issue was, so I ordered a new cable and continued riding the bike. About 30 more miles and all of a sudden the needle spun till it hit the 85mph stop, snapped the needle off and then sounded like a jet engine starting. A few seconds later the noise stopped and it appeared to have just quit working completely.

The issue with mine was the old grease had turned sticky, and started hanging up the cup with the magnets. Once I had it apart, I sprayed electro-wash to clean all the old grease and shavings off (used electro-wash cause its safe on most plastics and leaves no residue). I then used some LPS (non greaseless spray lubricant) on all the gears, and it spins very freely now.

I cut the case apart, due to one of the links I had read actually recommended cutting the case with a dremel cut of wheel. My son had used all my dremel discs, so that left me with my band saw (I had to improvise somehow ).

 

[Matchless]

Thats what I had thought my issue was, so I ordered a new cable and continued riding the bike. About 30 more miles and all of a sudden the needle spun till it hit the 85mph stop, snapped the needle off and then sounded like a jet engine starting. A few seconds later the noise stopped and it appeared to have just quit working completely.

The issue with mine was the old grease had turned sticky, and started hanging up the cup with the magnets. Once I had it apart, I sprayed electro-wash to clean all the old grease and shavings off (used electro-wash cause its safe on most plastics and leaves no residue). I then used some LPS (non greaseless spray lubricant) on all the gears, and it spins very freely now.

I cut the case apart, due to one of the links I had read actually recommended cutting the case with a dremel cut of wheel. My son had used all my dremel disks, so that left me with my band saw (I had to improvise somehow ).

Many people have opted to rather cut the case. It is not a problem and just needs proper glueing. You are lucky that it still works or did you do a repair as well?
Is it working well now?

 

[RobC]

Love to see someone that's not afraid to tear apart something - even "tamper proof" parts like a speedo.

Speedo needle on my 850 occilates back and forth around the speed I'm traveling. Guessing the damping action in the needle is failing dispite low miles on the bike (3700 miles). After opening up your speedo Rob, do you see a reasonable way to fix it? Thinking about cracking it open today to have a look-see on the inside. Advice welcome.
Ed

Heh, I've been doing aviation maint. now for about 18 years, it usually takes something pretty severe to scare me off.

I would agree with Matchless, most of the time it would be the cable causing the needle to wander.

Although it would never hurt on bikes as old as ours, to tear into it and double check. Its never a bad thing to clean and lubricate old parts. You should be able to clean and relube everything with only taking it out of the case, I had to split the frame to try to fasten the cup to the needle shaft.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[RobC]

Many people have opted to rather cut the case. It is not a problem and just needs proper glueing. You are lucky that it still works or did you do a repair as well?
Is it working well now?

The speedo wasn't working at all, thats why I opted to open it up. If its already torn up I can't break it any worse.

And I did attempt a repair, where the shaft for the needle attaches to the cup. The cup was spinning freely without moving the needle at all.

All I've tried is to bench test it with my drill, I haven't gotten the motivation to get my behind moving yet to put the bike together and test it properly.

 

[Nessism]

Going to pull the speedo today and play around with it. Cable is new so that's not the problem. Based on you guy's comments, hoping the problem is as simple as dryed grease. Fingers crossed...

 

[LilTinc]

This sounds kind of wimpy after reading about ya'll tearing into your guages.

Isn't there a company that will rebuild guage clusters?

My oil temp guage "wiggles" and my speedo and tach faces are kind of faded. I'd like to get them re-printed if possible.

I do need to get brave and pull the cluster apart because an insect found it's way into my speedo and it now a dried brown carcus. It doesn't look good.

 

[Matchless]

This sounds kind of wimpy after reading about ya'll tearing into your guages.

Isn't there a company that will rebuild guage clusters?

My oil temp guage "wiggles" and my speedo and tach faces are kind of faded. I'd like to get them re-printed if possible.

I do need to get brave and pull the cluster apart because an insect found it's way into my speedo and it now a dried brown carcus. It doesn't look good.

It may be cheaper to get a good used set.
If its not the glass that is dirty on the inside, and the face is faded then someone could draw the design on a PC and print out on the vinyl used for advertising signs and you just stick it over the old face after prizing the needle off with an kitchen fork. Maybe you know a friend in the graphics design business? They would maybe just need a scan of the old face for layout and size.

 

[Nessism]

Cracked open the speedo and everything looks pretty good. Grease feels kind of sticky - hopefully that's the problem. Thinking about cleaning out the old grease and applying new.

Can I use brake cleaner to hose down the gears? Could brush on some acetone or lacquer thinner if that would be better. Don't have any benzine but could purchase some if necessary.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Matchless]

Cracked open the speedo and everything looks pretty good. Grease feels kind of sticky - hopefully that's the problem. Thinking about cleaning out the old grease and applying new.

Can I use brake cleaner to hose down the gears? Could brush on some acetone or lacquer thinner if that would be better. Don't have any benzine but could purchase some if necessary.

Thanks in advance.

Brake cleaner should work, as long as it does not get on paint or plastics, as some types may be damaged by it. I just used benzine as I had it and know that it does not harm plastics.
Check if the cup turns freely from the zero pin to the stop pin before and after cleaning and relubing. If you have an electric screwdriver or drill, stick a small flat tip in it and into the cable entry and see how the needle behaves while off the bike.

 

[Nessism]

Brake cleaner should work, as long as it does not get on paint or plastics, as some types may be damaged by it. I just used benzine as I had it and know that it does not harm plastics.
Check if the cup turns freely from the zero pin to the stop pin before and after cleaning and relubing. If you have an electric screwdriver or drill, stick a small flat tip in it and into the cable entry and see how the needle behaves while off the bike.

Cleaned the lower gears and magnet with brake cleaner being careful to keep the spray away from the upper mechanism with the number wheels and face. Unfortunately, was holding the speedo with a paper towel and the brake clean wicked up and got on the odometer wheels damaging the paint. Needless to say I'm not too happy with myself. Might be able to change out the gang of odometer wheels if I can find some replacements.

If anyone has an old speedo please drop me a PM.:-?

Where is that thread about learning from out mistakes...

 

[RobC]

Well the epoxy repair did technically work as I have gone from the needle not doing squat to reading pretty dead on accurate. That is until I get to around 45-50mph and then it pegs to 85 and remains till I slow down to around 30mph.

 

[Matchless]

Cleaned the lower gears and magnet with brake cleaner being careful to keep the spray away from the upper mechanism with the number wheels and face. Unfortunately, was holding the speedo with a paper towel and the brake clean wicked up and got on the odometer wheels damaging the paint. Needless to say I'm not too happy with myself. Might be able to change out the gang of odometer wheels if I can find some replacements.

If anyone has an old speedo please drop me a PM.:-?

Where is that thread about learning from out mistakes...

Oh-no, but it should still be possible to fix that. Lift the needle carefully over the zero stop pin and mark the position it stops at with a bit of tape. That gives you the spring tension for replacing the needle. Put two strips of tape next to the needle axle on the face to protect it from scratches and use a kitchen fork with a prong on either side, pushing on the needle hub, so that you can pry straight up and push the needle off.
Now unscrew the two small screws holding the face plate and remove.
You should have fairly good access to the distance wheels. Clean the black parts, but do NOT use thinners or acetone or brake cleaner - I suggest benzine again or alcohol.
Now use a small artists brush and some black paint to touch up the number wheels. I have never taken them out, but if you can, then its still easier, clean properly and just roll them on a cloth soaked lightly in black paint.
Good luck!

 

[Nessism]

Said the wrong thing in my post above; it's the trip meter, not the odometer. The whole number wheel rack nests together on one pin - which looks to snap in place on the frame of the speedo assembly. Going to see if the entire trip meter wheel assemble can be removed and replaced. If so, it shouldn't be too hard to find a busted speedo to take some good wheels from. Still burns me up since should have been more careful.

 

[jimfj]

Nessism,

Did you pry the top caps off of your guages or did you cut them? I am wanting to know how you guys do on this before I go tearing into mine.
I need to paint a little faded red and do some lubricating too.

Jim