speedo needle weirdness

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I've noticed recently that my speedo needle acts a little strange. At speeds under 10-15 mph it stays at "0", then over 15 it jumps up and works normally. Not sure how long its been doing this, since I generally don't look at it when riding at those speeds. I don't think it has anything to do with the speedo drive being mis-installed, I've done that enough times that I know how to line up the wheel tabs with the notches in the speedo drive. And its pretty much rock stable at any other speeds. I'm assuming with 20 years and 106k miles on it the speedo internals are probably just getting a bit tired. I could probably rule out the drive unit by spinning the cable with a drill, next time I have the wheel off I'll try that.

Not really trying to fix anything, but was wondering if anybody else has seen this issue with theirs?
 
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used to happen to car all the time when they used cables. Remove the inner cable from the bottom clean and lightly lube it with white lithium grease. Its most likely the problem but I would start there first.
 
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I've noticed recently that my speedo needle acts a little strange. At speeds under 10-15 mph it stays at "0", then over 15 it jumps up and works normally. Not sure how long its been doing this, since I generally don't look at it when riding at those speeds. I don't think it has anything to do with the speedo drive being mis-installed, I've done that enough times that I know how to line up the wheel tabs with the notches in the speedo drive. And its pretty much rock stable at any other speeds. I'm assuming with 20 years and 106k miles on it the speedo internals are probably just getting a bit tired.
:plus1:

Sounds like the bearings are worn and it takes some amount of force ( like 15 mph worth ) to over come the "stiction" , and then the needle jumps up. If you disassemble the speedo, you might be able to see what is causing the problem. Maybe, just maybe, it might just need a good cleaning. Or just buy a good used speedo off Ebay.
 
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Pull the cable out, give a light smear of light grease (I use white grease), not right up to the top though and see if that makes a difference. Make sure the cable housing hasn't gotten a bit of a kink in it somewhere. Easiest thing to check first.
 
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dwalby
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If you disassemble the speedo, you might be able to see what is causing the problem. Maybe, just maybe, it might just need a good cleaning. Or just buy a good used speedo off Ebay.
I like my 100k+ odometer, so don't want to replace it with someone else's speedo.

BTW, I'm too lazy to request my 100k mile award, so getting motivated to remove and disassemble the speedo will never happen.
 
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I could probably rule out the drive unit by spinning the cable with a drill, next time I have the wheel off I'll try that.
Possibly not a good idea, since we don't know how fast that cable normally turns, unless someone here has wasted the time to figure out the speedo gear ratio to the wheel rotation. Just throwing it out there that you might damage the internals of the speedo with the speed of a drill.
 
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dwalby
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Possibly not a good idea, since we don't know how fast that cable normally turns, unless someone here has wasted the time to figure out the speedo gear ratio to the wheel rotation. Just throwing it out there that you might damage the internals of the speedo with the speed of a drill.
don't you have variable speed drills in Canada? Also, I realized a few minutes after I typed that, the wheel can stay on, I just have to remove the phillips (or should I say JIS) screw and pull the cable from the speedo drive.
 
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Possibly not a good idea, since we don't know how fast that cable normally turns, unless someone here has wasted the time to figure out the speedo gear ratio to the wheel rotation. Just throwing it out there that you might damage the internals of the speedo with the speed of a drill.
The speedo cable turns a wheel with a magnet on it. the speed of the magnet lifts the needle. faster it turns the more the needle is lifted. t takes 30 seconds to lube the cable... Why would not try that first. You may also find the cable itself is unwinding or coming apart... You could turn that cable at 200mph and not do any damage to the head!!
 
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Possibly not a good idea, since we don't know how fast that cable normally turns, unless someone here has wasted the time to figure out the speedo gear ratio to the wheel rotation. Just throwing it out there that you might damage the internals of the speedo with the speed of a drill.
Reverse your drill to drive the Speedo cable. Speedo tops out at about 40 Mph this way.

I've done everything
Possible on an St1100 Speedo, including changing the old miles. Drive unit worn? May be the "ears" on he nylon gear or the worm gear axle has too much slop. I've replaced both more than once. The worm gear axle (steel) wears it no-bushing housing (aluminium). Speedo cable? Lack of maintenance and accumulated rust . Easier to replace it than fix it. Speedo? Time and miles will take their toll. I mixed 'n matched Speedo components, and reset the odds between ReSTored and lipSTick. Lots of miles on all three of my STs. BeST wishes. :)
 
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I like my 100k+ odometer, so don't want to replace it with someone else's speedo.

BTW, I'm too lazy to request my 100k mile award, so getting motivated to remove and disassemble the speedo will never happen.
Why not ?? It would probably be good for re-sale.
 
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dwalby
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Why not ?? It would probably be good for re-sale.
Unfortunately, I crashed it back in September, so its resale value is low enough that its a moot point.

The only reason I started this thread was to see if this symptom was relatively common, or unusual. I don't consider it to be a problem, the speedo works normally at any speed that I'd actually be interested in.
 
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