Moab

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ARCHIVE_Jimmy

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Speedo cable trouble

I'm just curious if any of you might have had this problem or an idea of what's causing it.

Last fall my speedo cable broke right down at the wheel end. Now it was the 1985 original so I didn't think much about it, just figured it had served it's time and replaced it with one I had laying around from another 85 parts bike I had. Then about a month ago that one broke, this time somewhere in the middle. Again, I didn't think much about it and just chalked it up to it being old also. So I ordered a new one from Dennis Kirk and installed it on Wens and took it for a test ride. Well about 60 miles later my speedo hit 0 while cruising down the highway. Yep, it broke also. This time about an inch down on the speedo end. Now I am wondering why I keep snapping these cable. The only thing that I can come up with is that maybe the gearing in the speedo is binding up for some reason and stopping for just a second on that end while the wheel is still trying to turn the other end. The guys at the Kaw shop agreed with me that that sounded like the problem but they couldn't be 100% on it. I took the speedo off but of course I can't get inside it to see if the gearing is rusted up or something like that. I did take the 1 inch peice of broken cable, inserted it into the speedo and twisted it with my fingers, and it seemed to turn with no catches at all. So I am not sure what is going on, but I know riding without a speedo is a real pain, especially when doing 80 feels like 50.

Anyone have any ideas on this one?
 
Speedo.

Hey Jimmy,
Are you lubricating the cables before you put them on? You might also need some grease down at the wheel. The only other thing would be to check how you are routing the cable (how it "snakes" up to the speedo) up to the speedo. The line should have as few sharp bends in it as possible. You might try routing the cable in a different way. Otherwise, I don't know on that one - seems strange, cables usually hold up pretty good - even with out lubrication. Hope that helps. Later.
 
Try hooking up the broken end of the speedo cable to a variable speed dremel tool to listen for and weird sounds and to see if it indeed locking up at some point. May take some time for it to do it again, but then again you don't want to keep breaking cables either!
 
Jarney, no i didn't lube this new one, didn't think I would need to. And as far as the routing goes, I already thought about that when I installed it and it was a straight shot with no sharp bends either.

Ethan, the guy at the Kaw shop suggested using a drill but the only thing I have around here is a cordless. I tried it and it only got up to 10mph. I'll try to borrow a dremel tool from a friend and give that a try. By the way, I changed ISP today (going DSL now) and I sent you an e-mail with my new addy, make sure you change it in your address book.

I am thinking about cutting the inner housing off of the speedo in order to take a look at the guts, and then having my brother who is an amatuer welder tack it back together for me. Do you guys think this is a good move? I mean I don't want to totally screw up my speedo because a new one from Kaw is outragously expensive, but then I need to get this fixed somehow.
 
Speedo Cable-Thems the breaks!

Just thought I'd throw in my two cents.
Broke my speedometer cable last weekend. Ordered a replacement from my local Kawi dealer on Tuesday. Got it on Friday. Cost around $20.00.
I asked him the same question about the speedo binding. He said that they have plastic gears in them and that if the speedo started to bind just a bit, the cable would easily strip the guts out of it. Lets hope that its just a case of too old a cable.
Mine is brand new. If I have any troubles with IT, i'll let you know.
 
I would definately try another cable before I cut the speedo apart! In my experience the cables one gets from Dennis Kirk are pure junk. I ordered one and it broke after about 30 miles. They sent a replacement at no cost, but the speedo end was not threaded, just a bare casting. Then they sent me a third cable which has lasted for a few thousand miles now. Call D.K., they should send you a replacement free which is really worth trying.
 
I didn't know that they would replace it. I looked in the catalog for a "defective merchandise" part but couldn't find anything. All I could find was the thing about getting a refund from undamaged parts in the original package.

I ordered a new cable from the Kaw shop on Monday and it should be here tomorrow, so I am going to give that one a try. And I have decided not to cut the speedo apart just yet. I have another speedo that is scratched up that was on a parts bike and I am going to put it on for the time being. If it lasts a little while I will put my good speedo back on, that way if it breaks on the good one and not the old one then I will know the problem lies in the good speedo.

Thanks for the advise guys.
 
Hey Jimmy, Your Gear Drive at the Wheel Probaly Needs Greased UP, Use the lightest Grease they have, Forget what its Called, Later Rocky :twisted:
 
Just an update.

I got a new cable from the Kaw shop last week and put in on this weekend. Lubed it up with some grease and also lubed the gear drive at the wheel and also on the speedo side. Didn't have a chance to do any serious riding but did take it out for a test spin. Rode for about 30 miles and hit 105 on the interstate and everything held together. So hopefully that solved my problem.

Thanks for the advise guys.
 
I could tell my original speedo cable was on its last legs when it started squeaking at low speed. I checked my brake pads, suspecting a bit of grit, but they were fine. It turned out to be the speedo cable.

I just spray Slick 50 down into the cable housing and let it run down to the bottom. My Eliminator has almost 60,000 miles, and I've only had two speedo cables, so it seems to work.
 
lets all keep our hopes up that Moab gets better, he had a bit of a "scare" the otherday.....Get well bro you gonna have to be healthy to get that eli up from the bacement
 
get well MOAB, I talked to ya this morning, kinda short you didn't mention this. I hope all is well :good luck:
 
I'll be OK...I just had a scare concerning my heart...But all the test came back good, but rest assured, the hospital took every opportunity to poke me with needles and drain my blood, stick those sensor dealies all over me (they don't come off without taking hair with them) and making me wear those ridiculous smock/robe dealies where your ass hangs out (no thrill for ANYONE involved)....But as I stated before...All the tests came back good so I should be OK...But I want to thank you guys for your kind words...And I will keep y'all posted...And yes Rick, I do need to be healthy to get that big ***** out of my basement(Thanx Bro)...lol...
Talk to y'all soon, gonna try and go easy for a few days...
moab... :sick:
 
Thats good to hear bud. Take it easy and give that gerbil a break for a couple days,lol :rotf: :ignore: :D :munky2: :dog: :pottytrain1: :toothy6:
 
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