New speedo update

[tmcafe]

After I finally managed to stick back in the silly rubber sockets, bulbs working, I thought the speedo wars were over, at least for a while. Was not to be. Tonight on the highway the speedo needle jumped to zero clockwise and sat there for a while, than slowly went back to what was my ballpark speed at the time, about 80. Upon stopping, it would slowly go back to about 20 where it got stuck. Odometers seemed to work fine--tested the trip against the mile posts and it's almost accurate, like .9+ per 1 mile.

 

Right now I don't have the time and energy, not to mention confidence in my ability to fix the problem, to cut the case open and see what's wrong (probably one little bulb that got stuck or grease that migrated where it shouldn't, or likely both). This is the speedo I got under warranty. Perhaps one day I'll open the original--whose speedo works, and maybe the odo could be repaired.

 

Guck Fuzzi, Iuck FTI, or whoever dumped these junk instruments on us.

[Steve G.]

After I finally managed to stick back in the silly rubber sockets, bulbs working, I thought the speedo wars were over, at least for a while. Was not to be. Tonight on the highway the speedo needle jumped to zero clockwise and sat there for a while, than slowly went back to what was my ballpark speed at the time, about 80. Upon stopping, it would slowly go back to about 20 where it got stuck. Odometers seemed to work fine--tested the trip against the mile posts and it's almost accurate, like .9+ per 1 mile.

 

Right now I don't have the time and energy, not to mention confidence in my ability to fix the problem, to cut the case open and see what's wrong (probably one little bulb that got stuck or grease that migrated where it shouldn't, or likely both). This is the speedo I got under warranty. Perhaps one day I'll open the original--whose speedo works, and maybe the odo could be repaired.

 

Guck Fuzzi, Iuck FTI, or whoever dumped these junk instruments on us.

 

 

I think Aprilia went with ITI guages after Vaglia went bust, the ITI's were used on all Aprilias.

 

Steve

[tmcafe]

Yes, I heard Veglias were better, and V11 was born before the Aprilia takeover. Doesn't make me feel any better...

[Guest ratchethack]

TMC, the guys at PA Speedo are a World Class operation. They can service your ITI (or send you somewhere that will) and I trust them implicitly.

 

FWIW, the "white face" Veglia Borletti speedo's have their own checkered history. . . (don't ask how I know).

 

http://www.paspeedo.com

 

Helmut and the boys will give you the straight info and Top Drawer service (if you're not in a terrific hurry, that is). . .

 

It won't be cheap. But more'n likely well worth wotever they charge.

 

BAA, TJM & YMMV.

[gstallons]

DITTO !

[tmcafe]

Thanks Ratch! I'll check with them, I'm in no rush.

 

Still wondering what caused the wacky behavior of the speedo. I know somewhere there's a repair how to posted by Greg. From my vague understanding of the speedo innards, something (dropped dash bulb) may have gotten stuck between the magnet and the drum? And maybe then it moved to get the needle stuck at 20?

 

At least for now I can rely on the odometers (whereas the ones in original speedo quit). Thinking of a benefit in disguise, maybe the speedo reading high may help me avoid speed tickets. And the bike is running fine as it always has.

[Skeeve]

Does Smiths make a clock that would fit in the case? [Ob: Vincent comment]

 

Failing that, is there a Brand J clock that would be easily substituted? With even their "low production" models exceeding the production #s of all years of the V11s put together, there's probably enough breaker's bits lying around that we could all upgrade at a pittance & not even affect the going price any...

[Greg Field]

TM: If you want to send it to me, I'll field-strip it and see if it can be fixed. Likely, it's just a haiku problem or maybe a twitchy demon. I have a voodoo priestess on call and a lot of parts from junked ITIs. Or maybe send it to Luhbo? There are no problems with Guzzis. It's always the owners.

[luhbo]

TM: If you want to send it to me, I'll field-strip it and see if it can be fixed. Likely, it's just a haiku problem or maybe a twitchy demon. I have a voodoo priestess on call and a lot of parts from junked ITIs. Or maybe send it to Luhbo? There are no problems with Guzzis. It's always the owners.

 

Well, someone presses 4 or 5 bulbs into his instrument, one after the other, prises his god-like idea of filling the housing with silcone grease before so that now the bulbs got stuck somewhere and don't rattle, then finally the instrument gives up - the longer I think about that the clearer it becomes: it must be a Guzzi problem. Somehow Guzzi must have a certain magnetism on specialists all over the world.

 

But that's a chance for others: for the less gifted specialists that's the chance to make a living out of it.

 

Hubert

 

Edit: you could of course send it to me if you like. I had the possibility to repair it.

[Dan M]

Got to agree with Hubert on this one.

Squirt grease in the mechanism, drop a few bulbs in (and leave them in there? do I get this right?) Then call the unit junk because it malfunctions.

Hmmm....

[Greg Field]

I have a pile of junked ITIs. They last, on average, 9,000 miles, unless you open them up and grease them regularly.

[Steve G.]

I have a pile of junked ITIs. They last, on average, 9,000 miles, unless you open them up and grease them regularly.

 

 

How big is your pile of V11 based Veglias Greg? What's failing on these things?

 

Steve

[grossohc]

My ITI has went at exactly 20,000 miles. Still shows the speed but doesnt record the mileage, this could be a good thing . Will be getting a new one before i dive into the guts of this one.

[tmcafe]

TM: If you want to send it to me, I'll field-strip it and see if it can be fixed. Likely, it's just a haiku problem or maybe a twitchy demon. I have a voodoo priestess on call and a lot of parts from junked ITIs. Or maybe send it to Luhbo? There are no problems with Guzzis. It's always the owners.

Thanks Greg! I may take you up on the offer, although you must have enough projects already. Maybe with some coaxing from the voodoo priestess, and bourbon-flavored grease the speedo will work smoothly and the twitchy demon will go away.

 

To recap what I did: I cut the speedo open in two spots to grease the gears per Greg's "how to" post:

.

In those openings I stuffed in Belray waterproof grease for the gears, then sealed the openings neatly with ducktape. I also sprayed a bit of Lithium Teflon grease with a straw on the couple or so pinion spots accessible. I didn't fill the case with silicone grease, nor did I drop any bulbs on purpose, and I retrieved all the bulbs that I could detect (just retrieving a bulb that has touched grease is enough of a test in patience and persistence). Maybe I put in too much grease--my bad. In retrospect I should have looked more carefully at the pics of the speedo removed from its case to avoid getting grease where it shouldn't be. Also I may have avoided the dropped bulbs, but as I'm not as resourceful as Ratch, who completely replaced the sockets and bulbs with more secure ones, I thought I should try to make the originals work, as Luigi did at the factory--eventually I cheated them into staying put and working. However, bulbs do occasionally fall inside the case: Speedo Fix.

As far as ITI speedos go, they're junk because they seem to fail on a regular basis. If I made a few silly mistakes trying to prevent my second speedo to fail like the original one, this doesn't change the fact that they're poorly made and not even greased to help them last longer.

 

Speedo update: both odometers work fine it seems, counting the miles with reasonable accuracy. The speedo needle still stops around 15 mph on its way to zero, and seems sluggish to react to fast changes in speed. Suspecting some stray grease getting in the way.