New Speedo Drive Prep

[P3GA]

After a few months and a hearty sum, I have a new speedo drive for the Le Mans in hand.

 

Before installation, I was going to generously coat it and the speedo cable with Red Line assembly lube which of course I can't find in the garage & local sources appear non-existent.

 

Can anyone reccommend / know of a comparable prodcut?

 

I'll mail order if necessary, but why is it I cringe to pay $7.50 postage & handling for a $6.00 tub of left-handed abino possum lard?

 

Thanks,

Phil

Atlanta GA

'02 Le Mans

[Guest ratchethack]

Phil, may I suggest using whatever gear lube you're running in your trans. If you work a shot of the lube into the instrument head end of the cable housing via a funnel, it'll distribute itself along the length of the cable and the speedo drive as you ride. The excess will find it's way into the trans.

[big J]

Dunno if it's right, but I thought it was a bad idea to lubricate speedo cables as the lube finds it's way into the speedo head and buggers up the mechanism???

 

The cable should be teflon lined type.

 

Anyone know anything about this?

[Guest ratchethack]

Hmmm, it's a thought, but I've done 'em this way for decades with no prob's, the lube would have to fight gravity on a straight vertical climb by capillary action and work it's way around various fittings in the process... Teflon housing or no, I figure any risk is prettly low probability and lubing 'em always seems to help...

[Martin Barrett]

Archimedean screw?

 

 

 

Sorry Devils Advocate

 

[Guest ratchethack]

Archimedean screw?

Hmmmmmm....never saw one of those under a speedo head. You?

[big J]

Archimedean screw?

 

Sorry Devils Advocate

 

64385[/snapback]

 

Yep, the oil runs up the spiral flutes of the cable as it rotates. As I said,I dont know if it's true,it was a piece of advice I was given aeons ago and had no reason to doubt it, the guy who told me knew his stuff.

[Guest ratchethack]

I've heard the caution of polluting the mechanism on old SMITHS British mechanical auto speedo's, where the cable enters the instrument head horizontally - but not on bikes, where it enters vertically.

 

EDIT - I just couldn's go on with any doubt over this , so I consulted Richardson (Guzziology, p. 16-41 v. 5.3, Oct. 2002). He talks about the advantages of greasing the entire length of the speedo drive cable with no caution about any potential damage to the instrument head. Then he adds a caution about too much thick grease on the cable causing excessive drag, so I reckon he'd approve of trans lube. He has another caution about sealing the cable against water entry with silicone inside the rubber cap at the lower end (which mine doesn't have because it has the alternate worm gear drive). Richardson's big caveat here (which I've also seen Roper refer to), is to avoid the common "accident" of dropping the small hardened steel washer at the lower end of the drive into the trans, where it can (and evidently has) been known to raise havoc. He has a pro & con paragraph about the virtues of replacing the entire cable with housing vs. cable alone, but doesn't mention anything about teflon-lined housings.

[big J]

As ye say yerself, YMMV

[docc]

I don't know about Teflon but the modern housings ar definately lined. I was thinking nylon. In that case most lubes will soften the nylon and increase the drag.

 

Also, there are nylon gears in the bevel heads. Just to be totally contradictory I've made sure to pack these with a good dose of BelRay Waterproof grease.

 

The early Veglias have this fail-prone bevel drive at both ends of the cable . Later speedo has direct connection.

[P3GA]

Thanks for all the points. I'm happy to report that the new angle drive went on without a hitch. The old unit had shit itself, the gears inside were pretty torn up.

 

Now, like many others, I'm back to the same spot I was 4 months ago - a speedo needle that bounces with forward progress, and produces an audible click when wheeling it backwards (to position it in the garage).

 

I hear speedo cables are enroute from the old country - maybe just in time for the spring '07 riding season.

 

Anyone have a lead on longer speedo cables? Might make a nice stocking stuffer for myself. I had heard that a cable from a Suzuki DR-Z would work, haven't chased that down yet.

 

Thanks,

Phil

[jrt]

Phil, don't throw away that angle drive. Can you still make out the gears? If so, maybe someone could make up an aftermarket angle drive, although cutting gears is *expensive*.

[belfastguzzi]

If so, maybe someone could make up an aftermarket angle drive, although cutting gears is *expensive*.

65343[/snapback]

If I remember: aren't they plastic?

 

Had the damaged drive housing worked loose and is that how the gears got damaged?

 

edit: just remembered this – some of the bits

 

Have you checked the similar mech. at the other (clock) end of the cable – that it is tight and in good order?

[P3GA]

If I remember: aren't they plastic?

 

Had the damaged drive housing worked loose and is that how the gears got damaged?

 

edit: just remembered this – some of the bits

 

Have you checked the similar mech. at the other (clock) end of the cable – that it is tight and in good order?

65355[/snapback]

 

Why, that photo bears a passing resemblance to the old angle drive, as a matter of fact......

 

Both ends of the cable were snug after replacing the angle drive. The cable moves freely within it's protective sleeve when disconnectd & off the bike.

 

There's a speedo shop here in Atlanta that has a pretty good reputation. I'm going to inquire about making up a longer cable, an additional 6" - 9" of length should ease the bends the cable has to make, or at least I hope so. I'll also check on the possibility of replacing the Veglia speedo with something a bit more reliable.

 

Film at 11.

[mike wilson]

Yep, the oil runs up the spiral flutes of the cable as it rotates. As I said,I dont know if it's true,it was a piece of advice I was given aeons ago and had no reason to doubt it, the guy who told me knew his stuff.

 

Depends on the direction of rotation of the cable. It's true but is not always applicable. Requires you to sit and twiddle whilst "chimping" at it so that you can work out which way the forces work.

 

mike