Lubing the speedo on a 1st gen

[Venturous Randy]

As one who many years ago had the speedometer squeal about scare me to death and then not do it again until I was 400 miles from home, I think I have a good fix.

First of all, the only way to do it right is get grease INTO the bearing area where the cable goes into the housing. In the past, I would take the speedometer out of the dash and try to get grease way down in the inside and hope enough grease got around the bearing, and it usually did, but not always and it was a bit of a PITA.

I went to Lowe's and got an 1/4 inch pipe cap, which screws several threads on to the back of the speedometer. I drilled and tapped a hole to accept a grease fitting. I screw the cap on finger tight, as this is a pipe thread fitting, and pump in grease. You will need to get most of the grease out of the cable hole so the cable will go in.

What you are trying to do is get grease around the center piece where the cable goes. The cable hole is a blind hole(not a thru hole) so the pressurized grease goes between the center piece and housing. I did it on an old speedometer I had and it made it smoother.

By doing it this way, you do not have to take the dash out, just take the cable housing off and screw on the fitting. I bought a tray of grease fittings from Harbor Freight a while back and it has different angle fittings if the straight one does not work best.

I will attach some pics.

RandyA

Edited December 26, 2013 by Venturous Randy

[mm482]

That will sure save some time and work.

 

Earl

[CdnDave77]

I have been trying to slather some grease into my speedo for weeks now. It is certainly better than it was, but it still squeals like a frightened hamster over 60 mph.

 

I've been using a white lithium grease just pushed in with my fingertip around the cable... would a general purpose moly work through the grease fitting ?

 

That is an awesome idea, Randy.. thanks.

[sgn]

All of this from an old guy with a patch on one eye and a parrot on his shoulder !

 

[skydoc_17]

Hey Randy,

You Southern boys really know how to "Get 'er Done!" Excellent Idea!

Thanks for sharing it with us,

Earl

[Venturous Randy]

All of this from an old guy with a patch on one eye and a parrot on his shoulder !

 

 

You are killing me, tent peg!!

RandyA

I did get released today to go back to work tomorrow.

[Venturous Randy]

I've been using a white lithium grease just pushed in with my fingertip around the cable... would a general purpose moly work through the grease fitting ?

 

I would think a moly grease like in most grease guns would work fine.

RandyA

[ctraylor]

I would pull out the cable and smear some grease on it also.

[bongobobny]

Cool!! I went the route of soaking the cable and the housing to clean , and then completely greasing the cable before reassembling...

[sgn]

So now that RandyA is released to go back to work, I guess the parrot will need to be returned.

 

About the tent peg comment:

 

Walking through the local Walmart sporting goods I noticed that those yellow plastic ten pegs are made os ABS plastic, so being the "out of the box" kind of guy I bought a package. Sure enough plastic epoxy and cut up tent pegs will put a fairing back togeather again and offer a lot of support on the backside - so my 83 blondie has now been given the offical name "Tent Peg"

 

What can I say desperate times call for desperate measures

 

Steve

 

[eagleeye]

Randy,

Great idea. Did you clean the inside of the speedo before you greased it? The speedo on my xs650 is VERY stiff and I really need to get inside and clean it, but then your idea to grease it.

Thanks,

Steve

[Venturous Randy]

Randy,

Great idea. Did you clean the inside of the speedo before you greased it? The speedo on my xs650 is VERY stiff and I really need to get inside and clean it, but then your idea to grease it.

Thanks,

Steve

 

I have greased several of these speedo's and have never had one that was stiff internally, but the bearing was rough and greasing seemed to solve it. Can you tell what part of the speedo is stiff? Does the needle assembly move easy?

If you have some old grease that is dried, it might help to spray some brake cleaner around the bearing area before pumping in new grease.

RandyA

RandyA

[Schlepporello]

As one who many years ago had the speedometer squeal about scare me to death and then not do it again until I was 400 miles from home, I think I have a good fix.

First of all, the only way to do it right is get grease INTO the bearing area where the cable goes into the housing. In the past, I would take the speedometer out of the dash and try to get grease way down in the inside and hope enough grease got around the bearing, and it usually did, but not always and it was a bit of a PITA.

I went Lowe's and got an 1/8th inch pipe cap, which screws several threads on the back of the speedometer. I drilled and tapped a hole to accept a grease fitting. I screw the cap on finger tight, as this is a pipe thread fitting, and pump in grease. You will need to get most of the grease out of the cable hole so the cable will go in.

What you are trying to do is get grease around the center piece where the cable goes. The cable hole is a blind hole(not a thru hole) so the pressurized grease goes between the center piece and housing. I did it on an old speedometer I had and it made it smoother.

By doing it this way, you do not have to take the dash out, just take the cable housing off and screw on the fitting. I bought a tray of grease fittings from Harbor Freight a while back and it has different angle fittings if the straight one does not work best.

I will attach some pics.

RandyA

That's a great idea, and it also got me to thinking. I have an old speedometer cable and I've got Plexiglas running out of my ears. I could scavenge one of the collars off the old cable, cut a round piece of Plexiglas to plug up the middle hole, then drill and tap for a zert. The result would be that I'd have a greasing collar that I know would fit the speedometer. And with the materials I already have, the only expense I would incur would be for the zerts and the thread tapper.

[Venturous Randy]

Another thing I forgot to mention is before I screwed the cap on, I took a small wire brush about the size of a tooth brush and went around the outside of the lip. This opened that area up a little more and kept from pushing in the dried grease.

When doing this, don't be afraid of putting some firm pressure on the grease gun. You will be pushing grease into a pretty restrictived hole. It also helps to have a good fitting on your grease gun where the harder you pump, the better it seals on the grease nipple.

I just made a correction in my original post as that was a 1/4 inch, not an 1/8th inch pipe cap.

RandyA

Edited May 29, 2009 by Venturous Randy

[eagleeye]

Randy,

The drive in the speedo is stiff.

I took the speedo off of my xs650 last eve, and tipped it upside down on the bench, and sprayed liquid wrench in the drive hole, let it sit for an hour and took my inner drive cable to turn the speedo and it was much more free. Blew it out with an air hose and repeated. That was last eve, now this morning it is very free.

Now I suppose I should make an adapter like yours and grease it. (or leave it with the liquid wrench in there) and reassemble. As you know, there is no room for more than a few drops.

Steve

[Venturous Randy]

Randy,

The drive in the speedo is stiff.

I took the speedo off of my xs650 last eve, and tipped it upside down on the bench, and sprayed liquid wrench in the drive hole, let it sit for an hour and took my inner drive cable to turn the speedo and it was much more free. Blew it out with an air hose and repeated. That was last eve, now this morning it is very free.

Now I suppose I should make an adapter like yours and grease it. (or leave it with the liquid wrench in there) and reassemble. As you know, there is no room for more than a few drops.

Steve

 

Steve, it does sound like you have found your problem. Just remember, Liquid Wrench is not a lubricant as much as it is a cleaner. Your speedo is a definate candidate for pumping grease into.

RandyA

[Yammer Dan]

That is a good one Randy but I think I'm going to have to pull my dash as Tach has the slowes bad. Speedo seems OK but if I have to get at tach I can take time to grease Speedo good while I'm in there.

 

Those tent pegs are a good idea. There is also a place on line that sells ABS Sheets. I have a 12" X 12" sheet of it that you can get in different thickness.

 

My retirement project may be starting early. I have a new 1st Gen frame that won't break. A 1200 motor with a good 2nd gear. Would undercut those gears before I put it togather. Enough Bling to build a awlsome 1st Gen and go hunting for RedNeck!!! Might be a couple other little things I could add as I put it togather. V-Max heads and cams? Rear gears? Didn't mean to swipe thread just doing a little dreaming this morning as hydros are kicking in.

[Venturous Randy]

That is a good one Randy but I think I'm going to have to pull my dash as Tach has the slowes bad. Speedo seems OK but if I have to get at tach I can take time to grease Speedo good while I'm in there.

 

Those tent pegs are a good idea. There is also a place on line that sells ABS Sheets. I have a 12" X 12" sheet of it that you can get in different thickness.

 

My retirement project may be starting early. I have a new 1st Gen frame that won't break. A 1200 motor with a good 2nd gear. Would undercut those gears before I put it togather. Enough Bling to build a awlsome 1st Gen and go hunting for RedNeck!!! Might be a couple other little things I could add as I put it togather. V-Max heads and cams? Rear gears? Didn't mean to swipe thread just doing a little dreaming this morning as hydros are kicking in.

 

First of all, thanks Dan for your addition to this thread and glad you are up and thinking, as compared to the alternative.

In the case of lubing the tach moving points, you will want to use a light lubricant on that as it is not a rotating contact point, like the speedo bearing and you can still use this fixture I made with the dash and speedo out.

I may have missed in your post about the crash, but what vehicle were you in?

RandyA

[Yammer Dan]

Was in my old Buick Randy. Only 210k on it almost broken in!! But great old car. I put 170k on it with very few problems.

[bcradio]

Thank you for sharing your intimacy with the speedo; when I had to disassemble mine I was terrified that I'd kill something important. In the end it went well, though your modified version is better.

One thing, I don't think that the Liquid Wrench will be a good permanent lubricant because it is a penetrant and the carrier will eventually evaporate. Almost any grease will do in small quantities. We would have difficulty finding parts for the speedometer, I'd take very delicate care of it.

First time it began squealing was the last time my neighbor's wife asked to go riding...aww too bad!

[a1bummer]

I just drilled and tapped the speedo itself and installed a zerk. I can leave the cable attached when I grease it. I put the bike on the center stand and put a 2x4 under the frame to keep the front wheel off the ground. I start pumping grease ad spin the wheel at the same time and I'm done. Thought about putting a hose with a zerk leading to it so I don't have to take any of the bodywork off to grease it.

[Yammer Dan]

What is this WORK thing everybody keeps talking about???

[Monty]

I see you have too much time on your hands....digging out these old posts and all.

[Yammer Dan]

But sun is starting to shine.....

[barend]

I stopped and pulled the speedo cable on the way home Wednesday night, it was getting a bit ridculous; and found your comment after I got home; thanks for the idea Randy! I pulled the dash, installed spare Tach I had floating around and modified your idea by simply using the tube of white lithium and sticking it inside the speedo cable housing and squeezing hard. Then used the electric drill in reverse with a small square drive to check for result. You know that thing will run 25mph??!! Didn't hear any squealing though, still have to road test it, but I prefer to have the windshield on for that.