'Fluttering' speedo needle
- Thread starter Notxal
- Start date
baz
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Just as a matter of interest, can anyone here say they have 'turbine smooth' needle movement??
Speedo only, of course.
If I put an electric drill on the end of the cable the needle moves with no flutter at all, but despite new drive g/box and cable I'm sure the movement of the swingarm cocks it all up. Paid particular attention to cable/frame/swingarm fixing too. It's no worry, but when in 20/30 speed limits I'm calculating revs in my head if a camera looms
Speedo only, of course.
If I put an electric drill on the end of the cable the needle moves with no flutter at all, but despite new drive g/box and cable I'm sure the movement of the swingarm cocks it all up. Paid particular attention to cable/frame/swingarm fixing too. It's no worry, but when in 20/30 speed limits I'm calculating revs in my head if a camera looms
baz
VIP MEMBER
Yes my speedo is the original Smith's and is rock steadyJust as a matter of interest, can anyone here say they have 'turbine smooth' needle movement??
Speedo only, of course.
If I put an electric drill on the end of the cable the needle moves with no flutter at all, but despite new drive g/box and cable I'm sure the movement of the swingarm cocks it all up. Paid particular attention to cable/frame/swingarm fixing too. It's no worry, but when in 20/30 speed limits I'm calculating revs in my head if a camera looms
Mind you I drive mine from the front wheel with an almost straight cable!!!!
You can also remove the speedo cable inner and clean it, then apply a thin even coating of light silicone grease. (this will help smooth out the needle flutter)
Mart UK
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Mine wasn't, then the spot where the cable enters the rear speedo drive cracked and failed. New drive and cable, cable greased before fitting. Now very smooth. But my guages are not originals.
Tornado
VIP MEMBER
I had the same large 20 mph +/- flutter on my speedo with Smiths drive. Re-greasing the inner cable did help but ultimately what fixed it was ensuring the square shaft into speedo was not protruding too far into speedo. There is nothing stopping it going too far. Best guidance was to put the drive end into drive first, secured in with the collar nut, then do the speedo end by pushing it down into cable sleeve fully before threading on the collar nut.
marshg246
VIP MEMBER
Also, light lubrication is good -- heavy is bad. Take the inner cable out and clean with WD40 the squirt WD40 in the outer put the inner back in, spin with your fingers, and repeat until fairly clean. Then a little grease on your finders and rub the inner. No grease within 3 inches of the speedo. You are trying to lube not pack the cable with grease! While cleaning if you find grit, significant rust that doesn't clean up, or damage then it's new cable time.
Norton speedo and tach cable routing can be difficult in the headlight area. Make sure there's no side-pressure on the cable in that area - may have to change the direction of the instruments slightly to achieve. And, make sure there are only smooth large radius bends everywhere else.
Tornado
VIP MEMBER
Oh one other issue my fluttering speedo needle had, the metal ferrule on the outer cable, speedo end, had pulled slightly away from the plastic sleeve, making the end of inner cable extending past the ferrule end into speedo, effectively shorter. I tried re-positioning and re-crimping the ferrule but it would not hold. A new cable was my solution.
I had a similar problem on the 850 Interstate rebuild a month back. I thought I'd be up for a speedo overhaul, as the cable was in very good condition. Having removed the speedo in anticipation of ovehaul, I noticed the cable drive termination at the speedo (is it called a ferrule?) was not "square" to the body. At some point in the past someone had put sufficient force on the cable to bend this off-square. Guess it doesn't take much force as the speedo body is pretty thin gauge steel. Anyways, by VERY carefully working on the speedo with an old tacho cable outer screwed on to the ferrule I managed to get it perfectly normal to the body again. Speedo flutter completely gone and Dave a happy man!
I recently had this problem but only below 35MPH. Above that it was smooth. After removing and inspecting and noting that the rubbers were shot on two of the three screws holding the mechanism to the body, I canablized a couple of rubbers from another instrument and for good measure shot some silicone into the innards. Can't say for sure what fixed it but it works fine now. All this was after lubing the cable to no avail.
I use a non-standard cable routing on my G80 and Atlas where the cable runs vertically from the spedo gearbox in a long arc up under the seat and along the frame. Theory being that the swingarm movement is distributed over maybe 2 feet of cable rather than only a couple inches at the swing arm pivot. Plus it doesn't snag on things like weeds and bushes and the odd teddy bear thrown out a car window.
My Commando uses the standard low route and has always worked fine. No teddy bear incidents.
I use a non-standard cable routing on my G80 and Atlas where the cable runs vertically from the spedo gearbox in a long arc up under the seat and along the frame. Theory being that the swingarm movement is distributed over maybe 2 feet of cable rather than only a couple inches at the swing arm pivot. Plus it doesn't snag on things like weeds and bushes and the odd teddy bear thrown out a car window.
My Commando uses the standard low route and has always worked fine. No teddy bear incidents.
Tornado
VIP MEMBER