Eratic speedo question

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Is it ok to drive the cable with a vari-speed drill to check the eratic is the result of a speedo head problem and not from a faulty drive on the back wheel? Starting with a very low speed of course and checking not too much inner cable is protruding at the head end.

Anyone know if the cable is driven clockwise or anticlockwise when viewed from the back?
 
Sorry to hear about the bad experience with Nisonger's; I had heard lots of good things about them before sending mine, and they did excellent work on mine (thing looks new), although they took a looooonnnngggg time to turn it around.

Best of luck. - BrianK
 
PS Mike, I did the drill test with a low speed rechargeable drill. I didn't even think about the "which way" question... whoops!
 
mike916sp said:
Is it ok to drive the cable with a vari-speed drill to check the eratic is the result of a speedo head problem and not from a faulty drive on the back wheel? Starting with a very low speed of course and checking not too much inner cable is protruding at the head end.
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Yes.

mike916sp said:
Anyone know if the cable is driven clockwise or anticlockwise when viewed from the back?
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The cable drive is normally clockwise for all 70's BSA Norton & Triumph magnetic instruments, the direction of rotation is identified by viewing cable rotation at the drive (speedo/tacho) end of the cable - not the driven (gearbox) end, so when viewed from the back of the instrument the drive rotation will need to be anti-clockwise = drill set to reverse.
 
L.A.B. said:
The cable drive is normally clockwise for all 70's BSA Norton & Triumph magnetic instruments, the direction of rotation is identified by viewing cable rotation at the drive (speedo/tacho) end of the cable - not the driven (gearbox) end, so when viewed from the back of the instrument the drive rotation will need to be anti-clockwise = drill set to reverse.
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Thanks Les just worked that one out by rotating the back wheel with a small srewdriver in the speedo drive. It is anti-clockwise when rotating the cable from the driven end. Started slowly and gradually built the drill speed up - speedo stayed as steady as a rock up to 120mph so no prob with the speedo or cable.

Then took the drive off and thoroughly degreased all the old muck out of it - something I've never got round to doing since I've had the bike. Repacked with new grease but the drive does feel a bit notchy in places when turning the inner.

Will road test it tomorrow to see if there's any improvement and then decide if a new drive is needed to get a steady speedo :!:
 
Just came in from the garage. Think I'm in the market for a new drive also :-(

So let me know if you come up with any inexpensive (yeah, right!) source of supply, please! - Brian
 
Basically the work Nisonger did was very good and it was very quick for me. I just was a bit put off by the not-our-fault attitude and telling me that something was "fishy" about my story. (Whoever heard of a Norton tach with green globe logo having a red needle with aluminum center??) It worried me that they might not know as much as they should have - doing these day in and day out. When I got it back with the right needle I tested it on the bike against the speedo and used tables for gear ratio to check it out. It was spot-on. Also the seal held up against the downpours in Tioga County and that is a real plus.

I wouldn't have minded at all if they had just admitted that they screwed up. The guy I was dealing with there was Peter Bayer :evil: and this was around 9/2007. But they did make good on it in the end and that is what counts I guess.
 
Anybody know if the speedo drive is repairable (or even openable?)? - it appears my speedo problem had multiple causes. New speedo appeared necessary, managed to screw up the cable in the process, both repaired/replaced. Now appears drive is ALSO not working - will engage for short periods of time but then slips and "clicks." New ones I think push $200, plus I hate to replace a part if it's salvageable.

Thanks all - BrianK
 
The speedo drive can be disassembled, but parts are not available. I often buy used drives (cheap) to salvage parts from them. Usually the teeth on the pinion gear are worn. If I find a 15/12 drive that feels like it has good gears and I can buy it cheap ($10 max) I will just to get the pinion gears. Of course, sometimes they feel good, but when I get them home and open them up the pinion already has a deep groove in it. I have box full of unuseabale parts. :oops:

From the description, that's what I would guess is wrong with yours. Unless you have access to box of used drives to rebuild one, I'd say you will have to bite the bullet on this one.
 
For others in the same boat, a bit of searching shows that Phil Radford at Fair Spares has the drives for $108. That's the best price I've found so far.
 
BrianK said:
Just came in from the garage. Think I'm in the market for a new drive also :-(

So let me know if you come up with any inexpensive (yeah, right!) source of supply, please! - Brian
Click to expand...

The degreasing, cleaning and repacking didn't work it was still all over the place so had to get a new drive. Lucky I ony live about 4 miles from Norvil so got one straight away. Fitted it and a quick 10 miles blast including a few illegal speeds and no wobbles on the needle. So all is fixed.

Cost from Norvil was £52.53 +VAT. You can probably get one cheaper from RGM but for me convenience counts and I don't have to pay postage.

Good luck
 
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