Posted by Bob Throllop on March 2, 2008, 12:03 pm
Hi veveryone, newbie to the group here. I have a question on
troubleshooting a speedometer.
I recently bought an ancient Yamaha XS 650, and I find the speedometer
reading doesn't go higher than about 50 mph when I'm out on the
highway. Now, I know it's not a performance bike, but I think I was
going faster than that! My question is: can my speedo be fixed,
could it be the cable or do I need to replace the whole thing?
At speed, the needle kind of jumps around between 50 and 55 mph. I've
heard that this can be a symptom of a worn or kinked speedo cable, or
that it needs a lube. I took the cable out and lubed it, and didn't
see anything obviously wrong with it. I got better (more stable)
speedo readings for about 10 miles, then it went back to its old
tricks. So--I could buy a new cable, but it's a @#$% pain to put it
in and I don't want to do it unless it's really going to fix the
problem.
Posted by Polarhound on March 2, 2008, 12:22 pm
Bob Throllop wrote:
> Hi veveryone, newbie to the group here. I have a question on
> troubleshooting a speedometer.
>
> I recently bought an ancient Yamaha XS 650, and I find the speedometer
> reading doesn't go higher than about 50 mph when I'm out on the
> highway. Now, I know it's not a performance bike, but I think I was
> going faster than that! My question is: can my speedo be fixed,
> could it be the cable or do I need to replace the whole thing?
>
> At speed, the needle kind of jumps around between 50 and 55 mph. I've
> heard that this can be a symptom of a worn or kinked speedo cable, or
> that it needs a lube. I took the cable out and lubed it, and didn't
> see anything obviously wrong with it. I got better (more stable)
> speedo readings for about 10 miles, then it went back to its old
> tricks. So--I could buy a new cable, but it's a @#$% pain to put it
> in and I don't want to do it unless it's really going to fix the
> problem.
Get used to doing lots of little things as regular upkeep on any old
bike. If you don't want to do something as simple as changing out a
speedo cable, you may want to sell the bike now before anything more
major comes up.
Go to http://mikesxs.com for XS650 parts as well. For stuff he doesn't
have, http://partsnmore.com usually does.
As for the problem at hand, cable replacement is the next logical step,
followed by lubing the speedo itself.
Posted by Mark Olson on March 2, 2008, 12:38 pm
Bob Throllop wrote:
> Hi veveryone, newbie to the group here. I have a question on
> troubleshooting a speedometer.
>
> I recently bought an ancient Yamaha XS 650, and I find the speedometer
> reading doesn't go higher than about 50 mph when I'm out on the
> highway. Now, I know it's not a performance bike, but I think I was
> going faster than that! My question is: can my speedo be fixed,
> could it be the cable or do I need to replace the whole thing?
>
> At speed, the needle kind of jumps around between 50 and 55 mph. I've
> heard that this can be a symptom of a worn or kinked speedo cable, or
> that it needs a lube. I took the cable out and lubed it, and didn't
> see anything obviously wrong with it. I got better (more stable)
> speedo readings for about 10 miles, then it went back to its old
> tricks. So--I could buy a new cable, but it's a @#$% pain to put it
> in and I don't want to do it unless it's really going to fix the
> problem.
You're agonizing over the cost and difficulty of replacing a
speedometer cable on an XS650? Give up now, riding an older
bike isn't for you.
Put on a new cable, if that doesn't fix the problem, it's the
speedometer. If you absolutely have to have a working factory
style speedometer, buy one on ebay. Otherwise buy a Sigma
bicycle speedometer, they're about $20 and far more accurate
than most motorcycle speedometers. BTW, even if the OEM
speedometer doesn't work after replacing the cable, it's 99.9%
sure that the odometer will still work.
--
'01 SV650S '99 EX250-F13 '98 ZG1000-A13
OMF #7
Posted by Greg O on March 2, 2008, 2:08 pm
> Bob Throllop wrote:
>> Hi veveryone, newbie to the group here. I have a question on
>> troubleshooting a speedometer.
>>
>> I recently bought an ancient Yamaha XS 650, and I find the speedometer
>> reading doesn't go higher than about 50 mph when I'm out on the
>> highway. Now, I know it's not a performance bike, but I think I was
>> going faster than that! My question is: can my speedo be fixed,
>> could it be the cable or do I need to replace the whole thing?
>>
>> At speed, the needle kind of jumps around between 50 and 55 mph. I've
>> heard that this can be a symptom of a worn or kinked speedo cable, or
>> that it needs a lube. I took the cable out and lubed it, and didn't
>> see anything obviously wrong with it. I got better (more stable)
>> speedo readings for about 10 miles, then it went back to its old
>> tricks. So--I could buy a new cable, but it's a @#$% pain to put it
>> in and I don't want to do it unless it's really going to fix the
>> problem.
> You're agonizing over the cost and difficulty of replacing a
> speedometer cable on an XS650? Give up now, riding an older
> bike isn't for you.
No kidding!
I was given a '75 500 Honda a few years back. After rebuilding the engine,
painting the frame and polishing and re-clearing the engine cases I rode for
a year, then sold it for $75 because I was sick of working on it! I could
never get the carbs to quit leaking. The floats appeared to stick,and flood
gas all over. Pull the carbs and all was ok. I don't mind tinkering on a
bike, but I needed something that was somewhat dependable!!
--
PoorUB
'05 Ultra Classic
Posted by The Older Gentleman on March 2, 2008, 4:43 pm
> > Early roadster XS650s used exactly the same console as the XS500 and
> > early RD250s/400s. Only the graduations on the speedo and redline on the
> > rev counter were different.
> >
> > The later Custom versions of the US shared clocks with the SR500 single
> > and (I think) the cruiser version of the XS750 triple. Anyway, there are
> > plenty to choose from.
> >
> >
>
> Starting with the 650-D (1977) in Zedder, I show that the 1977-79 XS750
> speedo is the same as well.
>
> Searching by a 1975 model, it shows a 1974 TX650 and 1975 XS500.
Blimey. My memory isn't as bad as I thought it was.
Er, what was the question again?
--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F & SL125
GAGARPHOF#30 GHPOTHUF#1 BOTAFOT#60 ANORAK#06 YTC#3
BOF#30 WUSS#5 The bells, the bells.....
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
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> troubleshooting a speedometer.
>
> I recently bought an ancient Yamaha XS 650, and I find the speedometer
> reading doesn't go higher than about 50 mph when I'm out on the
> highway. Now, I know it's not a performance bike, but I think I was
> going faster than that! My question is: can my speedo be fixed,
> could it be the cable or do I need to replace the whole thing?
>
> At speed, the needle kind of jumps around between 50 and 55 mph. I've
> heard that this can be a symptom of a worn or kinked speedo cable, or
> that it needs a lube. I took the cable out and lubed it, and didn't
> see anything obviously wrong with it. I got better (more stable)
> speedo readings for about 10 miles, then it went back to its old
> tricks. So--I could buy a new cable, but it's a @#$% pain to put it
> in and I don't want to do it unless it's really going to fix the
> problem.