99 1500 DRIFTER SPEEDO HELP !!

[greenbarn]

Great- glad you got it fixed!

[rawv]

I just thought I'd let you all know its fixed and yes Greenbarn you were correct ... It was the sleeve that's held in by the spring clip I used the one on the new wheel and after taking the wheel off a half a dozen times and checking the cable it made no sense that the speedo didn't work ... The problem was the new sleeve was a half an inch shorter so it wasn't reaching in far enough to engage with the speedo hub gear in the housing .... So I switched the old sleeve out and BOOM !! that was the problem so if any of you ever switch rims out check that sleeve and make sure its the same length ... As always Thanks to all with your input that's why this such a great group of people .

[CDNRatMan]

  That is why I am trailering my bike to Drift In, once I get below the snow line I'll find a place to park the truck and trailer and ride the rest of the way.

[pcarrell]

already come and gone......so not sure of what you expect here.

Oh, my info must be bad!  I was told that in your neck of the woods it would be July 18th from 3:15pm to 3:25pm.

[CDNRatMan]

"I can't wait!  My ten minutes of riding season is almost here!"

already come and gone......so not sure of what you expect here.

All the 800's uses the same cable. Not sure of the 1500's because I don't have one to check with.

[pcarrell]

.....and so another mystery comes to a close.  Tune in tomorrow when Ratman says, "I can't wait!  My ten minutes of riding season is almost here!"

[greenbarn]

Thanks, Chief, Yes, I meant Speedo....  I fixed it.

I'll bet the speedo is different so the cable end is different.   As far as I can tell, the forks are the same, triple trees look the same...

[chief]

You mean speedo cables. I don't think the speedo's were the same, maybe front-end differences also. 

[greenbarn]

Interesting, according to Ron Ayers site, these are the part numbers:
99 1500 Drifter:  54001-1239
99 800 Drifter:   54001-1238
03 800 Drifter:   54001-1238
99 1500 Nomad: 54001-1236

So it appears the 800 and the 1500 had DIFFERENT throttle Speedo cables, I wonder why? or what is different?    Nomad is yet another different part number.

BTW, these cables are only $11-12 on Ron Ayers, so the $20 + $5 shipping used cable on Ebay is really a BAD DEAL....

[chief]

Honestly, I have never heard about any problems with the 800 speedo. The early 1500's had real problems.

[greenbarn]

....  There were so few 800 blackouts in the U.S. that I haven't heard....

Yes, but ALL the 800s have a speedo cable, not just the 2000.  It's just the 1500 that ONLY the 99-2000 have cables.   I figured if it were much of a problem on the 800s, it would be even more evident since there are a lot more of them out there with cables than there are black 1500s.  But I have not heard much about it....

Just checking, as there was a used speedo cable for sale for a 800, and I had thoughts of picking it up for a spare.   But, if the stock ones had issues with length I should be looking for a different part....

[pcarrell]

I don't know.  I've only heard it said of the 1500.  There were so few 800 blackouts in the U.S. that I haven't heard.  One clue might be if the 800 and 1500 speedo cables have the same part number.  We know they have the same forks, so if the speedo cable is the same, I'd say that the fix should work.

[greenbarn]

PC:  do you know if that holds true for the 800 as well??

rawv:  attached is the speedo drive sleeve that Troll was talking about - I happen to have my 800 torn all over the shop right now, and this is out of the 800.  I think they are the same.....    If this little jewel isn't in there right- tabs have to line up- the hub won't hook up with the speedo drive....

[pcarrell]

The speedo cable breaking is a known issue, and the fix is to get a Nomad cable to replace it.  The Nomad cable is a tad longer and it helps with longevity.

http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/speedo.html

[shunter v8]

I would say it is probably the cable is not located properly in either the speedo drive or speedo head as it was working before. I had a similar fault on one of my enduro bikes. What I did was disconnect the cable at the speedo drive end and put a battery drill on to the cable and start it up slowly the speedo did not work,I reversed the direction of the drill and it worked fine. The speedo drive was turning when I turned the wheel. The fault turned out to be the gear in the drive was worn and would not turn when the cable was connected. It was a plastic gear to be fair.

[rawv]

I did that with the cable but yes it may have popped out and yes the inner speedo was on the new wheel ,I'm going to pull it apart again and check things out . This just baffles me because if you put it back together like it came apart I just don't know what can go wrong I've had the front wheel off a few times before and never had any problems .   Thanks you guys I'll let you know when I find the problem.

[Troll]

You replaced the complete wheel assy? Is the sleeve that drives the speedo gear in the wheel?

[greenbarn]

It's possible the cable (center part) came out of the speedo, up at the dash.  Take the cable off at the wheel, and push on the center cable and turn it to see if it "pops" into place (has a square end that has to fit into the drive up at the speedo).  Turn it by hand to see if the speedo needle moves.  If you can get it to turn, then it is engaged up at the speedo.   Then put it back on at the wheel, and spin the wheel again, see if it moves the needle.

[rawv]

Ok I bought a new front rim because Toledo, Ohio has such fine streets with no pot holes ( yeah right ) Anyhow I switched the rim and it all went back together like all of the other times before but my speedo doesn't work ... Now I know their isn't much to this so that's what's throwing me off ... I took the wheel off again and  I'll tell you what I did and checked and maybe you can tell me if I missed something simple so here's what I did ... Removed the upper dash cluster and disconnected the cable at the wheel then checked the cable to make sure I wasn't broke , then put the cable back in the dash and put that back together that was fine ... Next removed the wheel and checked the inside of the speedo case that was ok so I put the wheel back on lining up the notch in the speedo case with the two notches on the fork leg then spun the wheel so the cable end would drop in when it lined up inside and then tightened the cable on the bottom ... Now I'm thinking its fixed so I took it off the lift and rode it and still not working this isn't rocket science but I'm missing something and it's driving me nuts so any ideas or maybe someone had this problem before I would appreciate any input .       Thanks , Rick