Topic: Purchased Speedometer anyway to adjust odometer to actual miles?

[brockj]

Ok, I know this may be a touchy subject, but I would like the bike to show the actual miles if I could.  I am guessing most people just deal with it, but there must be a way.  Also, if this is taboo (which I think it may be in the US, then I apologize in advance)

Thanks
Joe

[Raul CB750K1]

I don't understand what you mean. Dou you mean "I have bought another speedometer and I want to set the odometer to the number of miles the old one had"?

If that's what you mean, the electric drill is a tried-and-true method, but slow. The hard way is carefully opening it and moving the wheels to the desired reading. The last method is the "plastic surgery" or "Elizabeth Taylor" method: you just have to remember that, at any given moment, your bike is 20.000 km older than what it seems.


Raul

[brockj]

If that's what you mean, the electric drill is a tried-and-true method, but slow.

I think this is what I am looking for.  The bike I am replacing the speedometer on has 12,xxx miles and the speedo I bought has 25,xxx miles.  I guess I am a bit of a purist that I want it to at least read the correct value.

[bill440cars]

If that's what you mean, the electric drill is a tried-and-true method, but slow.

I think this is what I am looking for.  The bike I am replacing the speedometer on has 12,xxx miles and the speedo I bought has 25,xxx miles.  I guess I am a bit of a purist that I want it to at least read the correct value.

  I understand that. If you don't adjust the odometer to read what's actually on the bike, you would
have to keep track of the what the actual reading should be when all you need to do is make the adjustment. The situation you're in shouldn't be a problem, you're not changing the mileage of the bike,
 you're changing it to what the bike has on it. I don't see a problem.  Bill

[mcpuffett]

who's going to tell you off anyway   mick

[8 Track]

How about riding the bike with the old speedo until it matches the new one?!?  More fun than listening to a drill for 13,000 miles!  Seriously though, I would want the mileage to be correct too, even if the "new " speedo has fewer miles than the bike.

[BobbyR]

Legally u would be OK in the US is u certify what the original miles were. The simpleest way to adjust the mileage is to take the speedo apart. I know this from a misspent youth. Just open it up and pull the wheels out and set them to what you want. You should open it up to lube up everything, so u kill two birds with one stone.

[Terry in Australia]

It aint that easy, Honda made it so, so that crooks couldn't do it easily, so don't think it's gonna be a 5 minute job, or you'll be disappointed. Cheers, Terry.

[BobbyR]

Nope Terry it is not as easy as a car. But there was a thread about lubing the speedo. Once inside the mileage is yours 

[heffay]

Being a product of the Y generation... I ask "why?" 

why should you presume that your speedo wants to be fastforwarded?
why would you not think that if... at the actual mileage the motorcycle catches up with the original mileage of the odometer that the bike might not implode (and take you with it, for sure!)
why wouldn't you just roll a few thousand off... as opposed to on!

THINK... BEFORE YOU DRILL

[TwoTired]

Being a product of the Y generation... I ask "why?" 

why wouldn't you just roll a few thousand off... as opposed to on!

THINK... BEFORE YOU DRILL

You might want to read the actual question, heffay.  Y generation, jeesh.    

He bought a speedo with 25K and his bike has 12 K on it.

He wants to roll his odo BACK to 12K.  IF that's the actual miles on the bike, then there is nothing wrong or illegal about setting the odo to the bike's actual miles.

The only warning I might give is that the odo mechanism is normally designed to go forward.  I've seen some odos self destruct when spun backward far enough to involve many digits.  Can't say I have tried it with a Honda speedo. So, I don't know if that's an actual worry for this query.

Cheers,

[Gibson]

I'd drill it

[heffay]

Being a product of the Y generation... I ask "why?" 

why wouldn't you just roll a few thousand off... as opposed to on!

THINK... BEFORE YOU DRILL

You might want to read the actual question, heffay.  Y generation, jeesh.    

He bought a speedo with 25K and his bike has 12 K on it.

He wants to roll his odo BACK to 12K.  IF that's the actual miles on the bike, then there is nothing wrong or illegal about setting the odo to the bike's actual miles.

The only warning I might give is that the odo mechanism is normally designed to go forward.  I've seen some odos self destruct when spun backward far enough to involve many digits.  Can't say I have tried it with a Honda speedo. So, I don't know if that's an actual worry for this query.

Cheers,

2tyred... i'm sorry to offend you because i am younger and spryer than you  ...  but, being spry... i tend to get overzealous and think ahead to my witty remarks... sorry, i misunderstood.  but, still.

my remarks still apply... why?

 

[Bodi]

There are apparently anti-rollback mechanisms on new mechanical odometers so tampering is obvious, old bike ones will just go backwards fine..
At 60mph (2240 RPM) the speedo should be unharmed by backward running - super fast might be bad for it and probably slower is better, as the needle can't go back past the pin... but 13000 miles @ 60mph should take about 9 days constant running. An electric drill is not a great motor to use as the brushes probably won't last 9 days. A standard 1/4hp 1760RPM motor - like for a furnace fan or such - should be adaptable to the speedo cable, the shaft will have a centre hole you can just drill into with the motor running (pretty much guarantees a straight concentric hole) then drill into the side for a setscrew. These motors reverse easily by swapping an internal wire around under the electrical cover plate. That would need around 11 days for 13000 miles.

My familiarity with odometers and how to make a motor drive them backwards should not suggest I have ever illicitly rolled one back

[Bob Wessner]

My familiarity with odometers and how to make a motor drive them backwards should not suggest I have ever illicitly rolled one back

 

[volz1fsu]

I would recommend going forward with a drill for two reasons.  The first being that the speedometer works with magnets to "grab" the needle and move it to the speed the bike is going.  The faster the magnets spin around the needle mechanism, the more they "grab" on to it and move it farther down the line against a springs resistance.  The magnet strength and spring rate are pre-calibrated from the manufacturer to give accurate readings and that is why I would be very careful drilling in reverse if that is your plan.  The slower you can go the better because if you are spinning it in reverse at high speeds you risk weakening the magnets by spinning the poles in the opposite direction.  Hard to say how much of a risk is involved or how probable it is that it will actually happen but you never know.  The second reason I would go forward with the drill is because I have attempted to open a speedometer before and it is very difficult.  You have to bend and pry on the chrome ring that crimps the two halves together and once you ruin it, I don't know what options you have to replace it or to even get it re-crimped properly if you get it off in one piece.  I would assume that the speedometer's odometer would roll over so I would just put a drill on it for as long as it takes and your end result will be worth the trouble free time.

Just a side note: Motorcycle's odometer readings in Michigan have absolutely no relevance.  In re-titling they never ask for mileage.

[TwoTired]

2tyred... i'm sorry to offend you because i am younger and spryer than you ... but, being spry... i tend to get overzealous and think ahead to my witty remarks... sorry, i misunderstood. but, still.

my remarks still apply... why?

 

Heffay, I'm flattered by your appology.  But, it isn't necessary.  I wasn't offended.  Just tryin to have a bit o fun with you.

No need to jump the couch, dude.

[Bodain]

Ok, I know this may be a touchy subject, but I would like the bike to show the actual miles if I could.  I am guessing most people just deal with it, but there must be a way.  Also, if this is taboo (which I think it may be in the US, then I apologize in advance)

Thanks
Joe

Actually it's quit easy... and can be completed in less than an hour. Since I had my speedo totally apart anyway. I just wanted to see
how difficult it would be. Just take the thing apart and look at how the tumblers are locked in. All need to do is pull the far left
wheel. This will give you the gap between the tumblers to set it to anything you like.

[8 Track]

I took both of my gauges apart to clean the back side of the glass.  It took a few hours to do both, but it was well worth it and it's not that hard.  I didn't cut the stainless ring.  Instead, I slowly worked the ring open from the backside with a screwdriver.  I went around many times until the ring would just slip off.  To put them together, I put a 2 x 6 on the faceplate in the lathe and bored a hole that the gauge would fit snugly into.  Then, I put the gauge face down into the wood and clamped the entire assembly to the workbench with wood clamps.  Finally, I took a brass punch and small hammer and slowly worked the ring back down tight to the gauge.  I probably went around 40 times to slowly work it back into shape.  The wood idea was nice because all of the hammering goes to the ring and is supported by the wood; the gauge takes none of the shock.  Secondly, the work is done from the backside, so if you slip and scratch the housing, it is hidden in the gauge holder.  I originally found pictures on the web of this process, but they didn't use the wood trick.  The other thing is the trip reset is left handed threads and can be removed once you get the halves separated enough to get a pair of needle nose pliers in there to hold the back side of the shaft.  If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help!

[Bodi]

Really, going 98000 miles forward seems a bit extreme. The force on the pin going backwards is pretty small if you keep a reasonable speed, the thing isn't going to break. The wear and tear on the internal bearing surfaces would be an issue going 98000 miles I think, the lubrication on a 30 year old speedo can't be perfect.
If the disassembly/reassembly were a bit easier then taking it apart is the answer; but opening and closing the sealing ring is impossible to do "perfectly" and tough to do an even passable job on. I'd do it to get a bad speedo or tach working, but just "correcting" the odometer reading isn't worth attacking the ring.

[Raul CB750K1]

Even when you can buy a cheap drill just for this application -remember my 6 euro drill for the parts polishing?-, I would rather open it and adjust it. You are replacing a set, so I assume it's broken. You've got nothing to loose, open it and check what can be wrong. You can even use the better set of dials or gauges in your new one.


Raul

[Terry in Australia]

I suspect strongly that you can't wind it back anyway, I pulled a few old CB750 gauges apart when I put a set of Carpys Cafe gauge faces on for Derek (seawebII) and remember that I pulled one odometer out of the cradle (which takes some force) and even then, when it was disconnected from the worm drive gear you couldn't wind it back without disassembly, and there's a lot of tiny parts that will fall out including some little tabs that look suspiciously like they're designed to stop the odo from winding back.

You can take your gauges to a reconditioner, they have a machine to "roll" the rings off and roll them back on, they can also adjust your odometer, amongst other things. If you don't want to go to that expense, just cut the rings off with a dremel tool with the little cut off wheel attachment, do what you have to do (maybe swap over your damaged speedo's mechanism into the good cases?) and use a good adhesive to glue the ring back on, (don't use JB weld, it's great for a lot of applications, but not this one) I used the "superglue and baking soda" method on the ones I sold Ben (objectionableone) and a 120mm hose clamp to hold the ring in place while the adhesive cured. Cheers, Terry.

[brockj]

I took both of my gauges apart to clean the back side of the glass.  It took a few hours to do both, but it was well worth it and it's not that hard.  I didn't cut the stainless ring.  Instead, I slowly worked the ring open from the backside with a screwdriver.  I went around many times until the ring would just slip off.  To put them together, I put a 2 x 6 on the faceplate in the lathe and bored a hole that the gauge would fit snugly into.  Then, I put the gauge face down into the wood and clamped the entire assembly to the workbench with wood clamps.  Finally, I took a brass punch and small hammer and slowly worked the ring back down tight to the gauge.  I probably went around 40 times to slowly work it back into shape.  The wood idea was nice because all of the hammering goes to the ring and is supported by the wood; the gauge takes none of the shock.  Secondly, the work is done from the backside, so if you slip and scratch the housing, it is hidden in the gauge holder.  I originally found pictures on the web of this process, but they didn't use the wood trick.  The other thing is the trip reset is left handed threads and can be removed once you get the halves separated enough to get a pair of needle nose pliers in there to hold the back side of the shaft.  If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help!

I'd appreciate the help!  I think looking at this it would be best to take it apart.  I think I may try with the speedo that is on there first since it is broken anyway, I have a clean trial run.

[8 Track]

Brockj,
The key is patience.  You won't work that ring open in one pass.  I went around 10 or 20 times, nibbling it open.  Then it slips right off (and shaves the black paint if it wasn't open enough).  Putting it back together, don't just hammer it flat, but work the ring back to the gauge housing.  Slowly, tap tap 800 times!  Terry mentioned a roller to roll the ring on and off.  That would be nice, but I didn't have one.  Remember, stainless trim dents very easily and doesn't straighten as easily at all.  If you have access to a lathe, turn a wood block to cradle the gauge.  Good luck!