Speedometer repair

[MArkS]

The trip odometer on my '02 LM quit today. (can't be reset). Since I use it as a fuel gauge, it will be missed. Any advice on remedies will be greatly appreciated.

[gstallons]

If no one chimes in, contact Palo Alto Speedo Service in Ca. call them and tell them what is wrong to see if they can help.

[raz]

Also, there is plenty of info if you use the forum search function.

[Keith Foster]

This won't be so much as a post about a repair but on a replacement. After looking at the posts by others in this group and on the wildguzzi forum I decided to not replace my 2nd failed speedometer (really it is the odometer function that frequently fails) with another OEM unit. What I am using is an electronic speedometer from VDO. I bought it from egauges.com, the Vision series, 3 1/8" diameter. This is the same diameter as the stock ITT gauge. As you can see in the pictures it is close to stock looking. The price for this unit is $115.60, PN 437-151.

 

With this you will also need a pick up sensor of some sort. Other have used electronic bicycle speedometer sensors or other inductive sensors. I chose a Hall Effect sensor, also sold on egauges.com for $59.75, PN 340-011. It was different looking than what they showed on the web site, but I plan to hide it under the tank so that didn't matter too much to me. $10.55 for shipping and I'm at $185.90 so far. In the pictures below, the MG speedo is on the left, the VDO is on the right.

 

I'll continue with another post after this one. Cheers.

[Keith Foster]

Here is a pic of how I plan to mount the sending unit. I bought an extra speedo cable, contacted Palo Alto Speedometer (Hartmut Mees is the man) and sent the cable and sending unit to them, it is in transit to them as I write this. So, the plan is for them to cut the cable, attach a new end to connect to the sending unit and cut/modify the inner cable accordingly. I hope it works out Hartmut seemed to think it would.

 

Now, for a further "Factory" looking installation, I removed the silver trim ring from the clear lens of the ITT speedo. Using a Dremel tool and a router type bit I carefully cut a larger ID groove for the VDO speedo to nest into, it turned out pretty well I think. I plan to use some JB Weld to secure the trim ring to the black VDO flange.

 

As you can see the back of the VDO is totally different from the ITT. But, I count some things as being much in favor of this swap.

1. The overall depth of the VDO is not longer than the ITT.

2. The two lamp sockets are oriented horizontal to the face (like the ITT and the rubber isolation studs) so I think I can use these as attachment points.

 

With some creative fabrication I have come up with a mounting method I think will work, giving me a way to use the stock instrument housing shell, the same mounting holes and acorn nuts. The VDO gauge has a thin plastic threaded sleeve that provides the clamping force to hold the gauge to the instrument bracket, therefore the housing shell will just need to be held in place, not holding the speedo in place as the stock set up does.

 

I'm taking a break for now until I get back the modified cable from Palo Alto Speeometer. No need to get ahead of myself. I'll update this topic as I progress. Wish me luck!

[raz]

Wish me luck!

Break a leg!

[Ryland3210]

That VDO substitute looks like the ticket. I've been through three speedometer cables. I'm still maintaining the OEM speedo, but I really like the Sigma bike speedometer with its accuracy and many features.

[JoeV11]

What a timely post! Last Sunday my odometers quit working at about 7200 miles. I already replaced the cable at ~6000 miles. I was going to inquire at a Kawasaki dealer this week for the digital tach/speedo that comes on an '09 KLX250S. It's a slick little unit that would look good on a V11 sport, much shorter than the two factory gauges and the housing, to clean up the front end and maybe even fix that helmet buffeting at highway speeds.

Joe

{UPDATE - I went to the Kawi dealer and found this unit costs about $440 plus the sensors!}

 

[Keith Foster]

Here is an update on my installation. I should have the modified speedo cable back in a couple of days. In the mean time I decided to move forward with the wiring, trim ring installation and mounting stalks for the instrument housing.

 

The wiring is straightforward, following the supplied schematic from VDO. I'm using the MG speedo light sockets for the switched power supply and ground. This electronic speedo pulls 600 milliamps (500 is for the lights alone if I recall correctly) so this should be OK on this circuit.

 

I worked on the trim ring a little more with the Dremmel, getting the ring to nearly seat completely on the VDO lens trim ring. Then I applied JB Weld to the back side of the trim ring in 3 arcs spaced around the circumfrence and let it all set up.

 

Today I fitted the two mounting stalks, they are the white posts in the pictures. They were made from two 1/2" diameter nylon spacers bought from the local Ace Hardware. I used the Dremmel again (best Christmas present that my brother in law ever gave to me!) to notch them out to get them to be in the same position and height as the stock isolation mounts. Then, I JB Welded them to the bulb holders of the VDO instrument. A popsickle stick with two holes kept them in position while the epoxy set up. A check after epoxy set up showed them aligned just right. You have to give a decent pull for the sockets to come out so I am banking on them being tight enough to hold the housing in place. It doesn't take a lot to hold it in place.

 

Speaking of that, I originally thought I would use the thin plastic threaded sleeve that came with the VDO to secure the speedo to the stock instrument bracket, but the black plastic housing is too close a fit around the instrument, the threaded sleeve won't fit inside the housing, there isn't enough room.

 

I should have Part 3 posted by this weekend.

[Keith Foster]

OK Gents, Here is part 3:

 

I got the modified cable back and dug into the reassembly. The modified cable is shown in the pic below, it was kind of pricey I thought at $79.00 for the work, but I am too far along at this point to not go through with it. You can see the silver connector they added for the sending unit to connect to, and they added a female receiver on the shortened inner cable, then a short section of inner cable with the ends formed into a square cross section engages with the female receiver and the other end goes into the sending unit. The cable was 2-3 inches longer than what I would have liked, but I rerouted the cable to use up the extra length.

 

The next picture is the sending unit installation. I hung the sending unit by its cable from a block of plastic I drilled a hole in. The hole diameter was just so that the cable was a snug fit through it, there was plenty of room in that area under the tank. The stud it is fastened to might have held the tip over valve, I'm not sure about that.

 

The rest of the installation was connecting the wiring, making a little cut-out for the cable in the instrument housing, assembling the instrument housing back together. Everything went back together with a bit of finesse and jiggling. I blocked off the opening where the mechanical cable connected to the old speedo with a piece of plastic milk jug cut to fit and JB Welded to the inside of the housing. A spritz of black paint makes it nearly unnoticeable, I figure something was need to keep out bugs and vermin

[Keith Foster]

Part 4 - Final Answer:

Once the fairing, fuel tank and seat were reinstalled, it was time for the moment of truth - would it all work

Powering up the speedo brought the unit to life. Well, that was encouraging.

Following the VDO instructions I needed a measured mile, the more exact the better. I rode out to the main highway that has mile markers, using those and the specified button sequence I got the speedo calibrated. Basically you tell the unit when to start the pulse count, you travel 1 mile, it counts the pulses it receives in the 1 mile, then matches the count up to stored data to calibrate itself. Once this is done, it works! And it should be very accurate, based on the State of Maryland mile markers

The picture below is the completed installation. It's not a perfect match, but AFAIK it is as close as you can get using stuff that is commericially available.

In all in wasn't the easiest thing to do, nor was it that hard either, but I'm happy with the results for what should be a long term fix.

Cheers

[OregonAl]

impressive. Does vdo make a white faced model to replace the veglias should i ever need one?

[VR6Dave]

I have a faulty odometer also and found a German Site that offers an electrical speedo/tach setup. They have drawings online that show a magnetic pickup that screws into the transmission where the stock speedo cable does. I have emailed them but have yet to hear a peep. Anyone know who they are? I seemed to have misplaced the link.

 

Dave