Speedo problems on Firestorm

[R-Soul]

My bike died on me on the Motorway after a ride on saturday morning. I took it through to a local bike workshop - Spectrum. They had a look at it on Monday and said it was a fuse that blew because of a short at the rectifier. Both the fuse and rectifier were screwed. They replaced the rectifier at a great price.

[ASIDE: They also found a bloody big screw in my back tyre (a relatively new one- fitted Feb 2010) and replaced my back tyre with a smaller size -160- replacement from a crash bike (I cannot afford a new one right now) that had a little chunk out of it (not too bad - only as deep as the tread) . They let me have the tyre almost for free as there were issues around the wofability of the tyre because of the nick. So credit to them - awesome service at fantastic prices to get me on the road again. A++ to Spectrum.]

I would not take my bike anywhere else to be honest.

However, back to my point - when the bike came back, the speedometer was not working (as they did not have time to sort it out when they realised that it had a problem), and the needle has almost gone full circle around the clock so that the needle is BEHIND the pin at the 0kph point. Has anybody ever encountered this before? How can I fix it? Can I open the speedo up and just lift the needle over the pin to get it back to 0kph? Is this even possible?
Could this have been caused by a power surge when the electrics frizzed? How to undo it?

Vifferman - you seem to be the resident VTR expert - any ideas?

[cheesemethod]

Is you speedo electric, or is there a cable going to it from the front wheel or gearbox? If it's an electric speedo perhaps there is a wiring fault or somebody has put a plug back to front.

[AllanB]

I'd say it's electric - did it do the old needle check on start-up - goes from no to full go then back when you turn the key on? (tacho will too). I'd leave it now as it is most likely a electrical thing again ......

That bike should be running a 180 rear tyre - a drop to 170 would be OK on the rim but personally a 160 is too small for the rim width. You'll end up with a weird rear profile. On the bright side it sounds like it was so cheap you could offer it to the burn-out gods. I bet it accelerates quicker now (you'd know if you had a working speedo ......).

[vifferman]

Yes, the speedo's electric not manual, and yes the needle can be pulled off and stuck back on, but before you do that, I'd check the electrics are all right. Also, it doesn't do that "zipping around to the end when the ignition's turned on" thing.
A simple check to do is to remove it, and carefully inspect the back to see if any of the components show signs of being fried. If you can't be bothered doing that, then there's nothing to risk in shifting the needle, but the question still remains as to why the needle's sitting in the wrong place...

I used to go to Spectrum, mainly for crash repairs.... :o
When they fitted a replacement R/R to my VFR750, (luckily) they did a less than stellar job. As a result, I ended up rewiring the whole charging system. Their fix was OK (worked fine), just not as tidy as it could have been. After the VFR750, I had a VTR1000, and the electrical problems I had were pointing at a faulty R/R, but it was so soon after the VFR's woes, I didn't want to believe it. In the end, I spent nearly two hours waiting in Ponsonby for the AA truck to pick up the bike after I completely drained the battery due to no ergs being pumped into it. Also, because it was so soon after the VFR's R/R replacement, I couldn't be stuffed doing a full charging system rewire again, so contented myself with a new finned R/R remounted where it could get more cooling air. With both bikes, I wasted money replacing supposedly faulty batteries.

[R-Soul]

Yes, the speedo's electric not manual, and yes the needle can be pulled off and stuck back on, but before you do that, I'd check the electrics are all right. Also, it doesn't do that "zipping around to the end when the ignition's turned on" thing.
A simple check to do is to remove it, and carefully inspect the back to see if any of the components show signs of being fried. If you can't be bothered doing that, then there's nothing to risk in shifting the needle, but the question still remains as to why the needle's sitting in the wrong place...

I used to go to Spectrum, mainly for crash repairs.... :o
When they fitted a replacement R/R to my VFR750, (luckily) they did a less than stellar job. As a result, I ended up rewiring the whole charging system. Their fix was OK (worked fine), just not as tidy as it could have been. After the VFR750, I had a VTR1000, and the electrical problems I had were pointing at a faulty R/R, but it was so soon after the VFR's woes, I didn't want to believe it. In the end, I spent nearly two hours waiting in Ponsonby for the AA truck to pick up the bike after I completely drained the battery due to no ergs being pumped into it. Also, because it was so soon after the VFR's R/R replacement, I couldn't be stuffed doing a full charging system rewire again, so contented myself with a new finned R/R remounted where it could get more cooling air. With both bikes, I wasted money replacing supposedly faulty batteries.

What is a R/R?

And how do I check the electrics for the speedo? It is a 1997 model so I would have thought its not electronic - just cable? Or are all of their speedo's electric? The needle doesn't go across teh speed range when you start it up? Could there be a plug that may have been put back in back to front?

EDIT: OK established it is electric from your last message, and that it doesnt go around. I'll try reading replies better next time.

[R-Soul]

Is you speedo electric, or is there a cable going to it from the front wheel or gearbox? If it's an electric speedo perhaps there is a wiring fault or somebody has put a plug back to front.

Its a little difficult to see - the fairing gets in the way. But I will look.

[R-Soul]

I'd say it's electric - did it do the old needle check on start-up - goes from no to full go then back when you turn the key on? (tacho will too). I'd leave it now as it is most likely a electrical thing again ......

That bike should be running a 180 rear tyre - a drop to 170 would be OK on the rim but personally a 160 is too small for the rim width. You'll end up with a weird rear profile. On the bright side it sounds like it was so cheap you could offer it to the burn-out gods. I bet it accelerates quicker now (you'd know if you had a working speedo ......).

Yes they basically gave it away to me for almost free. At least it will buy me some time to save a little for a new tyre....
Actually it does not look too bad on teh rim at all.
As to speed, with all the rain I have not been accelerating around much...

[cheesemethod]

What is a R/R?

And how do I check the electrics for the speedo?

An R/R is a Regulator Rectofier. It converts the AC output from your alternator to DC and then keeps that DC current within a safe range. This is responsable for keeping your battery charged and all your electornics working at the right voltage. When these fail either your battery stops charging and goes flat, or your battery overcharges and gets damaged. They're quite a common part to fail in Jap bikes of the 80s and 90s.

Does you speedo sit at zero with the key off? Or does it still sit in a funny place even with the key off?

[R-Soul]

An R/R is a Regulator Rectofier. It converts the AC output from your alternator to DC and then keeps that DC current within a safe range. This is responsable for keeping your battery charged and all your electornics working at the right voltage. When these fail either your battery stops charging and goes flat, or your battery overcharges and gets damaged. They're quite a common part to fail in Jap bikes of the 80s and 90s.

Does you speedo sit at zero with the key off? Or does it still sit in a funny place even with the key off?

With teh key off it is almost directly downwards. When the key goes on, it now lifts clockwise until it rests against the underside of the pin that is just anti-clockwise of zero on the dial (I believe tha if it was other side of the pin, it would rise to the zero mark).

[vifferman]

Sounds like the removing the needle and replacing it in the right position might be worth a shot then.

[R-Soul]

Sounds like the removing the needle and replacing it in the right position might be worth a shot then.

I will give it a go this weekend. Thanks for the advice.

I just wonder how on earth it ended that side of the needle in the first place...

[Sparky43]

Hi, I appreciate this thread is old now, but mine did exactly the same in Germany.
Found Honda dealer, replaced r/r and battery, and away I went, with the same Speedo fault.
So, do you remember what you did please??

[AllanB]

So if the needle is on the wrong side of the pin does it turn backwards when moving - ie anti clockwise ? Or not move at all?

[nzspokes]

Ask on http://www.superhawkforum.com and http://www.vtr1000.org

Somebody there will have a fix.