Speedometer

[JR1]

hey guys so i encountered an interesting issue while riding the other day, my speedo stopped working. the rev-odometer thing (im not very mechanical ha-ha). continued to work. The km's aren't going up (Yay) i would like to know how fast im going although its not that hard to judge. any ideas on what might be wrong?if so is it something i could fix myself or will i have to take her down to the local bike shop. its a fzr 250 so not an electronic dash so should be kinda simple..right?

[Jantar]

The most likely cause is simply a broken cable. You'll see where the speedo cable connects to the speedo (either underneath or directly behind). Unscrew the speedo cable from the speedo and see if you can turn the little square cable end. If you can turn it then the cable is broken.

If you can't turn it then tie it up where you can see it and push the bike forward a few meters. Does it turn? If it does turn, then the problem is probably in the speedo itself. If it doesn't turn, then you may have a seized cable, or a failed speedo drive in the front hub.

Unscrew the speedo cable from the front hub and see if you can turn it. If so, does the top end turn at the same time? If this is the case then the cable is ok and your problem is in the speedo drive in the hub.

[BuzzardNZ]

If it's any consolation, I went for a year on an old honda GB400 without a speedo, however the tachometer still worked, over time, I found I could gauge the speed ( pretty accurately too ) by engine noise and which gear I was in.
I guess it's kinda like when a person loses their sight, their other senses kick in to adjust!

However, all the above won't help you out when its time to renew your WOF

[JR1]

hey thanks "Jantar" i did what you said and found i was just a broken speedo cable. info was spot on much appreciated

[Jantar]

hey thanks "Jantar" i did what you said and found i was just a broken speedo cable. info was spot on much appreciated

I'm glad to hear that it was the simple problem and not something serious.

A wee hint for when you install the new cable: Connect the wheel hub end first, then before connecting the speedo end place a couple of drops of a lioght weight oil on the cable inner. Leave it for a couple of minutes before connecting. Re-oil about once per year and you should have no problems with the speedo cable again.