hello Brick throwers! I have a frustrating issue with my speedo/odo and I'm looking for help. The bike is a '86 purchase, and like many of you over the years I have had both speedo and tach issues. The latest issue is the Speedo and Odo are inop. Below is what I have RECENTLY done to try to restore operation. As a background, I am the original owner and have ALMOST ALL records save some at the very beginning of my ownership (youth!!??). I have worked on the bike over the years, but am only now starting to delve into some of the heavier maintenance items on the bike due to my last huge bill from the local dealer after a major overhaul. Therefore I consider myself a rookie in the bike tear down, build up processes, and I don't have much electrical troubleshooting experience. Below is the latest timeline:
- Speedo/Odometer intermittent /fails and tach needle had been inop (hanging like a string) for a short time. Incentive to both bring bike in for major maintenance, and send out the instrument cluster to Overseas Speedometer in Austin.
- Instrument cluster delivered back from Overseas and I reinstalled the instrument cluster prior to putting in shop, speedo/odo still inop, tach works great. Call Overseas speedometer and talk to the owner and he said off the bench all worked fine. I have no reason to doubt him.
- Notified by techs that speedo and odo not working at the completion of their work.
- Pulled the sensor off the back drive to clean and check for damage. The plastic casing, which I had never removed before, has a hairline crack on the aft housing but all else looked good. Not sure if that would affect voltage/signal to instrument cluster.
- Pulled off tank and tried to trace the wiring as much as I could. Cleaned all contacts with contact cleaner and pipe cleaner (and smaller) sized wire brushes. Cleaned all grounds I could find on the bike.....but I tried to follow the wiring diagram for the bike and must admit I am sure I missed a number of potential contact/resistance areas.
- Had my dog pee on the front tire...at least seemed to make him feel much better!
So that's about it. I have a voltage meter now and after hopefully some good suggestions here, I am going to enlist the help of a very nice neighbor that happens to work on his pristine Model A Ford....so he has a wealth of knowledge and use of tools that I don't.
Thanks in advance for what I'm sure will be a wealth of Brick knowledge!
- Speedo/Odometer intermittent /fails and tach needle had been inop (hanging like a string) for a short time. Incentive to both bring bike in for major maintenance, and send out the instrument cluster to Overseas Speedometer in Austin.
- Instrument cluster delivered back from Overseas and I reinstalled the instrument cluster prior to putting in shop, speedo/odo still inop, tach works great. Call Overseas speedometer and talk to the owner and he said off the bench all worked fine. I have no reason to doubt him.
- Notified by techs that speedo and odo not working at the completion of their work.
- Pulled the sensor off the back drive to clean and check for damage. The plastic casing, which I had never removed before, has a hairline crack on the aft housing but all else looked good. Not sure if that would affect voltage/signal to instrument cluster.
- Pulled off tank and tried to trace the wiring as much as I could. Cleaned all contacts with contact cleaner and pipe cleaner (and smaller) sized wire brushes. Cleaned all grounds I could find on the bike.....but I tried to follow the wiring diagram for the bike and must admit I am sure I missed a number of potential contact/resistance areas.
- Had my dog pee on the front tire...at least seemed to make him feel much better!
So that's about it. I have a voltage meter now and after hopefully some good suggestions here, I am going to enlist the help of a very nice neighbor that happens to work on his pristine Model A Ford....so he has a wealth of knowledge and use of tools that I don't.
Thanks in advance for what I'm sure will be a wealth of Brick knowledge!