Upper speedo cable

Kitch · Post by **Kitch** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:50 pm

Managed to break the valvers one and am struggling to source another. Anyone?

sdelasal · Post by **sdelasal** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:57 pm

I happened to notice yesterday that GSF supply them. I check and it shows 761PC0050 for 9.75. They also list the lower.

Any idea where the join is between the upper & lower cable? steve

Post by **docchevron** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:22 am

the join is th engine bay side of the bulkhead.

GSF do list them yes, but last time I asked for one, a couple of months back, was told they are NLA.

you could try ECP or AEP, if not, erm.... ooh, I could pull one out of one of the scrappers for you, but it'll be as old as the one you already have!

Kitch · Post by **Kitch** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:36 pm

Lol, as long as it's not as broken as the one I already have

Linegeist · Post by **Linegeist** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:29 pm

I don't know if any of you guys have ever tried this (being a classic bike nut, I do this quite a lot) but you can make your own speedo inner cables to length quite easily.

All it involves is cutting a suitable diameter piece to length, cleaning the ends (I use thinners, soaking them for a few hours to remove ALL lubricant) and then heating the ends gently before immersing them first in flux, and then coating them with plumber's solder. Effectively, you're 'tinning' the cable in the same way as you 'tin' a soldering iron bit before first use.

Once you've got the cable ends liberally soldered (and the solder needs to 'take' to the cable for this to work) it's a simple matter of filing a square on the soldered end that'll fit the drive spigot of whatever it is you're fitting it to.

Of course, extrapolating on from this, once you have the ability to remake cable ends, in extremis you can then shorten outer cables as well, to give you more options if parts are hard to come by. If you cut a 4" piece out of a speedo outer cable, you then create an 'extra' 4" on the corresponding inner. You simply re-join the cut outer (once the jaggies have been cleaned off so they don't damage the inner cable) using a piece of snug fitting rubber or plastic pipe (with clips if you're feeling perfectionistic).

If anyone's really stuffed with this description, I'll work up a spanner-porn photo-sequence showing a step-by-step how-to ............... but it really is a piece of widdle once you've tried it. The hardest part is getting all the oil/grease out of the donor inner cable (or the solder won't stick). Cellulose thinners is perfect for this.

toddao · Post by **toddao** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:58 pm

If anyone's really stuffed with this description, I'll work up a spanner-porn photo-sequence showing a step-by-step how-to

I'm really stuffed. Let's have some 'spanner-porn' please Bob! Maybe start off with overalls then move onto Speedos ( pun?) and cowboy boots.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:01 pm

I understand it, but I'd never object to a spot of spanner-porn!

toddao · Post by **toddao** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:50 pm

But I do understand.. Forget the spanner lets have just the porn now Bob's got his camera ready. How about this.. a leggy blond arrives at the 'workshop' with a broken speedo cable. The 'mechanic' ( played by Bob) is demonstrating how to fabricate a new one when suddenly the leggy blonde's clothes fall off ..

I really could have been a Hollywood player!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:57 pm

Linegeist · Post by **Linegeist** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:11 pm

Do you chaps have ANY idea how old and decrepit I am?

I assure you, the whole delightful scenario described above would be a complete waste on me ........... <Sob!>

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 8:05 pm

Have you done any for a bx yet? & how long have they lasted for?

Reason for asking is, would it be worth your time if you did some for club members for the right price?

Linegeist · Post by **Linegeist** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:07 pm

The short answer to that Matthew is that I'll happily repair any stuff members want send me (by prior arrangement, natch') FOC ...... I do a fair bit of welding for my bike club in this way - with the caveat that I need to be able to control just how much 'stuff' comes out of the woodwork. Apparently, I have a business to run in my spare time.

Having said that - speedo/Tacho cables are so easy to repair................... honest guv' ......

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:13 pm

Very decent of you Bob, i was thinking that as they are getting a bit pricey these day's (arent the approx £20 each?) & will possibly be nla at some point in time, it would be dead handy for club members to have someone who knows how to make them.

Out of interest, can wobbly speedo one's be fixed/repaired?

Linegeist · Post by **Linegeist** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:43 pm

In my experience, wobbly speedo's are often the result of either dry inners or loosely joined cables (in other words, I've fixed 3 wobbly speedo's by addressing exactly these issues - trés scientifique, eh?

).

If a cable's had its drive ends rounded off, then they can be refurbished successfully with solder - my current motorbike's rev counter had precisely this problem. The only caveat is that the cable must then be a firm push-fit into the gearbox drive spigot/speedo head, because the soft solder won't withstand the abrasion caused by a loose fit.

I suspect that, once I've had time to do a photographic walk-through of how to do this drive cable resurrection thing, everyone'll be rolling their own. It's like Viagra. It often looks hard for everyone else until you try it yourself. (Oooh, I kill me. I really do!)

Post by **Defender110** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:49 pm

Linegeist wrote:Do you chaps have ANY idea how old and decrepit I am?

I assure you, the whole delightful scenario described above would be a complete waste on me ........... <Sob!>

And how exactly would that have any detramental effect on our enjoyment of said film???

Great original contribution BTW Bob