Noise from Speedo - R25/2

[Kurt in S.A.]

I have an '52 R25/2.  A few weeks ago, I noticed some faint squeaking, like squeak-squeak-squeak, not constant, as I pushed the bike around for positioning into the garage.  Putting my ear near the headlight, I could tell it was coming from there.  Yesterday, as I pushed the bike out to go for another ride, there was no noise.  After the 50km ride, I noticed the squeak was back.

I opened the bucket and disconnected the speedometer cable from the speedometer.  The noise was now gone.  After a bit of time, I removed the speedo and brought inside to look a little closer.  I have an offset screwdriver with a square tip which I would stick inside the place where the cable goes.  While holding the speedo, I could move it around so that the screwdriver was rotating and I could see that I was getting around 10kph.  But there was no noise.

It could be that by that time, maybe after cooling, there was nothing to make the noise.  Maybe when in the bike and after a few minutes riding, it builds up some internal small internal heat.  Not sure...just guessing.

I don't see any place to get any kind of lube to the speedo drive.  Does this sound like a cable problem or is it in the speedometer?  It's an original speedometer, stamped "2  52" on the backside.  I don't want to do any harm to it.

Thanks...Kurt

[Kurt in S.A.]

[reaver]

Hi Kurt,
as you mentioned, there is nothing to lubricated the speedometer, i think you have to clean the cable and drop  only a few oil inside, hang it upright over night so the oil can reach the bottom,once again the speedometer should not be the problem. If this doesn´t work,mount a new cable this is my experience after 30 years driving also a 25/2.
Greetings Rolf

                 

[Kurt in S.A.]

OK, I'll give it a try.  Anything special for lubrication...just plain oil??

Kurt

[rolf]

yes
I fill the "cap" with oil....important: wait 10Hours (or more) until the oil is going downwards....otherwise you oil the Odometer (it doesn't like this)

[Kurt in S.A.]

Just checked my records...less than 3000 km on brand new speedometer cable.

Kurt

[reaver]

Maybe bad Quality, or you have to clean and oil it more because of driving trough Texas sandy desert roads.....    

[Kurt in S.A.]

Maybe bad Quality, or you have to clean and oil it more because of driving trough Texas sandy desert roads.....

I hope it's not bad quality...I trust my source.  We did get some rain this past year, so things aren't that dry now!!  I will clean and oil the cable just to be sure.  If that doesn't help, then I'll look into getting the speedo repaired.

Kurt

[reaver]

repairing a speedometer is in (most cases) more expensive than buy a new one, i don´t know the prices in Texas, but good luck to find
the failure.

[† Will]

repairing a speedometer is in (most cases) more expensive than buy a new one,

That's correct if you compare prices against an Indian copy. I had mine repaired in Germany at a very reasonable cost which was much less than the price of a genuine new one including shipping to Germany and return to UK.
http://www.oldtimer-tachos.de/

[Kurt in S.A.]

I've cleaned the cable and will run some Tri-Flow through it next.  I'll reattach the cable and be sure that it doesn't have any kinks going into the bottom of the speedo...it should be a straight in routing.  If the noise returns, I'll have it fixed at a place not far from me, Overseas Speedometer.  I can drive it up there and talk to them about it.  It may be a couple of weeks before I know which way to go.

Thanks...Kurt