Speedometer cable break

[VMAX NV]

So I'm riding and my speedo stops working and so I think one of the ends is unscrwed, I stop and of course it's the top one, I finger tighten it the best I can and it works all the way home..so I take apart the whole light/screen/brackets etc to get a pliers on it, tighten it up and put everything back together, don't test ride it till I go to work today and it doesn't work. I take it all apart again and both end are screwed on so I pull on one end and out comes about 8 inches of the cable.

Got about 17K miles, cable was lubed well, both ends spin in the speedo and front wheel. Do they just wear out sometimes? Are aftermarket cables just as good as OEM? Do they make a stainless one to match the brake/clutch lines?

Can I use pretty much any speedo cable, it seems pretty generic.

 

[one2dmax]

Stock cables aren't expensive and usually last well. I don't lube as that does nothing but attract and retain dirt. And yes, stainless is available and I usually have them on hand (in stock and reduced length for lowered bikes).

Sean

 

[VMAX NV]

Gah! Stopped working again, figured it snapped again and bought a new generic one.(<$20) Took it apart and found it did not break. I could spin the cable by hand and the speedo would blip up. Put it back together and still didn't work. I guess I have to take the wheel off and check out the gear thing the cable plugs into.

 

[Karmakatt]

Gear Assembly

 

[VMAX NV]

Yup, looks like the plastic gear inside the gear assembly is worn out.

 

[m-cman]

Is the new cable the exact same length as the original? If shorter, may not be meshing right.

 

[CaptainKyle]

At least used drives are pretty cheap. I should have a handful of them out here.

 

[VMAX NV]

Nope, the cable was the same length, it was the plastic gear inside the Gear Assembly. You can see how the metal gear wore a groove in the plastic. The new one was all metal.