Cali 2003 Speedo dismantling

[luthier]

Broke the speedo cable last week.
In the process of investigating I removed the chrome plastic cover on the back of the speedo  to discover one of the rubber mount standoffs had come apart and was floating about.
So I removed it, unscrewed  the piece from the speedo head and reglued the rubber together.
But when I wanted to screw it back in I found the 'captive' nut inside the speedo shell had gone awol and was floating around inside..
So I thought it would be easy to pull the thing apart and reset that nut.
But I was defeated.

Firstly I couldn't get the rubber bungs out where the two sets of wires go for the speedo lights.
Do they simply pull out/wedge out with a small flathead screwdriver? They are so hard to move I was afraid of breaking something.
Nice to know that anyway in case of a globe failure.

Then I couldn't work out how to take the odometer reset knob off, but I since discovered it screws off with a left hand thread.

Then the Chrome Plastic Bezel fell off showing that it is held on by tiny plastic prongs, half of which are broken, so that will have to be reglued.

But finally how is the lens removed? It appears to be glued so removal would seem to be precarious without cracking it.
Maybe a hotair gun and a spatula?

Once that's off the two screws holding the mechanism can be removed and the mechanism removed, allowing the captive nut to be re-instated.

All this nasty plastic on an otherwise solid and wonderful bike is really bad form from the maker. I'm wondering if there's a metal replacement for that speedo? I know there's a very expensive alloy dash from Stein Dinse but I'm not going there.

For now I just want to repair what I have and keep it standard.
Any knowledge here greatly appreciated.

[Tom H]

It may be possible to remove the plastic lens. There is a write up on how to take the speedo apart, can't remember who wrote it up right now. Patrick Hayes or Wayne Orwig comes to mind. Anyways..

You have to carefully cut the body of the speedo all the way around. Like you cutting a piece of pipe, but only go deep enough to cut through the plastic shell. Then IIRR remove the 2 screws and separate the halves. Do your work and GREASE THE ODO DRIVE GEARS!

Then you taped or glued it back together. If you want to be able to grease the gears again, use a removable method.

I don't remember how the lights come out, I think they just pull out. Might wait for a confirmation on that.

Tom

[luthier]

Thanks Tom.
It seems the odo button actually doesn't screw off. I tried but it just turns. Maybe it just pulls off but too afraid to break it.
More knowledge please.

[Tom H]

Reset knob. IIRR there is a tiny screw in it. Go to Harpers or Cadre and look at the parts list.

I did the cut apart and dealt with the reset knob (which for my 2004 ITI is NLA, but another earlier version works, just longer), but it's been a few years. Sometimes I suffer from CRS.

Tom

[luthier]

Tom, Thanks very much. The clue about the small screw in the odo shaft was all it took.
I forced out the rubber grommets holding the lights and of course the little globes went flying.
Retrieved them but they seem open circuit and no power seems to be running in the wires so maybe a fuse there.
So with the speedo head out  I then took off the bezel, just pushed it off. Then I got a thin spatula between the clear lens and the white case. I injected some superglue debonder in there and then carefully parted it all round without damage.
Getting  the mechanism out was however quite tricky because the remaining shaft of the odo mechanism was stopping it.
I took the two black screws from the face and this gave just enough play to wedge and pop the mechanism out.
I found the non captive nuts floating around, one stuck to the magnet in the speedo mechanism.
Fitted them in place and dropped some thin CA glue in around them. Got the rubber standoff pieces and screwed them in place.
Then refitted the mechanism, placed the lens on, pushed the bezel over that and then dropped thin CA glue around the lip.
Job done except for getting those little globes happening again.
One of the stupidest speedos ever. I've done quite a few. I'd like normal light clips instead of those torturous rubber grommets.
And I'd like to be able to take out a couple of screws to dismantle the body. Glued plastic is unItalian. It's downright Chinese in fact.

[Tom H]

Congrats!

I might have to find some of that debonder. Thanks for the tip!

Tom

[luthier]

When I buy CA glue[superglue] it's either at a hobby shop or an auto spares.
Usually it's a better quality at the hobby shop, in our case Jaycar. I buy one called Zap in the super thin style, the pink bottle.
Usually beside any of them is the range of associated products.
There's a thick version for gap filling , there's an accelerator that you spray which makes it go off in a puff of smoke, and there's the debonder.
Having all of these is very useful for many things. In my guitar making thin CA is dropped into cracks and then sanded over while the glue is still wet and as the sandings go into the glue it acts like the accelerator and goes off with a thermal reaction.  With dark timbers this is very useful for invisible mending. But also sometimes with cars and bikes and tools there are small things that need to be fixed and the same idea can be applied.