do you have a speedometer

GoldenMotor.com

Skarrd

Member
Oct 13, 2010
501
2
18
34
Chandler, AZ
Skarrd, I am not sure what brand it is. I called the bike shop and asked if they carried them. They said that they did not carry them in stock, but that they could order them. Personally, I think they bought it on eBay. I dont really care, but the neat part was that I didnt have to pay shipping. So they ordered one for me and I think maybe a week later I picked it up. They had it in a couple days, but I didnt have the money to go get it right away. If your local bike shop doesnt carry them or wont order one for you, then search ebay. you will find them for about the same price, anyway, but maybe have to pay a couple bucks for shipping. My speedo has held up just fine, and I have had it for over 6 months. I did have one problem, but it was my fault. I had a front basket, and the way I had my speedo mounted, the cable housing was rubbing against the basket. It ended up rubbing through and breaking the cable. A buddy of mine had a spare cable, so he replaced it for me. I mounted it in a better position, and have had no further problems. I even found a spare cable in my garage. It must have been left behind by the previous tenant. Plus I'm not even using the front basket anymore. I was going for a new look, and the basket didnt go with that look, so bye-bye basket.
see if you can get a picture of the speedometer.

if it's one they ordered, then it's probably the ones i keep finding on amazon.
 

bigbutterbean

Active Member
Jan 31, 2011
2,417
3
38
Lebanon, PA
Actually you are in luck. I just finished rebuilding, and I always take a bunch of pictures whenever I finish a build/rebuild. I just happened to snap a pic of my speedo the other day.
 

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buck0

New Member
Apr 24, 2011
376
0
0
Orange County, Ca
Yes I prefer to use a speedo. I've used a wired and wireless speedo. Wireless sometimes has interference and it has brain farts and says 0 mph when your actually moving. Wired is good, just have to make sure to tie the wire good so it doesn't get caught up and get torn to shreds.
 

Skarrd

Member
Oct 13, 2010
501
2
18
34
Chandler, AZ
Actually you are in luck. I just finished rebuilding, and I always take a bunch of pictures whenever I finish a build/rebuild. I just happened to snap a pic of my speedo the other day.
right on, thanks! i know exactly which one that is. gonna order it now, curious though how it hooks to the wheel. looks like it's something that clamps to the hub from the pictures they show of it.
 

The_Aleman

Active Member
Jul 31, 2008
2,653
4
38
el People's Republik de Kalifornistan
I've used one of those cheap mechanicals before...they don't work very well. Mine worked fine for a hundred miles, then it didn't work anymore. I rebuilt it, lubed it, worked again, but was not accurate whatsoever. It broke again and I tossed it.
 

bigbutterbean

Active Member
Jan 31, 2011
2,417
3
38
Lebanon, PA
Skarrd, yes, there is a part that attaches to the hub. It has what is called a striker pin, which goes in between the spokes. The striker pin drives a gear inside the part that attaches to the hub, which in turn spins the cable. The cable then turns another gear inside the speedo itself, which in turn moves the needle. Aleman, perhaps you got a cheap or defective one. Had mine for over 6 months now, no problems with it except for when I broke the cable, and that was my fault. A new cable, and it works just fine.
 

The_Aleman

Active Member
Jul 31, 2008
2,653
4
38
el People's Republik de Kalifornistan
How fast do you go? I had one years ago on a non-motored build and it also broke once I went over 30 a couple times downhill. I went over 35 once on a motored build and that speedometer was never the same. It's common knowledge here that those cheap mechanical speedometers are unreliable at higher speeds. All those mechanicals are cheap/generic aside from the Whizzer version.
 

bigbutterbean

Active Member
Jan 31, 2011
2,417
3
38
Lebanon, PA
You guys can say what you want about the mechanical speedos, I have had mine for probably around 9 months. I go around 35 and it works fine. Maybe they build them better than they used to. Maybe somebody was paying attention at the factory the day mine was made. Maybe I put it on right. Maybe my bike doesn't vibrate too much. Who knows. Mine works, has worked, and I expect it to continue working for a long time. I had 3 wallyworld speedos that didn't work worth a crap. I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for.
 

The_Aleman

Active Member
Jul 31, 2008
2,653
4
38
el People's Republik de Kalifornistan
If it works, and you're happy with it, more luck to you. You did prolly get a Wednesday built one, if yours is still somewhat accurate after 9 months. I've also not had much luck with the Walmart digital speedometers, they never last more than 6 months for me. I use my MaB as main transportation, so everything on them gets put to the test! Cheap stuff usually fails within a year, sometimes less in my case.
 
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fredric3144

Member
Oct 22, 2012
110
1
18
76
lufkin tx
I have bought 2 of the didital speedo 1 from ebay didn't work at all 1 from wally a Bell it didn't work either . Bought a mechanical analog from ebay it was junk needle bounced all over the place . bought another one from cycling deal usa for $15 and just tried it out works great only problem is it gives speeds in kilometers in BIG numbers and mph in small numbers only goes up to 60 km thats around 37 mph faster than I normally travel . I usually travel at about 40km or 25 mph at that speed it is doing very well so far time will tell .
 

allen standley

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
1,126
238
63
Bangor, Maine
MOST wired and wireless speedometers/computers are terribly affected by the engines RF.
If you could isolate the speedo wire from the wheel magnet on up to the speedo mount using a single twisted pair audio cable, you would find even the cheep bell units would work fine. That to me is an impractical solution requiring solderi.trkng and exposed portions of wire. On this principal- if you discover a better way of RF isolation please share, lots of us here would use one.
 

oldtimer54

Member
May 15, 2010
540
6
18
On a bike
I just use a resistor plug. My bike computer would keep resetting when ever I would rev the engine after installing the new plug problem solved.
 

allen standley

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
1,126
238
63
Bangor, Maine
I've used resistor auto plug wire with the only speedometer THAT WORKED, I blame that on my Little black CDI box going bad at that time. Kept me down for over 2 weeks figuring it out and waiting for parts. Probably didn't anything to do with it. I don't know. Anything resistant in the chain of electrics on the spark plug side of that box makes me skiddish to try. Everything about these damn motors are really quite fragile in my opinion. I have no luck with the cheep speedom/comps. and don't spend money on em.
 
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biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,631
409
83
Dallas
I've used resistor auto plug wire with the only speedometer THAT WORKED, I blame that on my Little black CDI box going bad at that time. Kept me down for over 2 weeks figuring it out and waiting for parts. Probably didn't anything to do with it. I don't know. Anything resistant in the chain of electrics on the spark plug side of that box makes me skiddish to try. Everything about these damn motors are really quite fragile in my opinion. I have no luck with the cheep speedom/comps. and don't spend money on em.
I've never had a CDI fail, but I've had a string of magneto coils fail, that I blame on a combination of, too wide a spark plug gap, a resistor plug cap, and high rpm running.

After reducing the plug gap to 0.025" and getting rid of the resistor cap I haven't had anymore failures.

I have a wireless speedo that's made to be highly resistant to outside interference. It works well up to 35 mph, but after that it's effected by rf.

http://road.cc/content/review/4706-knog-nerd-12-function-computer
 

allen standley

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
1,126
238
63
Bangor, Maine
Thanks for the good input. I got a couple mechanical speedos in a box but they're off 16" excersizer bikes. Can't imagine the accuracy being even close, so I never tried em.
 

Desert Rat

New Member
Jul 30, 2012
565
9
0
Apache Junctoin Az
can't find it right now on ebay but when I needed it I used a small round
RF interference filter, rapped the cord thru it several times and mounted it
no problems, can find one at most radio shack and electronics stores.
basically it's a small round magnet (I believe) with a hole in center
mine came with an old TV.
 

dodge dude94

New Member
Jun 8, 2012
1,017
1
0
East Texas
FWIW, I use a Bell F20 wired computer, it works correctly about 97% of the time. Sometimes it freaks out and then is normal again.

Bosch Mag-core coil wire (gotta love extra truck parts :D) and an NGK B7HS plug.
 

allen standley

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
1,126
238
63
Bangor, Maine
Yup i been thinking about that very item. I'll give it a try. Rite now priority new electrics for gold gary fisher. Ordered parts from Duane today on skype. Way cool way to communicate with a respectable seller of parts. off topic sorry -but I tried pirate several times cause there close to maine. Duane ceilings at 9 bucks shipping I'm glad he was avail to take my order.