Speedometer issue

[stubabe]

I had a strange problem occur with my speedometer yesterday and was wondering if any one else has experienced anything like it. I was making my normal 55 mile commute to work when ten miles into the ride my speedometer read zero. My cruise control would not engage and my turn signal would no longer auto cancel. I pulled over and the cable looked good from the outside but I could not tell if something was whacked out internally. 42 miles later the speedometer came back to life along with the cruise control and auto cancelling on the turn signals. Could this mean my speedometer cable is getting ready to give up the ghost or is this the symptom of some other problem? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. I am going to be taking a cross country road trip in 10 days and cruise control sure would be nice to have.

[Me Again]

Chances are if it came back to life ,is that the cables good .
It is more likely that the cable is loose at the speedometer or the sender in the front wheel is going bad.

[stubabe]

Thanks. I will check that out.

[chevyman1]

I had a drive seize up and that puts a stop to everything.
There is a chance your drive could have seized and after it cooled started working again.
If you take the front wheel off you will see if the drive keys were skipping over the slots that they fit in. while you have it apart make sure the drive has grease.
Or your cable could have broke and then both parts caught on each other and made it work again.
Ether way you should service the cable and drive, they tend to get water in them.

[bikerking.biz]

I remove my inner cable every year and relube (and check it of course). I've replaced the drive unit once, but since I've replaced the drive and inspect and relube the inner cable every year, it's lasted for years now- no problems.

[kjsett]

I had a drive seize up and that puts a stop to everything.
There is a chance your drive could have seized and after it cooled started working again.
If you take the front wheel off you will see if the drive keys were skipping over the slots that they fit in. while you have it apart make sure the drive has grease.
Or your cable could have broke and then both parts caught on each other and made it work again.
Ether way you should service the cable and drive, they tend to get water in them.

Mine seized over 800 miles from home last October. Couldn't get the parts without paying over $60 next day shipping. I decided to replace the whole unit because individual parts added up close enough and lack of hassle. Turns out there is a stamp metal connecting piece with slots that mates the hub to the speedometer assy. Mine bent when I put it back together (make sure they are properly mated before tightening the hub bolt). If you have to work on the front hub, get one (only about $10).
My wife's Vulcan 800 on a ride in June quit working and it turned out that stamped metal piece again was the culprit.
Just saying that when troubleshooting it went intermittent on me also (same design, different bike).
Thanks for noticing,
Ken

[stubabe]

Okay, I just want to thank everyone for their input. I just pulled the speedometer cable and discovered it was broken about 6 inches away from the speedometer. I guess it was intermittently making enough contact with itself to function. A new cable is on order and should be in my hands in one week. In the mean time when I ride I will just use my GPS for speed monitoring.

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

stubabe,
You will notice that without your speedo-cable you will not have self canceling turn signals, the auto-advance volume on the radio will not function and neither will the cruise control. These features all rely on the speedometer cable, but don't fear once you get the new one on it will be right as rain.
Tip for you (given to me by Carl Leo), soak the new cable in a pan of oil. Any oil, old used oil (free of soot) or new oil. Let it soak completely for 10 minutes or so while being completely submerged, then take it out when you are ready to install. Wipe it off and let the oil drain out of it. Hook it on to the bike at both ends, do a tad more clean up and take it for a ride. Some fellows will also take theirs off at the wheel yearly to drain any water that may collect (rain, condensation, etc...) to prevent the cable from rusting.

[cushman eagle]

I had the speedo drive unit fail on my '99 a couple years ago, and have made a habit of packing grease in it whenever I replace the front tire.

[AVAChmnMike]

I had a similar problem while at Americade several years ago. Same thing happened. There is a reed switch which turns off the turn signals. I pictured it as the hand on a clock. When you turn on the turn signal, it goes around in a circle and turns the signals off (so much for simple minds). When it went, it affected cruise and speedo. I was under warranty and they replaced it. That's as much as I know.