Greg Field
Cruisin' Guzzisti
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2008
- Messages
- 102
I pulled apart my ITI speedo just before the National ride, just to see how the greasing I did 21,000 miles ago (at about 7,000 miles) was holding up, and also to calibrate it more precisely. I had already turned the needle back about 10 mph at 70 mph, but my calibrated bicycle speedo showed that it was still reading 4 mph fast at 70. Why not make it right while I was in there?
The short answer was that the greasing was at the limit after 22,000 miles. The grease was all gone, and it was just starting to wear on the smaller gear. The grease I had put on all the other pivot and bearing surfaces was fine, though, so I got to thinking that maybe it would be good enough if I just modified the case so I could easily and periodically grease the worm gear?
I pulled out my electric soldering iron and burned two holes in the plastic case that would allow this and did a few trial greaseings. Why burning? Well, it's easy (though very stinky) and easily controlable and doesn't dump a bunch of shavings into the speedo case. Maybe there's a better way, but burning worked pretty well.
The red places show where I burned the holes and goobered in the grease to get the big worm gear and the smaller plastic gear that drives the odometer. By squishing it in pretty good and turning the input shaft with a screwdriver, I was able to prove to myself that I could do a pretty good job of it without opening up the case again.
I sealed up the two holes with duct tape, and that should hold me until I want to grease it next. I checked it today, after about 4,000 miles since the National, and it was good and greasy still. I'll probably grease it once a year and maybe make the speedo last forever.
If you want to do it totally right and grease everything and re-calibrate or even set the odometer correctly, you have to open the case. For ways to do that, see the original thread, but this is a way to easily extend the life of your speedo with about 20 minutes's effort. I hope some of you will give it a try. Or you can call me later and order a new speedometer . . .
The short answer was that the greasing was at the limit after 22,000 miles. The grease was all gone, and it was just starting to wear on the smaller gear. The grease I had put on all the other pivot and bearing surfaces was fine, though, so I got to thinking that maybe it would be good enough if I just modified the case so I could easily and periodically grease the worm gear?
I pulled out my electric soldering iron and burned two holes in the plastic case that would allow this and did a few trial greaseings. Why burning? Well, it's easy (though very stinky) and easily controlable and doesn't dump a bunch of shavings into the speedo case. Maybe there's a better way, but burning worked pretty well.
The red places show where I burned the holes and goobered in the grease to get the big worm gear and the smaller plastic gear that drives the odometer. By squishing it in pretty good and turning the input shaft with a screwdriver, I was able to prove to myself that I could do a pretty good job of it without opening up the case again.
I sealed up the two holes with duct tape, and that should hold me until I want to grease it next. I checked it today, after about 4,000 miles since the National, and it was good and greasy still. I'll probably grease it once a year and maybe make the speedo last forever.
If you want to do it totally right and grease everything and re-calibrate or even set the odometer correctly, you have to open the case. For ways to do that, see the original thread, but this is a way to easily extend the life of your speedo with about 20 minutes's effort. I hope some of you will give it a try. Or you can call me later and order a new speedometer . . .