Things that make you go mmmmmmmmmmmm

[Lucky_Lou]

Had a very nice ride out this morning, the first 10 miles were steady motorway cruising when unexpectedly the speedo started jumping for a couple of minutes then settled down and seemed to be reading as normal.
Just wondering if anyone else has had this and if its a sign that the cable is failing as it is the original one.
Lou  

[Bob_Roller]

You could try a light oil and see if it makes a difference or not .
I've been using a light air tool oil for the last 25 years .
I lube it every year, when I do the annual maintenance on the bike .
I don't remove the cable from the bike, just disconnect it at each end and put a pan to catch the oil that comes out at the transmission end .

[AlfromNH]

My speedometer starts going a little crazy over 70mph, the needle starts jumping around a bunch. I replaced the cable, and I've taken the unit apart for clean and lube. It's better, but still not 100%

[Matt Chapter]

I hate to break it to you guys (both Al and Lou), but you are experiencing the early symptoms of speedometer failure.

Mine used to read 20 mph high at speed, and flop around, eventually the flops got bigger and bigger and now they've flopped my speedometer needle.

The odometer still works, so it's on the "eh, maybe someday" pile.

[k_enn]

I agree - sounds like the beginning of speedometer failure.  Mine started bouncing around a little bit, then it started reading consistently high (20 to 40 mph high), and at times would not drop back to zero when stopped.  Odometer was fine, so it was not a cable issue.  Mine is out for repairs now.  Most likely, it is the setting of the needle on the shaft, but I will let the expert make the call.

k_enn

[Tony Smith]

Could be the cable, or the instrument itself.
 
If the cable, you may buy a little more time by carefully removing it, pull out the cable inner, flush the outer with carb cleaner and then lube up the cable with lithium grease. Do not lube the last 6" of the cable leadign to the instrument, you do not want grease in there believe me.
 
OTOH, your symptoms could equally be the sign of impending failure of the speedo itself. I think my wife bought one of the last new ones on the planet quite a number of years ago and in addition to R65 owners seeking replacements, many R65 speedos have been gathered up by R80GS owners. About the only type that seems to be readily available are the 80mph USA models that nobody wanted when new and as a result many were stored and are now on the market. I have one of these purely to satisfy my State's registration requirements, I intend to use a GPS as my main source of velocity information. In fact, a good bicycle computer could be adapted to provide perfectly adequate service as both a speedo and odometer.

[balibeemer]

I use graphite powder - which, here in never-never land, means buying 2B pencils, gutting them and putting the innards in a blender.!

[Lucky_Lou]

I use graphite powder - which, here in never-never land, means buying 2B pencils, gutting them and putting the innards in a blender.!

2B or not 2B that is the question ...... Motobins are showing new Venhill cables on their website for less than £20 so I may bite the bullet and get a new one, I replaced my clutch cable with a Venhill and what a difference its as smooth as silk.
Lou

[AlfromNH]

I hate to break it to you guys (both Al and Lou), but you are experiencing the early symptoms of speedometer failure.

That's what worries me. Can you tell me what exactly fails in the unit? I've had it apart(twice), and there's not a lot to it.

Another odd thing is I can put a drill on the tranny end of the speedo cable and spin it up to an indicated 80-90mph and it's rock steady.  :-?

[Matt Chapter]

I've never been inside (the speedometer) so I couldn't say.  I just know mine started out like that and is kaput now.  One day I'll ship mine off to a repair guy, probably the member here that fixes them.

[Ed Miller]

Wirespokes fixes them.  I would have him do mine, except I like my Vector better.