suggestions for broken speedometer

I recently purchased a 1985 XJ700 Maxim-X air-cooled motorcycle.

I think it's been dropped or laid over quite a few times judging by the broken stuff on it. One of the aluminum passenger footpeg mounts is cracked, the front brake lever is missing the last 1/3 of the lever, the tank has 2 big dents on the left side, and the speedometer is busted and floppy.

Now to my question. I could bandage up the broken speedometer mount that holds it to the cluster fairly easily so that's not an issue. But right now it has no movement. It does light up and the tripometer spins freely. However, the housing UNDERNEATH the plastic chrome exterior is all cracked. I could epoxy and seal it back up easily enough though. What I'm wondering is if this is just a speedometer cable issue or the speedometer gear thing on the front wheel is the problem. I removed both ends of the cable and it seems to spin freely on both ends in the cable jacket. I reattached it and still no movement. Can the cable still be bad even if it's moving freely? I know a replacement cable is pretty cheap so I will try that first. How expensive of a part is the speedometer drive gear that goes on the front wheel if that's the issue? Lastly is it possible to install a 3rd party generic speedometer and is it difficult to configure to accurately display speed on my bike's wheel?

Thanks guys.

 

3rd party is a breeze. Some use the original cable and will read the correct speed. Some use a hall effect pickup and by pass all the original equipment and "count" wheel revolutions and do a little math.

you can check the speedo cable by releasing it from both ends and spinning it with a drill. then connect it to the speedo and spin the wheel end. If speedo moves then, then it is a gear issue. You can check the gear end by releasing from back of speedo, taping to the center of the cluster and then going for a ride. Speedo end should then turn.

Things can go wrong in the speedo case, and lots of old speedos from that era will fit and work.

(I got a speedo and tach of mikesXS and they work wonderfully with the original cables).

Ken

 

here's a suggestion to check if the cable is good or not... disassemble the speedo cable from the front wheel while keeping it attached to the cluster assembly and insert it in a hand power-drill. spin the cable really fast with powerdrill and if the needle indicates speed, then you know that the drive gear connection by front tire is bad. if the needle doesn't move, then obviously your cable or cluster assembly is broken somewhere.

i have had this happen twice to me and both times the drive gear down by front tire went bad. wasn't too expensive after some searching: i think it was less than $20