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My speedometer needle wags back and forth about ten miles when I hit 70mph or so. Is it a lubrication problem in the cable or a worn gear issue? The bike is old- 23 yrs but the instument cluster is from another model Honda which I think is of no real consequence but the oscillations are irritating. How can I address this?

1983 HONDA CBX 550F

i would think the cable is already broken for the most part, and when you get up to that speed (meaning faster rotations) the rotation becomes intermitten since its handicapped. thats my theory.

Ahhh, I see. so it could be still catching at the break yet slips a little when I get the speed up. Isn't the inside of the cable like a sling or coiled/spring-like affair that resists twisting or torquing up on itself? You know, I think it wags a little a lower speeds-50mph- after I've ridden it hard and to where it wags alot. Eventually it shouldn't work at all right? Maybe a new cable will fix this problem. AAAGH more money! I hope its a common part.

the cable itself is steel threads wrapped around it to make the cylindrical cable, yes. ive had cables do this before, not uncommon. so yes, eventually it will stop working. of course it would be pretty easy to check..just open up the cable jacket and pull it out and check. depending on the setup you can buy a speedometer cable from an auto parts store and retro fit it to yuor bike. thats what i did. 13 bucks.

Thanks man, I'll look in the AM and check out o'reilly's if I've got a busted cable. I may ask questions on mods if I can't "figger" how to adapt a cable.

You might be lucky enough to get by with a good lube job on the inner cable. The "wagging" is caused by the cable binding in its sheath and is the precursor to breakage. Like txbadboy says, pull the cable out of the sheath and take a look. If it seems undamaged - but dry and rusty - give it a good coat of thin oil (like 3-in-1 Oil or similar), shoot some down the sheath until it drips out the other end and puit it back together. Worth a shot.

I find a "Cable Luber" to work really well oiling our motorcycle cables:

This is what it looks like:


and how it is used:



They are cheap but work really well. I use liquid wrench with teflon rather than WD40 as the teflon seems to help keep it slippery in there and last longer too.

Mike.

Waited till the aftereffects of Emily to move on. Its been wet and humid here so finally things have begun to dry out. I was reluctant to tear into anything while rain was an issue.

Got the cable off and dripped a combo of 10-40w and lucas oil down the sheath till it dripped out. Reinstall. Cable seemed fine.

Took a 80 mile ride to see the effects. Hmm... seems to be an improvement and now behavior is inconsistent after 50mph. It appears to have a summertime problem: summertime it would wag summertime not. Haw haw!

It was really kind of windy today. The road conditions smooth then bumpy. At speed-- anywhere from 55mph on up, there seemed to be a correlation between road conditions as well as the gusts or air resistance and the oscillations of the speedo needle. Is this possible? Could the ambient conditions have a jarring effect on the instrument or on the bike just enough to cause it to speed up and slow down fractionaly thus causing this effect reflected in the speedo? Honestly, I've never seen it before in any vehicle unless something was wrong.

Is there a gear or spring worn out somewhere in the speedometer or down in the wheel? I lubed her up and she seemed to be in good condition. The cable I mean. There was an improvement so maybe even more oil?

As an afterthought, could too much oil have an adverse effect somewhere in the cable? I've thought of filling the sucker up and seeing how that works.