Notice anything odd in the above picture? Lemme explain:
One more DIY today, though I'd have loved to spend this wonderful warm (even by Greek standards) January day on the bike and not fixing it. I had to though cause its speedo went off. On my way back home it started cutting off, then died and only woke while going over bumps. That was a good indications that I would probably have to deal with a faulty electric connection (speedo is fully electric). To cross check this, a couple of Ks before my arrival I dived the front with lots of front braking and all my (low) weight) and it came back to life for that fraction of time the suspension was down. This made the potential culprit more specific: as the only moving part is the speedo cable I'd have to check out the part from the frame to the front fork as that's the only moving one.
I first decided to cut the factory zip ties and let the cable free to see if it comes back to life like this. Instead it just died for good. The Japs who tightened those zip ties put so much force that they left permanent deep marks on the cable. Why guys? You're not locking a nuclear bomb, it's just a fucking cable that has to stay in place while being free to move if it has to (instead of bringing problems like this).
Internet time was my next move to see what others did in my case. Some had a faulty cable, others a faulty connector, others a faulty rotor. The connectors are not so easy to reach but I had a look (and touch) and none looked loose. So I started looking for parts as I was almost sure I had a faulty cable. And that's the first time Suzuki put a smile on my face (a laugh actually) but not for a good reason. The rotor alone costs 40 euros (which is probably not my problem and the cable with the rotor (as the cable is not sold separately) costs 200 euros!
No fucking way I'm paying 200 euros instead of soldering a new cable myself. So, that's what I started early this morning. Still no odd (better read funny) findings on that image above? Let me help:
Did you see that extra round mirror next to the rear view mirror?
I need this one so that I can read the speedo while I stand in front of the bike. Why? Because someone has to roll the wheel and I am solo. And how do you roll it with the wheel on the ground and without a center stand or a front jack? With my two DIY wooden stands:
You can't really see the wheel's clearance but it's off by one finger, more than enough for testing. Sorry for the lack of full coverage of the whole procedure but it's a 1 man show and I am not making a single penny out of this to invest more time for publicity reasons 🙂
So with this funny but functioning set up I can try the speedo anytime I want without moving the bike. I cut the suspicious part of the cable, the one parallel to the blue line:
Just out of curiosity I measure the part I removed to see if I find any of the 3 cables inside faulty. And...YES! The red one was interrupting contact even though the whole part looked perfect. Happy that I am now sure about the culprit I solder 3 new cables, oversized as they came from a power cord but better larger than smaller. Heat shrink tubes on each connection, more on the whole part and duct tape all over to make it tougher and black again.
What a joy to see the speedo's needle moving on first touch of the wheel! One morning = 200euros. Not bad but the joy of fixing is more important cause it's priceless.
Feel free to text me if you need plus info on this. Safe rides!
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