Passes & Canyons Blog

Notice anything funny about my speedometer in the photo above? Yeah, that’s weird. The top portion of the face of the speedometer just snapped off and slid down on the side, exposing the gears and inner workings. Anyone seen something like that before?

I was out on my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom on Friday, making a run for the Tag-O-Rama game being played on Adventure Riders, and getting annoyed at the howling coming from my speedometer. For as long as I’ve owned this bike, more than 20 years, the speedometer has periodically made this squealing sound, but it has only been occasionally. Recently, however, it has been doing it all the time, and it has been louder than before.

So I was watching it closely to see when the squealing starts (around 20 mph) and when it stops (around 15 mph). And then one time I looked down and . . . WTF?

I happened to be near Mountain Thunder Motorsports, at 2670 W. Hampden, where I take my bikes for service, so I swung on by to let Joel take a look. I figured he could see what parts were needed and get them on order. Even Joel was surprised by what he saw so I suspect this is not a very common problem. Joel did say, though, that the squealing is definitely an issue with the speedo, and that replacing it will solve both problems.

He also looked at my mileage, 84,549 when I got home later and shot this picture, and remarked that even with a used speedometer my bike is going to shed a lot of miles. Hey, someone want to buy this 32-year-old bike with only 27,000 miles on it? Ha! Not for sale.

I’ve often wondered if the speedometer was going to break some day, considering the squealing and all, but I never imagined this would be how it would break. You never know.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Kawasaki demo days coming to 30 towns

Biker Quote for Today

The faster it goes the faster it breaks. And high performance=high maintenance.

I know they were just letting me nibble at the bait, considering taking a big bite, when they’ll set the hook.

They, in this case, are the guys at the DOHC Customs forum, a web forum for owners–like me–of old Honda CBs, primarily of the Custom variety. That is, my bike is a CB750 Custom and there are also CB900 Customs, CB1000 Customs, as well as CB750K models and others.

A big part of the focus of this forum is helping owners keep their aging beasts alive. I had joined the forum in 2008 but had not been active.

I noticed recently that there was a good bit of oil collecting on the lower extremities of the bike, right around the centerstand area. Thinking I might be low on oil due to the leak, I checked it. Dang! It was way overfull! Did I top it off recently? Or did the shop overfill it the last time I had it in for work? I have no idea.

But the question I now had was, is all this leakage an indication of a blown seal? So I went to the forum to ask that question, and I also asked if it was something I could easily fix on my own. I’m not much of a mechanic but as broke as I am these days I wanted to avoid taking it to the shop if I could.

The answers from the forum were yes and yes. I was told it was most likely to be the shift shaft seal, which I have indicated in that photo above. That rod coming out right there is what the gear shift lever is attached to, which I had removed before the picture was taken. The seal is slipped over the shaft and pressed into place there in the engine body.

I plunged right in but quickly started catching all kinds of crap. It turns out I had not sufficiently boned up on forum etiquette and proceeded to annoy several of the guys, who didn’t hesitate to express their displeasure. The discussion was a little tense for awhile but I was properly contrite and we got past that.

The repair job was indeed pretty simple, although there were a few things I had to figure out on my own. And I did. I’ve worked as a tech writer and I know how people who know their subject really well can often skip over steps they take for granted, not realizing the uninitiated just don’t know these things, and therefore find a disconnect between steps.

So for the $6.43 the seal cost me I fixed my bike. And I learned a bunch, too. I wouldn’t object to learning how to work on my bike. I sure hate what I’ve had to pay over the years to keep this bike running. I know the guys on the forum are just waiting for me to take a bigger bite on this bait.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Allstate will install caution signs for motorists to look for motorcycles

Biker Quote for Today

It ain’t broke ’til you can’t fix it anymore.