Hello, this is my first post on this site. My 1996 R1100RT has 41,000 miles on it. The speedometer, odometer and trip odometer all suddenly stopped working. I'm thinking it might just need a new cable. Before I order a new one, thought I'd check and see if anyone has any words of advice for me on this.
Thanks,
BJ 1996 R1100RT
Broken speedometer
Moderator: Moderators
Re: Broken speedometer
Hi there,
and welcome to this forum. What you describe sounds to me like broken cables/short circuit in the wiring to the instruments. This happened often at earlier models and the reason was zip-ties too tightly locked. Suggest you check the wiring around the steering head ...
However wasn't the speedo manually driven (with a flex-shaft from the drive down at the wheel upto the speedometer)? If yes it maybe worthwhile checking same as well.
You might want to search this forum for the keyword "zip tie" or "broken cable" or "steering head" and you might find more answers.
Brgds
Oliver
and welcome to this forum. What you describe sounds to me like broken cables/short circuit in the wiring to the instruments. This happened often at earlier models and the reason was zip-ties too tightly locked. Suggest you check the wiring around the steering head ...
However wasn't the speedo manually driven (with a flex-shaft from the drive down at the wheel upto the speedometer)? If yes it maybe worthwhile checking same as well.
You might want to search this forum for the keyword "zip tie" or "broken cable" or "steering head" and you might find more answers.
Brgds
Oliver
Re: Broken speedometer
Thanks Oliver, you are right it is a flex cable. I will check out the cable and the zip ties. Could be I hvae one on too tight.
BJohnson
BJohnson
Re: Broken speedometer
BMW is known to sell bikes where the zip ties around the steering head are too tight and due to the movement of the front fork (steering and damping) these cables are likely to break. Sometimes invisibly within their plastic tubes ...
However the speedo is a different issue because the 1100 models had the flex-shaft.
Check-out all the cables and let us know what the issue is. Also please advise if the rest of the stuff works in the instruments (turnsignal, lightning of the instruments, etc).
Brgds
Oliver
However the speedo is a different issue because the 1100 models had the flex-shaft.
Check-out all the cables and let us know what the issue is. Also please advise if the rest of the stuff works in the instruments (turnsignal, lightning of the instruments, etc).
Brgds
Oliver
Re: Broken speedometer
Everything else works fine, including tach. I am installing a new speedo cable on Thursday and will let you know if that fixes the problem. I took the old cable off last night and didn't see any visual defects so if it is broken it must be within the cable housing. THe speedometer drive unit looked fine just needs some cleaning up and lubing while its off. Thanks Oliver
BJohnson
BJohnson
Re: Broken speedometer
an easy way to locate the problem is to disconnect the speedo cable form the speedo and give the front wheel a spin, if you can see the cable head (square part) move the cable is fine. also the inner moving part sticks out of the jacket a bit, just make sure that if something did snap nothing is left stuck in the speedo itself. if you wish to test the speedo, disconnect the cable at the wheel hub, chuck it in a hand drill and give it a low speed spin, you should see all the parts moving as they should
Re: Broken speedometer
The speedo cable was broken about 8" up from the drive unit. Replaced the cable, easy fix. Everything works great.