Speedometer cable sliced by Clutch ???

Skullnick

New member
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8
Location
Quebec
Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and after browsing around a little I am impressed with the amount of knowledge in here!....

After riding my 96 VMAX XT for almost 6 years I finally got something go wrong. During the second ride of the season this year my belt blew to shreds and I had to remove and unwind endless bits and pieces of rubber & thread. After close inspection I had to tighten the speedometer connection and then proceeded to install the new belt...rode for about 1km with a slight vibration and then it was gone and so was my functional speedometer. Next day I realized that the shaft which holds the 90 degree speedometer connection rotated to the 12:00 c'clock position and that the clutch sliced right through the speedo cable.

My question is once I loosen the shaft is it a simple task to rotate the connection back to 9:00 o'clock so it clears the belt and clutch or is there more than meets the eye? Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 

welcome, there is alot of great knowledge around here. not too sure what you mean, on the speedo drive housing there are three holes which fit over three studs protruding through the tunnel, if you had this off and put it back one hole out that would put your cable coming in from the top and not straight in, and come into contact with the clutch. is this what happened or did the whole assembly spin?
 
you should have 6 bolt holes on your 96. replace the cable and gear housing, then you'll have peace of mind. if you put on a new cable and it rotates again after you thought you straightened everything out, you'll be pissed. same thing happened to me 2 years back. I'm still finding belt fragments and thread.
 
Thanks!, I actually made no repairs on this sled since I bought it almost six years ago and never took anything apart either for the exception of the plugs & hyfax...I simply put on a new belt after the old one popped. I just happened to notice the threads slightly showing beneath the rubber sleeve on speedometer connection so I hand tightened it alittle. I'm somewhat perplexed, can it be the whole assembly spun?....if so, what could have cause this?
 
well i am not too sure how it could have been cut by the clutch if you did not physically move the housing,but only tighten it. did you move the cable out of the way when you were cleaning chunks of belt out of your belly pan, there are usually rubber coated clips the cable sits in to keep them out of the way of the clutches, did you move the cable out of the way and the clutch got it? or did it happen near the housing of the speedo drive?
 
BLUEBALLER said:
you should have 6 bolt holes on your 96. replace the cable and gear housing, then you'll have peace of mind. if you put on a new cable and it rotates again after you thought you straightened everything out, you'll be pissed. same thing happened to me 2 years back. I'm still finding belt fragments and thread.
BLUEBALLER, Thanks for the heads up! I already got the speedo cable...what do you figure the gear housing will cost? Is this a job for a mechanic or can one with basic mechanical skills tackle this task?

Thanks!
 
NORTHMANSX said:
well i am not too sure how it could have been cut by the clutch if you did not physically move the housing,but only tighten it. did you move the cable out of the way when you were cleaning chunks of belt out of your belly pan, there are usually rubber coated clips the cable sits in to keep them out of the way of the clutches, did you move the cable out of the way and the clutch got it? or did it happen near the housing of the speedo drive?
I cleaned every visible piece there was and eventhough there were no clips holding the cable it was not the belts path. The cable got sliced about 1 inch from the connecting point (housing), right at about where the cable bends forward. When I put the sled on my lift the next day I stood over the clutch looking down at the space between my clutch and the engine, the remaining severed cable & connection barely cleared the clutch and when I accelerated the engine fast enough the clutch moved over about 3/16'' over the severed cable just enough to cut it.
 
Skullnick said:
BLUEBALLER, Thanks for the heads up! I already got the speedo cable...what do you figure the gear housing will cost? Is this a job for a mechanic or can one with basic mechanical skills tackle this task?

Thanks!

I have no idea what the housing would cost, but you should have no problem doing this yourself. undo the 6 bolts, remove and reuse the wirewound speedo key(if it's not shot) from inside the gear housing. reattach your speedo cable, bolt everything back up and you should be good to go.
 
Thanks BLUEBALLER,
Sounds like I can tackle this on my own, at least I will save some coin on the labor.
 
Thanks Crewchief47,
Now I even know what the part is called....thanks to all of you for your help!
 


Back
Top