Over reading clock

[PaulD]

Ok, thanks for all the replies but I’m still no nearer finding out what my problem is. I strapped my sat nav on and went for a spin, on the motorway at a gps indicated 70mph the Kats speedo was reading almost 110mph! At 60mph it was reading around 95mph! The needle was wavering about too?

[Kryten]

How about this for another possibility.

Bearing in mind I am at work in Sunny Lincolnshire and not near the Kat or it's clocks.

But is the difference in the the various clocks for regional markets catered for in the gearing in the back of the clock? I seem to recall there being a red stamped marking on the back of mine that said something like xx rpm = yy kmh
There are several different speedo overlays available. 180kph; 240kph; 140mph+240kph; 140mph with a 55mph marker; (and my favorite for bureaucratic non-sense*) 80mph+140kph.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1982-Suzuki- ... 1742056227

I'm sure I have missed some.

As previously stated in the thread the speedo has been apart and re-assembled. What if it is a JDM180kph speedo with a US 240kph speedo face?

Geared for 19" wheel Vmax 180kph with a 240kph face, that will give about a 40kph over read (as the 240 is nearer 1 O'Clock than 12 O'Clock so will top out at about 220kph). Which works out to 112/136mph or 24mph over-read at full chat.

Added to the mix is the different needles and that it has been apart the gauge would be well out of balence.






* Because clearly if you a riding an 1100cc Kat with a speedo that only goes to 80mph, you're not going to ride it any faster than that.

[Uncle Bob]

Here's the clock face you have:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1982-83-gs11 ... 2212879114

I think like Kryten says, you have a set of probably 180kph clocks (from probably a 750) with that US mph face plate. Which is never going to work!
I've never taken a set apart to see in the internals tell you anything - I think JohnR is the expert on that side.

US

[PaulD]

Great thanks for that, is there anyway to confirm which clockset I actually have? Is there a serial number or some other way to check/confirm? The previous owner did say the bike was an Italian import. Thanks again for everyone’s help, I know it’s a pain when a new member comes in to a forum and then bombards you with questions.

[fossie]

Bombarding us with questions is what we thrive on , keep it up. Makes us feel useful !

As for confirming the clock set. A real time consuming effort really . But you'll have to take them off, look in the back where the cable goes in there will be as Kryten said a marking on the gearbox.
Obviously you'll need to remove the new face to see what's under there.

Just because it was an Italian import doesn't mean the clocks came from this machine originally, they may have been broken , stolen ...whatever. Many people incl breakers assume all the clock sets are the same.

The needles are prone to snapping , so maybe a previous owner just got a second hand set in the distant past.
The bouncing of the needles is redressed by a fluid that acts as a shock absorber. I think it can be redone.
Really all you need is a gear drive for a mph set 19" wheel .......but easier to source a kph gear drive.
We have a clock expert ......or more expert than anyone else , who will I'm sure be giving this some thought.

[PaulD]

Brilliant thanks for your help. I’ll whip the cluster off this weeken and take some photos. How can I differentiate between a mph & kph wheel drive?

[Kryten]

Whip the cluster off:

Fairing lowers LHS + RHS off
Screen off
5 screws;1 on top and 4 below fairing
Fairing out; don't forget the indicator wiring
Trip Reset Knob removed (pulls out straight)
Clock lower cover off; 3 screws (I have done it this way as it is easier to get to the Speedo cable knurled nut)
Speedo cable off
Clock wiring connector disconnected
Remove cluster from mountings under top yoke; 2 bolts and a bunch of washers and rubber spacers

Assembly is the reverse of dis-assembly

For any more in depth stuff have a look at this guide from suzuki-katana.com

http://www.suzuki-katana.com/pdf/how_to ... _apart.pdf



The speedo drive gearbox and mounting bracket has to come off if you want to get at the lamps in the back of the housing.
This is up to step 8 of the guide.
I have replaced the lamps in mine with T10 leds. Much clearer at night. Only word of warning is that the main beam indicator is now about the same level of brightness as the main beam itself So that one needs to be a lower wattage than the rest or just use the filament lamp in there already

Oddly enough Step 9 (the photo with the big red Do Not... sign) shows the detail of the meter cluster with a part number and what I think is the calibration for that set of clocks. JohnR has has a couple of sets so he might go and have a look and see if they show any variation.

[PaulD]

Fantastic, it’s too dark and cold now and unfortunately the Kat won’t fit in my workshop so I’ll do it tomorrow morning and post my findings.