VF1000F2 speedo flicking around and reading high

Hi all.

My 85 VF1000F2 speedo is bouncing around all over the place, and if it remains steady whilst underway will like be showing double the speed the bike is doing at the time. Not to sure whether its a bad signal or the speedometer is on the way out.

Any thoughts as to why its doing this?

That’s odd i would think

If ya can’t get it fixed i’ve a set from a 1987 one for sale

you speedo cable is faulty
the wheel drive is mechanical so its not that
clocks are very reliable in my opinion

I have two F2s…both do exactly the same thing. I have swapped around cables (inner and outer), gearbox drives, and of course the actual units. I have tried a brand new cable (so that’s three cables in total). I have tried two different types of grease (lithium and something general), and then powdered graphite. Same result. My conclusion is that there was a bad batch of instruments (perhaps just in the 460 bikes that came to Australia?), and particularly the little plastic gear that drives the odometer. What I currently ride with is a speedo that initially works accurately and steadily, then as riding time progresses the needle swings and reads wildly optimistic (200km/h+ in third gear…who would have thought that possible :grinning:). My best guess is that the heat generated through use (friction of all those gears whirring around inside the unit) causes the instrument to malfunction. Normal service resumes once the speedo ‘cools down’ (I park the bike at work for the day). And of course neither odometer works. Both my speedometers are in great external condition, never dropped or damaged. One of them had travelled just 18,000km from new, initially fine, but it stopped working reliably just short of 20,000km. I’ve owned at least a dozen Honda’s over the years, road and off-road, and have never known this issue with any of them, except the F2. Is it the way the cable is routed on the F2? Seems conventional, and there’s no evidence of wear, abrasion or kinks. I agree with someone’s earlier comment about the quality of Honda instruments…except the F2. In fact I’ve never had this issue with any bike, Honda or not. I enjoy riding the F2, now I just take a device with me (Velcroed to the triple clamp) to calculate speed and distance, and ignore the needle that oscillates madly and the trip counter permanently stuck on 0000. Let me know what your investigation turns up. Would love to have a solution.

New cable has partially fixed the issue. It has stopped flicking around now but is reading about 10-15kmh high. I’ll check the drive and clean it and re grease…

Hi Hoges,
did you ever fix the speedo problem?
After lots of very similar problems mine was fixed when I fitted a different nylon drive gear.
I have a near new F2 speedo you can try if that helps, but I’m convinced that all the weird behaviour is from the nylon drive gear.
Happy Christmas mate!

It kind of sorted itself out, but perhaps that was me ‘improving’ something during one of my ‘take it apart, then reassemble’ sorties. When you say new nylon gear, di you mean brand new OEM, or some a/m part? And merry Christmas also.

I remember my own speedometer madness phase well. Same sort of ridiculous swapping of components, cable, speedos etc.
I tried substituting different speedos and cables but still the same symptom- went OK and seemed accurate for the first 10 km or so, then noise developed, and wild fluctuation of needle, making me fearful that it would break the needle against the stop.
At that time I only had one good drive unit, and bought another from Joes Wreckers. Despite looking OK, that one seized, and the white nylon gear stripped. I went back to the original drive, stripped it, and then and very carefully reassembled it after honing the inside bore of the nylon gear. My theory was that when it got hot it gradually dragged, and then started the speedo needle oscillation.
When I reassembled I also made sure that the steel tangs were aligned properly, and not too much grease, as I didn’t want heat causing grease to expand too much and put pressure on the gear if that is possible.
It worked fine, finally, and I’ve probably done about 2000 km on it since without issues. In the meantime I got about 3 other speedos out and checked them out, all OK. Also, was able to replace the stripped gear in the one I bought from Joe’s with one I found in my parts from a Honda NSR 150, of all things.
I’m happy to be wrong in your case, but from other owners, and my own experience, I believe most of the speedo issues originate from the drive unit, or cable rather than the speedo.
Msg me if you need a hand, or to borrow bits, Cheers
PS re speedo reading high, if you have removed the needle, when replacing it you may have given it a little too much preload on the spring. Try removing and replacing it with just enough freeplay to return it to the stop each time you flick the needle? At one stage I refitted the needle and had an even plus 20KPH, and that did my head in briefly till I worked it out and fixed it.

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Excellent information. Thanks. I think you’ve now given me the solutions. I’ll let you know how things progress.

If you need it, I have a serviceable Oz spec speedo and odometer sitting in my shed. It’s got a yellow dial.

My bike was imported from Oz, so a dial calibrated exclusively in KPH is of no use to me.