Tach stopped working

[The Voice of Reason]

This may be wrong technical forum; if so, please feel free to move this.

1977 GS750. The tachometer worked fine on the ride to work this morning, but quit when I was riding home for lunch. I think it was working when I started for home, but quit after I made a U-turn in tight driveway. That leads me to the notion that the cable is broken, but I thought I might draw upon the collective wisdom around here in case there is something here that I'm missing.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks!

Voice

[DanTheMan]

This may be wrong technical forum; if so, please feel free to move this.

1977 GS750. The tachometer worked fine on the ride to work this morning, but quit when I was riding home for lunch. I think it was working when I started for home, but quit after I made a U-turn in tight driveway. That leads me to the notion that the cable is broken, but I thought I might draw upon the collective wisdom around here in case there is something here that I'm missing.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks!

Voice

It is most likely the cable broke. A new one comes complete with housing and costs about $15-18 and is usually available by order from your local stealership or you can but it online.

[Tim Tom]

It is most likely the cable broke. A new one comes complete with housing and costs about $15-18 and is usually available by order from your local stealership or you can but it online.

I've gone through 3 of those replacement cables in the last 4 months. Is there some sort of trick lube to keep em from breaking after a few hundred miles?

[koolaid_kid]

I've gone through 3 of those replacement cables in the last 4 months. Is there some sort of trick lube to keep em from breaking after a few hundred miles?

You want a graphite-based lube, available at most auto parts. You might also want to make sure the cable is not being bent or kinked anywhere. Are you using OEM cables?

[GabrielGoes]

wd40 it, then when you take it out behind the tach itself, you will see the little rod that spins, push that little rod as far down as u can back into the engine, reattach, then see what happens!!

[Lens_cafe]

I had the same problem. I ordered a new cable, installed it, started the bike up and... nothing. So i take the cable off, to see if I installed it incorrectly, and found that it was broken! Any ideas why it would brake so quickly?

[Matchless]

I had the same problem. I ordered a new cable, installed it, started the bike up and... nothing. So i take the cable off, to see if I installed it incorrectly, and found that it was broken! Any ideas why it would brake so quickly?

Maybe your tach is stuck or seized up.

[ninja407]

I bought my 1980 GS450L with the tach not working. I finally pulled the cable today. I couldn't turn it freely. I sprayed some WD40 down the top and it easily spun around. Then a chunk fell out of the bottom connection. Seems like the bottom connection was sheared off previously. I'm not sure if it's because the cable seized up or the inner workings of my tach aren't moving freely. Does anyone know a decent method to see if the tachometer is still moving freely? Since I have a busted cable, I feel like I could stick one end in and spin the other, but how quickly does it need to spin?

[Matchless]

I bought my 1980 GS450L with the tach not working. I finally pulled the cable today. I couldn't turn it freely. I sprayed some WD40 down the top and it easily spun around. Then a chunk fell out of the bottom connection. Seems like the bottom connection was sheared off previously. I'm not sure if it's because the cable seized up or the inner workings of my tach aren't moving freely. Does anyone know a decent method to see if the tachometer is still moving freely? Since I have a busted cable, I feel like I could stick one end in and spin the other, but how quickly does it need to spin?

If the tach seems to be spinning freely, use a small drill or a Dremel clamped to the cable or a square piece of plastic in the chuck and spin it. Have tested many speedometers this way which work in a similar way.

[Guard Guy]

I am having a similar problem. The tach on my new to me '78 GS750 was not working. So this weekend I was going to try and replace it with a new one. I guess before I do that I should make sure it was the cable and not the tach it self.

[sedelen]

Powdered graphite in a sqeeze tube works for me to lube these things.
Pull the inner cable out somewhat and get what graphite you can in there.
I also check for no tight bends in the cable, tight connections to the tach and engine.
Had only one problem with my tach not working, didn't figure out why but I just removed the cable and reinstalled it. Didn't connect it at the tach but at the engine, started engine and checked to see the inner cable moving, stopped engine and installed into tach, it worked.