XJ1100J Speedo replacement...more than 85mph??

Hello all,
I am new to this forum and just picked up a 1983 XJ1100J.
I'm wondering if anyone has managed to convert the stock 85 MPH speedo to one that displays a higher speed?
Not that I spend that much time over 85...but it's nice to know when I do.
Mike

 

You mean like THIS? ('81-'83 550 Seca.)



Yamaha mechanical speedometers are basically the same construction as far as the instrument itself goes. Transplanting the "guts" between cans and/or housings is very possible, with a few challenges along the way.

The instrument cluster in the pic is for one of my 550 Secas, I transplanted an XJ900 speedo I got off eBay. (Brand new NOS for $20 that's a whole other story.)

I just did a photo teardown of a Yamaha mechanical speedo and tach, it's in the "FAQ Suggestions" forum and you can get a glimpse of what they look like inside. The speedo in the teardown came out of a "canned" 120mph unit from a '79 XS.

I will post step-by-step photos of my own speedo conversion soon, but they are more model-specific, involving the mods to the Seca 550 cluster.

Welcome aboard!

 

I may be the only one who likes the "Atari" square thing on my bike, but over 85 would be nice, I mean, really, maybe I'll go to a track(fat chance) or the salt flats or I-5, just kidding. Has anybody seen a digital speedo that could fit in there or would connect to a mechanical cable, I'm thinking blue l.e.d.s, going with the whole 80's thing, my 85 T-bird had digital dash out the wazoo. Just a thought, I probably wouldn't actually do it, just curious what it would look like.

 

Check this out.
http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.ph ... peedometer
I have been wanting to make the same modification to my XJ

 

Thanks bigfitz52, yup that's what I mean...except that my guage cluster is a little different...but same idea.
Other than swapping the parts...what else did you have to do? Did you have to alter the speedo mechanism itself at all, or just the can/case?

 

A little of both. Had to amputate the huge "push to reset" mechanism for the trip odo; TEMPORARILY lost the ability to reset it until I figure out how to make it "cross over." Think I've pretty much got it, just have to build it. My Norton doesn't even HAVE a trip odo, so losing the ability to reset it is no loss to me. Other than that, no changes to the speedo itself.

The mechanisms had a slightly different configuration to the area where the input bearing attaches to the frame, I had to "reconfigure" the cut-out in the inner cluster/case. This was the most modification required, and it wasn't serious.

I've got photos from the retrofit, just haven't done up the process journal yet. A bunch of folks were having instrument issues so I hurried up and got the "fixing" part of the instrument thing done, http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15303.html still working on the "mods" piece.