Where to get a speedo hub drive from?

[doughobbs]

Howdy all,

Looking to source a speedo hub drive for a rearwheel - something like the one attached to the rearwheel of this (bit hard to see it clearly I know!):

https://31091799-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/clear1garage/two-wheels/sun-motorcycle/Sun motorcycle.jpg

The internals for it I can get from here:
https://villiersservices.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=21_42_157&products_id=822

But I've no idea where to get the 90* drive box that connects to the brake plate

Any help greatly appreciated.

thanks
Doug

[R]

I think by now you have probably realised that those speedo drive units are getting tough to find.

I did see that someone was remaking them - in brass ? - and they were expensive.
Can't readily find where that was, but a more thorough search may turn something up ?

I found one a while ago, on a WD Enfield brake plate - I bought it for the NOS brake shoes.
This is front wheel, but they'd be the same.
If you look closely, the speedo unit is disintegrating - the zinc body is suffering zinc disease.
Hence the brass bodies on the remakes. ?
https://i.postimg.cc/85cVyfK6/Enfield-WD-NOS-brake.jpg

Hitchcocks, the mecca of Enfield parts, don't have any.
https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/16815?qty=1&continue_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com%2Fpartsbook-pages%2F927
A sign they are really scarce.
Good luck.

P.S. That is a lovely little Sun pic, in oily rag condition ...

[R]

PPS. I had just ordered a GPS speedo for a similar sort of project.
Now it does look a bit whiz bang, and require 12v.
But it will get things legal while suitable parts emerge from the woodwork ...

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/lzkAAOSwWCtg7l5I/s-l1600.jpg

And cost less than the speedo drive gears you linked to ...

[Rex]

Empty or damaged bodies aren't so rare, so on my old Empire Star the drive was a dummy and the speedo was just for show.

[doughobbs]

Empty or damaged bodies aren't so rare, so on my old Empire Star the drive was a dummy and the speedo was just for show.

What did you do for a working speedo?

[33d6]

Easy. You use a push bike speedo. One of those diddly things that clip on and off the handlebars and measure your speed via a magnet attached to the front wheel.

They’re not only dirt cheap, they are far more accurate than the old mechanical speedos.

As for the new replicas, the only bronze one’s I’ve seen available are sold by the VincentOwners Club spares people and are expensive.

[cardan]

... that clip on and off the handlebars and measure your speed via a magnet attached to the front wheel.

Oh come on old fella The GPS ones are really excellent, no wiring, no magnets, no fiddling and one unit can be switched from bike to bike. The cheaper ones don't display a map, but once home you can download your data and look at where you've been and the incredible climbs conquered on your busy bee.

That said, nothing I own goes fast enough to break the speed limit.

Cheers

Leon

[33d6]

Haven't got to the GPS type yet. I've still got a supply of the old sort and can't wear them out.

[doughobbs]

Easy. You use a push bike speedo. One of those diddly things that clip on and off the handlebars and measure your speed via a magnet attached to the front wheel.

Are they classed as road legal? I need to register my bike (when I get there with it) as its has no V5, as part of that process would a pushbike speedo suffice?

[33d6]

A local Matchless rider has a push bike speedo very neatly mounted in a pretend Smiths speedo casing. He has a neat black plastic sheet under the glass having a rectangular slot revealing just the speedo numerals.
It looks utterly normal but is nothing more than a tin can painted black with a home made clip on lid. It’s brilliant, looks just right and it stops any silly nit picking by some bloodyminded bureaucrat.
Nothing to stop you doing something similar.

[Rex]

What did you do for a working speedo?

Nothing, a) because I'm sensible enough to slow down when I hit a 30mph zone or near a school etc where there just might be 1:100 chance of a copper with a speed gun and b) neither me nor anyone else I ride old bikes with is going to ride on dual carriageways, motorways etc at a speed over and above that of the surrounding traffic....if at all.
Having a working speedo is nice, but we're not talking FireBlades or Hayabusas here. You've really got to try to break speed limits on a pre-war Ariel or Panther...

[doughobbs]

Nothing, a) because I'm sensible enough to slow down when I hit a 30mph zone or near a school etc where there just might be 1:100 chance of a copper with a speed gun and b) neither me nor anyone else I ride old bikes with is going to ride on dual carriageways, motorways etc at a speed over and above that of the surrounding traffic....if at all.
Having a working speedo is nice, but we're not talking FireBlades or Hayabusas here. You've really got to try to break speed limits on a pre-war Ariel or Panther...

From my perspective it was more passing an initial MOT to get the bike registered again, I guess (possibly wrongly?) that any road going vehicle needs to have a working speedo and I suspected a bicycle one may not 'pass the test', if people are using these then its an easy win! 

[Rex]

You don't need to pass an MoT to get the bikes registered again, and even if you did a non-working speedo isn't a failure item. Then again, if you want a speedo then the push-bike things do the job perfectly well, but I just don't like the look of 'em on an old bike.

[Mark M]

Yes, if the bike is over 40 years old you don't need an MOT for the V55 registration form. You will need to download and fill in the V112 "Declaration of exemption" form, find it on the DVLA website. It's just a tick-box form saying you declare the machine as over 40 years old.
REgards, Mark

[john.k]

I imagine were talking the rear wheel drive speedo device that fits onto the hub.......however the expensive bit is the girder fork type right angle drive ,thats driven by a gear screwed (LH) onto the hub.........very similar to the tacho drive fitted to the timing case of Velos and other performance bikes ........if you have any old diesels in the back yard,before scrapping them,check for one of the brass right angle drives .....Gardner LWs for instance have one hiding between the flywheel plate and the back of the block.....Perks often have a the later alloy /potmetal rt angle drive in the timing cover ......I remember back in the 70s ,the rt angle drive as a new spare was quite expensive......now I see sellers asking $200 for ally ones and $500 for the prewar brass ones.