First time posting here. I've built quite a few shovelheads but this one is driving me nuts. 1977 FX (originally) was converted to a fatboy front end and fatbob tanks with FL style speedo to go with it of course. I'm rebuilding the bike for someone else as it was wrecked a few years ago. Got the bike all back together and took it for it's first ride only to see that the speedo doesn't work. (Note: Speedo is tranny driven) Being that this isn't my first rodeo I went through the usual trouble shooting, took the speedo off, took the cable off on both ends, I was able to work the speedo with a drill in reverse via the cable. So the cable and speedo are fine. Put the bike on the lift and ran it to watch the drive gear, it didn't spin....So I figured that the drive gear was shot. Took it out and it works fine out of the bike.....Then it hit me. This is an FX, why does it have a tranny drive gear. So now I'm at an Impasse, I need to determine if this tranny actually has the correct drive gear inside without tearing the entire bike apart......

Transmission is a kicker and electric 4 speed ratchet top. Mark on the side is D16. Now I could be wrong but I think that means 1966, which could mean it is not original to the bike and may have the correcting drive gear.

My first and foremost question is, could that 23t speedo drive unit even fit into that tranny if the gearing wasn't there? If the answer is yes, then how can I tell without pulling the tranny if it has the inner gear? I'm draining it as I type this to hopefully see down the hole where the drive unit is but I doubt that is gonna work. Hopefully someone on here can confirm that date code and point me in the right direction. Or ideally tell me that the drive unit wouldn't fit if the gearing wasn't there.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

 

Haven't peeked in there for a long time, but, yes the drive unit will certainly drop right in without the Mating gear in the Box..
Put the Drive in the Tranny, and use a Piece of broken speedo caable to try to Turn the drive... if it turns... There prolly ain't no Guts... if it don't turn.... Well... we'll go from there

 

Ah, that's a good idea. I will say, I had to twist it to get it out, it felt at least like it was engaged into something but being that it wasn't spinning when I had her running it may just be my mind playing tricks. I'll plug it back in and try to turn it then report back.

 

I would Not think it would "spin while running" unless you mean
"Running down the Road"

 

Kind of has to be in gear with clutch released.

I would think lift the rear, in gear, pull plugs, and turn the rear wheel by hand to check.

 

I had it running in gear on the lift, rear tire hanging and spinning. Didn't move. I just dropped it in and was able to spin it by hand....There's nothing there. As luck would have it I have a front wheel drive unit and brand new speedo cable for it in my stock of parts. I guess the rest of today will be spent switching her back over to a front wheel driven speedo.

 

Now here's a question since I have to switch it back to wheel drive. Are my ratios going to be all screwed up? The speedo that's on the bike is a FL Tombstone style one. I assume it's 1.1. I don't know what wheel drive is but knowing my luck it's not that.

 

Speedo will be a Different Ratio also BTW

 

I have the FL style speed on my 77 FXE and it was way off. Almost 15 mph. It's a 2-1 after market speedo so I took a chance and purchased a Speedo drive on ebay for 25.00 and it worked perfect...
19" FRONT WHEEL SPEEDO DRIVE UNIT FOR HARLEY FXR XL REPLACES OEM 67127-84A , that was the actual Ebay listing... I am running a 21"er on the front.

One more thing i don't believe that an FXE used the trans drive for the speedo...

 

Thanks for the input. This bike is killing me. I went to put the front drive on and while it looks like everything fits perfectly, the rotor bolts hit the speedo drive unit.... I think the wheel is an early 90s heritage wheel. Has the rotor on the right side and dog dish on the left. The rotor is the only side with the notch to drive the speedo gear so I can't consider using the other side. Question now is what speedo drive unit do I need? The notch is there so I know there is one made to clear rotor bolts. But the one I have sure doesn't. This bike has been fighting me every step of the way. I don't think she wants to be back on the road.....