Hey Guys
I have just moved to Arizona from Ontario, Canada and left my '96 Road King back in my garage there. I picked up a really clean 1997 Road King here in Apache Junction. It's a second owner unmolested bike with only 26, 074 miles on it.

I changed the bars and at some point my odometer stopped working. I don't think changing the bars is my problem as the only wires gong to the speedometer unit have not been touched. Everything looks like it is original and connections are tight.

what is confusing to me is that the speedometer works fine.

Any ideas? I would rather not change out the unit, as it has the original low miles on it.
Regards
John

 

Not sure this will be helpful but after reading my little story you will at least see that you are not alone in the "Funky Speedo" department. Before I get started a couple questions? Have you checked your trip meter. Try to reset it to 0.0 then take a little ride, Use you phone GPS, I'm guessing you have one? Pick a point A to point B. Lets say " house address to closest harley shop/or where ever thats 10-15 miles appx. You can also verify the MPH on speedo is correct during that little trip then check to see if trip meter is working at all.
If still having issues pull the VSS to verify it's condition, I had to PB Blaster mine over night and still it broke trying to get it out. Finally made a small predrill hole and ran a 2" drywall screw down "very carefully till it had a good bite the vice grips locked on the screw and use a piece of 2x4 and rebar to pry. It did come out and seemed ok other than the damage done getting it out. So after 19 years it had stuck it's self in place real good. Now I have a new one.
I bought my bike new 03 FLHRCI. After about a year I decided to replace the speedo with the Speedo/tach. combo It was H/D but I got it used with about 4.5k more miles showing. Seemed to do fine. Some years later I found that when it was showing 70mph I was actually doing 78 and that 8mph difference was constant at what ever speed I was at. While gathering up parts for the cam chest up grade one of the things I got was the Ultima speedo calibrator. It piggybacked between the VSS plug and the ECM. That actually worked. After doing the upgrades I decided to check how many MPG I had lost due to "CAMS, ect". then find my odo and trip meters were functioning but not correctly. A 6.5 mile trip by the WAZE or Google drive app. would show as I had traveled 11.6 miles.
Upon advisement from my tuner tech, I took the calibrator off line, tried several settings in the program for MPH, none of which worked at all.
Being the Pack rat that I am, I dug out the original Speedo hooked it up and now all is well. all issues solved. The big plus in all that is the S/T combo that had rolled up 36k miles over the years now has the matching Speedo with 4600 miles showing.
Never did find the cause for all that malfunction but now I ride easy knowing that the 8-9 over is not 16-17 over and my MPG has been 39.5 and 41.5 so I can live with that.
I truly wish you well and if you find the "Gremlin" let us know .

 

Thanks for all your advice, but am afraid these fixes are beyond my abilities. I don't even understand what VSS or ECM's are and nor do I want to.

I have tried the reset switch, but no change. The LED's do not even light up. I can see shadows of the numbers, but this is even with the switch off.

Regards
John

 

Are speedometers mechanical or electric on that year? If mechanical, have you checked fuse?

 

Believe me, I understand. The VSS is the variable speed sensor mounted top side of transmission rt. side just behind the back side of the clutch cover and a wire routed back to the area behind gas tank and in front of battery. This tells the ECM {Engine Control Module} how fast the bike is moving, The ECM should be located behind the triangle shaped cover on the right side just under the seat. Actually, at the age of the bike the wires at the connections on the back of the speedo could be loose or have some light corrosion at the plug connections and not getting the proper voltage. Or, like my older combo unit it finally got some moisture inside and is likely what caused it to act up. Any number of little things can cause this.
For me,, it got to the point of either running out of nerve medicine or replacing the unit. I was lucky to have my old one to work with. Some speedos can have millage reinstalled many after market units can't.
This is a link to a seller on Ebay I have delt with before This listing is an example of an after market combo. https://www.ebay.com/itm/192700050143#vi-desc-maincntr If you aren't doing the work your self I'm sure there is an "Indie Shop" local to you. Moving to a new area, it's not a bad Idea to make a contact or 2 incase something like this or more serious pops up.
Good Luck with the speedo Gremlins

 

What is interesting, if I am reading this right speedo works, just not mileage. That makes me think something wrong in dash. I'd pull apart and look for loose connections, never know.

But it knows the speed, so not sure I would bother cleaning sensor.

 

On those, there's only one signal feed into the speedometer unit. The one that comes off the transmission and sends a pulse each time the gear in the trans passes by the sensor on top of the trans case. A chip inside the gauge counts those pulses and then drives the speedometer needle and odometer display.

All of which means, if the speedometer needle is reading correctly, but the odometer display is not, the problem is inside the gauge itself.

Best guess at the moment is the LCD display itself went out.

It can be replaced (just the LCD display part, that is). This post from @im will step you through it: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/evo/9...l#post13136374

The process involves removing and disassembling the speedometer, so it's not for the faint of heart, but with care and patience, you can get through it. He sourced the replacement LCD from an eBay speedometer with broken glass. It is also almost certainly possible to buy a new, replacement LCD display. I wouldn't know where to look, but if you take the one you have out of your speedometer, it probably has some part number on the back and you could start digging around with electronics supply joints.

On your year, the accumulated mileage is stored in the speedometer itself, so replacing the LCD will not change it.

 

Thank you Omaha ... finally some advice I can understand. You understood my problem perfectly!

Yes, the speedo works and my LED odometer display does not, so I will try your remedy.
Best regards
John

 

Your 1997 speedometer is a hard wired unit.
Before starting anything..consider re-review of any handlebar replacement since many people forget that turn signals and the hi/lo headlight switch can be related to instrument speedometer display .
The clam shell by the switches on bar grip can easily get damage during re-assembly. The brake light switch on lever is easily damaged too.
Wires can be disconnected on the back of the speedometer unit by labeling first and then unbolting the wires.
It is not too difficult to see back of speedometer once you remove and flip the center chrome tank console over as it should be one bolt and one phillips screw for that cover.
If the needle functions and the turn signals cancel after a turn then the LCD odometer display is the area of problem but it might not be the display.
I would take a look at the wires on the back and maybe unbolt each one and clean really well and then rebolt under the hopes that just maybe a small amount of corrosion is causing a problem with a connection.
Changing the odometer screen is tricky and requires a lot of patience.
It is not easy since you must pop needle back on at exactly the right spot or needle mileage will not match odometer mileage.
I have not seen the actual LCD screen for sale and the replacement LCD unit is usually acquired from a used speedometer of the same era (year range) but if you look on ebay just about every single one has an LCD screen with a leak.
The problem is the date range for that unit had a tendency to leak.
I do not know how speedometer shops get their parts.
If yours does not have a dark spot on LCD screen then either a connection is bad, screen is bad but that would not make sense if screen has no spots on it or maybe something inside the speedometer burned.
If it burned internally then you can probably smell it once you review the back of unit.
It has been a while but google had a few places that would change the screen if you removed and shipped the speedometer.
The mileage is stored in the actual speedometer so it is rather nice that a new screen on your speedometer will retain mileage.
If you decide to go with the newer style speedometer that is plug and play (1999 model)...Then a wire sub-harness that is about $50-$60 USA dollars and also a 1999 speedometer will get things done with some mild mechanical work of about 2 hours.
The 1999 speedometer can be bought new or used but whatever mileage it has is the mileage that will show.
Again, if you go with the newer style the motorcycle mileage will not transfer to the new unit.
I would remove and review the unit, clean connections and re-install...Check wires for handlebars too
If you need actual work done...Then search for a harley speedometer repair shop near you since that might be the most cost effective choice if it is just a screen replacement.

To give you an idea the video below is just half the way to the display (caution since they use foul language):

 

I am re-installing my tank on a 2001 Road King. There is one plug I cannot figure out where it goes. Anyone know where it goes?



y assistance?