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Technical: Speedometers
John R., Joe Streett, Erik Hoopes, “Simon”, Dave Carlton, Dave Hennessey

Stewart-Warner Speedometers - 1952 through 1958

Four different Stewart-Warner speedometers were used on the K/KH and 1957-58 Sportsters. Although there were only two basic designs (1952-1956 and 1957-1958), there were three MPH units and one KILO unit, and two differents styles of mounting brackets on the speedometer “can”. This gives us four distinct versions.

Two different mounting systems were employed - the 1952-1954 speedos had small tabs which mounted directly to the top triple tree. 1955 through 1958 speedos had long tabs which mounted to a rubber-insulated bracket.

Colors: The colors are somewhat problematic to describe. Paint fades over time, particularly when exposed to sunlight. Some colors, like red, tend to fade much more than other colors, so faded original needles can be seen in many different variations. Photographs will give very different results depending on whether they are taken under daylight, incandescent, or fluorescent light. Computer monitors give a wide variety of color renditions. And then there's the human factor - laymen, printers, photographers, and graphic artists all see the world differently!

Early color scheme: The Numbers are a very ‘Light Green’, as are the Lines between numbers. A layman might describe them as white as seen through a piece of light green cellophane. The Background is a ‘charcoal green’ - it's close to matte black, but has a dark green tinge to it. Some photographs make the background appear blue. The needle is a ‘fire engine red’. The odometer numbers are white on a black background. The odometer tenths are orange on a black background.

Late color scheme: The Numbers are black. The Background is white, but not a pure ‘ceiling white’, it's slightly gray. The Lines between the numbers are black, there are ‘red-orange’ triangles at the 0, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 positions. The needle is the same red-orange. The odometer numbers are black on a white background. The odometer tenths are white on a black background.

Photo Example Part# Years Mount Num
bers
Back
ground
Needle Odometer miles Odometer tenths Logo Examples/
Comments
Nums Bkgnd Nums Bkgnd
1A 67007-52 1952 - 1954 Tabs Light Green Charcoal Green Thick
Red
White Black Orange Black Light Green 54 KHK - Sherman

Photo too blue
Photo Example Part# Years Mount Num
bers
Back
ground
Needle Odometer miles Odometer tenths Logo Examples/
Comments
Nums Bkgnd Nums Bkgnd
2A 67007-54 1955 - 1956 Rubber Light Green Charcoal Green Thick
Red
White Black Orange Black Light Green
55 KHK - Streett

White needle "stripe"
is from rubbing
Note: The rubber mount may have appeared as early as 54 KH 2250, as many front fork parts changed at that motor number.
Photo Example Part# Years Mount Num
bers
Back
ground
Needle Odometer miles Odometer tenths Logo Examples/
Comments
Nums Bkgnd Nums Bkgnd
3A 67007-54A 1957 - 1958 Rubber Black White Thin
Red
Black White White Black Black

John R

Note: The 1957 XLA speedo was the standard face but the body and bezel were painted OD green.
Kilometers Per Hour
Photo Example Part# Years Mount Num
bers
Back
ground
Needle Odometer miles Odometer tenths Logo Examples/
Comments
Nums Bkgnd Nums Bkgnd
4A 67008-52 1952 - 1958 Tabs ? Light Green Charcoal
Green
Thick
Red
White Black Orange Black Light Green Calif - 54 KH
1952 - 1954 Tab Mounting
1955 - 1958 Rubber Mounting

Note: The Parts Catalog illustration
shows the bracket rotated 180 degrees

AC Speedometers - 1959 through 1964

The AC Speedometer was used on the Sportsters from 1959 through 1964. For export models, the AC Kilometer-Per-Hour continued to be used through 1969. The speedometer face had white letters on a black background. The odometer had white letters on a black background. The trip odometer had white letters on a black background.

AC speedometers were also used on the Harley Hummer-series and Topper motorcycles. These had reduced maximum speeds. You can see examples of them on the Harley Hummer Club website.

MPH - used on 1959 to 1964
KPH - used on 1959 to 1964
and 1965 to 1969

Bar-and-Shield Speedometers - 1965 through 1969

The Bar-and-Shield logo speedometers were used from 1965 through 1969. Sportsters apparently had a dramatic increase in power in mid- 1967, as they had to up the speedometer by 30 mph. The 120 MPH speedo has 1 mph increments, while the 150 MPH speedos had 2 mph increments.

Bar-and-Shield speedometers were also used on the Harley Hummer-series motorcycles. These had a reduced maximum speed. You can see an example on the Harley Hummer Club website.

120 MPH - used on 1965 to early-1967
150 MPH - used on late-1967 to 1968
150 MPH - used on 1969

The difference between the -59B and -59C
is not known at this time.

1970's Speedometers

1970-1973 used Veglia speedometers. These were of a similar size and shape as the AC and Bar-and-Shield speedometers, and fit in housings that were similar to the 59-64 and 65-69 housings, although all three groups were slightly different sized, and had slightly different housings. Starting in 1974, various black-plastic-encased speedometers appeared.

1970 - 1973
1974 and later