harleyKmodel

Thanks Stan - sums it up better than I could!

Thanx Stan.

Unfortunately, I have the earlier spedo .
Has anyone tried to fabricate the mounting brackets for the 1955?

Spoke to John Bordas. he does not do k spedo's.
Waiting for callback from others.
Will keep u posted

TY

Interesting, Bordas did the speedo on my 58 XL within the last year.

Ty, if it were me, I wouldn't worry about the way the speedometer mounts. The speedometers are the same except for the mounting application. Once you get the fork panels on you can't tell if you have a ridged mount or a rubber mount unless you look up from behind the rear fork panels and how many people are going to do that. Depends on whether you are a true purist or not. In my mind what would be more important from an accuracy standpoint is that you are using the correct top panel. The rubber mount speedometers used a top panel with a bigger speedometer hole than the early ridged mount speedometers. It was bigger to allow the speedometer to vibrate as it is supposed to without it being restricted by the top panel. That's a detail that a trained eye could pick up. The picture of the panels shows 5 different top panels used from 1952 to 1958. NOTE: on #4 I said (May Have Started Late 1955) at the time that's what I thought but now am convinced that style panel probably started mid 1955 or even earlier in 1955. The other two pictures are of my '53KK and '56 KHK to show the difference in gap around the speedometer.
Stan

You know what they say, " I don't know what I don't know'.

Now I'm not sure I have the correct top panel. I'll have to look over the weekend, but I believe mine is not cut near the triple tree.
Oh boy.
I guess the hunt is on.

Hi All, if you all don't mind, this thread seemed like a natural for me to jump into with a related question.I am looking for confirmation of a belief I have about the early speedos or someone to show me the error of my ways. I contend that at VIN 2250 in 54 the speedo changed from the early style tab mount to the latter style rubber cradle mount. I contend this because the early top tree had all four tabs threaded to accommodate the tab mount speedo. At VIN 2250 in 54 when they changed to the later trees, the top tree had two of the four tabs drilled for the new rubber cradle mount speedo. I don't believe the new style speedo was a 55 model year change. Could version 5 of the top tin simply been a replacement for the early tin and tab mount speedo produced post the version 4 tin?
JerryR

Jerry, I agree with you that the rubber mounted speedometer came at VIN 2250. My chronology of the top panels may be off some. Can we assume when they started using the rubber mount speedometer the top panel changed to the large speedometer hole? My # 2 panel was based off a picture I have of a 1954 KHK VIN # 2366 that was mostly original except for the paint. It appears to have a small speedometer hole but has the cut-out in the back, indicative of the latter triple clamps being used. So, does this mean it had a rubber mount speedo with the small hole top panel or did it still have a ridged mount speedo which normally came with a small hole top panel? Again, it's VIN # 2366, well after 2250. If anyone has a better understanding on what top panels were used on what years, I'd love to hear it.

As far as the #5 top panel, It's a complete mystery to me. Your theory of it being a replacement panel is as good a theory as anything I have come up with. I had a discussion about it last night with Roger and he brought up a point to maybe consider. He said he thought he remembers a discussion at some point about the kilometer K Model speedometers only being a ridged mount. No rubber mount version is mentioned in any of the parts books, only 67008-52. No mention of a 54-part number that would indicate a rubber mount version. Could # 5 panel be for a kilometer speedo post triple clamp change since it has the cut-out in the back and small speedometer hole? If that were true it only brings up more questions. Too much to think about!

Picture is of the above mentioned 1954 KHK # 2366.

Stan

Scratch the no rubber mounted Kilometer K Model speedometers theory. Just came across a post by dutch kh that has pictures of a rubber mounted speedometer.
I guess that puts us back to square one on the # 5 mystery top panel.