Odometer Drive Removal and Replace with Spacer

[mlyle11]

I saw a lot of posts on this topic, if I would have read them all first I probably would have just left the old hunk of black plastic in there, but as usual... bull in a china shop.
This was the plan to replace the ugly black odo hub. I drove the spacer out of the odo hub. It pops out pretty easy as it’s just overmolded on a knurled section of the spacer. I cleaned it up good inside and out. I put it on a threaded rod and sealed the ends then dipped it into Loktite liquid tool handle dip. This gives it a nice thick coating and should protect from rust.

I also though about have a machine shop make a new spacer, one that fills the area in the hub nicely, but I don’t have time... or money! Don't we all have that issue!
At the same time I was replacing the bearings with an "All Balls" Sealed bearing kit. This is where it gets tricky.
The Left side works great. The bearing and the outer seal press in just find and the hat shaped collar spacer fits in the ID of the outer seal just fine.
Things go awry on the right (odo side). The new sealed bearing presses in just fine, but when it bottoms out, there is not enough room to fully press in the outer seal. I'm guessing here, but the distance between the fully pressed bearing and the out edge of the hub is about 2mm. The seal needs about 4mm to fully seal. On the left side the seal presses in so it sits flush with the hub. On the right it is proud about 2mm. This is because it is not designed to have a seal at this point like the left side is. It is designed to seal around the larger OD of the hub where the odo housing seal fits. I've seen some bearing kits that include a seal that fits in the hub on the left and a much larger on that fits on the odo housing... ahhh hindsight.
Things get tricky now. So I have a new bearing in and a seal that is not fully seating in the hub. I have the spacer I pressed out of the odo drive (pressed as in destroyed the housing). When I put the spacer on the axle and assemble everything it looks pretty good, but things don't fit quite right. The spacer from the odo drive is larger than the hat shaped collar from the left side, so it doesn’t really fit through the new seal from the all balls kit. As I tighten the axle up, it does manage to press through the ID of the seal, but pressed is key word, versus slip fit of the collar on the left side. It looks good at least.

With everything torqued up I spin the wheel and all is good, but not exactly to design and may not be very hardy. But neither was the stock on. Because the spacer from the odo pressed into the new seal so tightly, the seal now spins inside the hub. The design intent is to have the spacer spin inside the seal. That’s why I think it’s not going to last too long. It does look better than the old hunk of black though.
My plan to fix this is as follows.
1. Order a replacement spacer on line. The only place I found was from another post: http://www.zeta-racing.com/body/meter_g ... index.html Nice huh... a “meter gear canceller” Gee why didn’t I think of googling that! It’s a nice unit and looks like it must also use a seal like the original, that or it just free wheels over it. I looked up the distributors Wheeling Cycle and these trick spacers are only $30! That’s way cheaper than I imagined! http://www.wheelingcyclesupply.com/shop ... ndex.shtml

I was thinking of having a local machine shop make a piece for me. My guess is $100 bucks or so. That with heat treated and electroplated steel. Stainless would be more… maybe much more. I am going to order on and see If I can end my misery!

2. Take the spacer that I removed from the ODO housing and turn down the inboard side (the outboard side has the knurl) to have the same OD as the hat shaped collar spacer from the left side. This way the spacer will fit nicely inside the out bearing seal as intended, and the spacer should then spin on the ID of the seal vs. the seal spinning on the ID of the hub.
3. Next problem is that the right side is not designed for seal against the bearing like the left, as described above it doesn’t sit flush. Two choices here.
a. See if I can turn down the step inside hub that stops the bearing as you press it in by a few mm, then also shorten the spacer that fits between the bearings. This should allow the new seal to press all that way in flush then all is good. While I have the hub out, I would probably have the outside of it all turned down to look like the left side. As it is it’s a mud catcher.
b. Order a customer bearing. There are lots of industrial supply shops that you can order sealed bearings by dimension. I might call all balls and see if they can help.

Seems like a lot of damn work for me just wanting to get rid of the ugly odo housing. I probably would have kept it if I would have thought it would lead to all this work! Oh for the love of wasting time and spending money!

[SCREAM]

Supposedly ZETA racing makes a replacement spacer/cover for our bikes but i've had difficulty finding a place to order one from. Also, it's not just about removing the odo drive because it's ugly but also because it puts un needed drag on the front wheel. So looks better, less weight, less rolling resistance.

[mlyle11]

Wheeling Cycle apparently has the replacement for the odo head. Removing it has worked well for me so far. No issues and the tool dip has held up well on the spacer. The bearings are still very tight and roll great after 40 or so hours. I was in mud, water, sand, general grit, dust, etc. It has washed up nice each time. I may take it apart this winter to see how it holds up as it really isn't designed for this. I will probably order the spacer replacement from Wheeling.

I took some nice pics, but dont want to open a posting account. If you want to see them send me your e-mail and I will forward them. Thanks!

[bcdonyo]

I used to have a KLX300 in the '90s and the odometer lasted about a month untill it was smashed. I got an odometer eliminator spacer from what was then Stroker Racing. I believe the KLX and KDX odometer drives are the same and FourStrokeWorks still sells this spacer, although it's not in their online catalog. I'm planning on a KX front end eventually so have not bought one yet. I plan on getting one for the girls KLX when we get it plated and I'll try it on my DX.

http://fourstrokeworks.biz/top_main.htm

[SCREAM]

Just got my Zeta odometer canceler from Wheeling Cycle. It looks to be a pretty solid piece. Can't wait to see it on the bike when my build is done. Still gotta send my hubs to Warp 9 to get 'em laced up to some new rims. Ugh, so much to do, so little money.

[mlyle11]

Sweet Scream! Let us know how it works. It is a trick looking piece for only $30!

[Trail Ryder]

Just ordered a Titanium "Zeta Speedometer Gear Canceller" from Wheeling Cycle Supply (1-888-274-0886).

For the 1995 and up KDX the part number is ZE93-4240.
For the 1989 to 1994 KDX the part number is ZE93-4220.

http://www.wheelingcyclesupply.com/shop ... celler/189

[Sullyfam]

Pretty cool. Thanks for the link!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk