When is it ok to set your speedo back to zero (NOS)

hillhudson · Post by **hillhudson** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:38 pm

so i've been wondering for a while now and finally decided to ask all of you. i know that even most rebuilds its not legal to set the miles back to zero but what if the entire engine has been gone through with NOS parts, is it then legal or ok to use an NOS speedo with zero miles or have your old speedo refurbished and set to zero ?

i'm buying a lot of parts from a fella in washington and in the parts consists: CL77 pipes, CB77 engine, frame, wheels and seat as well as a late model cb77 NOS speedo with the clockwise needles. i wouldn't normally buy an NOS speedo but he wants to get rid of ALL of his superhawk parts, all or nothing. my bike is from '66 so it already has the late model speedo but it has 15xxx miles on it.

cyclon36 · Post by **cyclon36** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:08 pm

From my understanding, it is not illegal to reset your speedometer. It is only illegal to reset your speedometer and not report it during a sale. There's probably a stickier ground when dealing with modern vehicles, but with older bikes and cars that end up relying on replacement parts from other vehicles, it is generally accepted that the mileage shown may or may not be accurate. The title should have a box to check when signing over that references an incorrect odometer reading.

I have a spare speedo that is rolled back to 0 for when I rebuild my bike. To me, it will represent a new beginning.

hillhudson · Post by **hillhudson** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:15 am

that makes sense and i totally feel you about the new beginning, it's just really neat to start at zero.

what type speedo do you have rolled back to zero. opposing needles or the clockwise version ?

cyclon36 · Post by **cyclon36** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:53 am

hillhudson wrote:that makes sense and i totally feel you about the new beginning, it's just really neat to start at zero.

what type speedo do you have rolled back to zero. opposing needles or the clockwise version ?

I have the clockwise version. There's a thread I posted somewhere about part of the process.

davomoto · Post by **davomoto** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:48 am

I like to reset them to zero when I do a restoration. It makes it really easy to keep track of how many miles you have put on the bike since resto. I have done 3-4 of the counter rotating speedo / tachs.

Davo

Snakeoil · Post by **Snakeoil** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:42 am

In NYS, any vehicle older than 10 years old no longer has to report mileage when registering the vehicle. Also, there is a box that lets you state if the mileage you are reporting is original or not. So, you are only breaking the law if you reset the speedo and then represent it as original.

Nothing stops you from changing a broken speedo/odo with a used unit. And although I am not familiar with other state laws, I would doubt that such a change is illegal. It is the mis-representation of the mileage as original when it is not that is illegal.

regards,
Rob

hillhudson · Post by **hillhudson** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:12 pm

wow so you all have restored speedos yourselves ? how did you go about taking the silver bezel off without ruining it? do you have a link to the thread about it ?

also in bill silvers book he talks about how the later clockwise speedo's required new speedo cables, so i have a bike from '66 but if i wanted to use an early speedo with opposing needles i wouldn't be able to ?