Modern Vespa

I'm in what I hope are the final stages of putting my VBB back together. No matter how hard I try I don't seem to be able to get the speedo properly seated - there is a clear gap between the speedo base and the gasket, and the whole things sits weirdly proud of the headset.

I have tried a number of strategies (cracked the screen pushing on it). It is exactly the same unit that came out of it and the same bracket, hardware and everything - all that has happened is that speedoking refurbished it. It is as if the speedo cable collar is bottoming out on the brake cable where they go into the top of the fork and won't go down the last 3mm. I am wondering if the brake cable (SIP Performance) has a wider diameter than the original to the point where there isn't room for it to go any further. Any clues?

Is your clutch cable coming out the wrong side? Speedo hitting the cables?

What's that cylindrical blob of black stuff under the speedo bracket? Remove it?

+1 Speedo cable is going into wrong hole. Should be same hole as the shifter cables. This blocks the speedo from going all the way down.

(edit): meant to say the Clutch, not the speedo cable, goes into the same hole as the shifter cables.

"+1 Speedo cable is going into wrong hole. Should be same hole as the shifter cables. This blocks the speedo from going all the way down."
Incorrect. Speedo cable and front brake cable both go through the fork tube on this model.

You are correct. I meant to say clutch cable and shifter cables go into the same slot. My bad, was just trying to agree with you, Grumpnut. I just saw the picture and thought, 'that looks a bit off'.

I spy some frayed shifter cables...

I was going to say, one is frayed, other isn't seated properly.

Thanks for all the thoughts and input everyone. This scooter isn't yet running - brand new cables, not yet finished setting up, unevenly greasy at the headset, never been shifted. It seems like the speedo cable collar is jammed down on the front brake cable and wont go any further.

What hole is the speedo cable coming out from?

The speedo cable should EXIT the fork tube through a small oval hole just before the end fork. Only the front brake cable exits out the end of the bent pipe we call a fork.Check that.
Next check the bracket on the back of the speedo.it may be up side down.
Another trick is to remove one of the washers or nuts tween bracket and speedo so it sits deeper Good luck

I don't have that blob in front of my bracket either. My guess is either that is blocking the speedo from tightening down or its the cable.

Many thanks for these recent suggestions. At this point I am pretty sure that the cables are all routed through the right channels and via the correct points of entry/exit. I will try and find a way to affect the bracket in the way you describe Bluecati. Interesting idea to consider removing the rubber grommet under the front of the bracket Kilow. Presumably it is just glued on or something (looking at your helpful picture). I would prefer to leave it in place if possible (clearly original in nature) but if it is impeding the speedo seating properly then I may have to take it out.

This post was not quite
What we were hoping to see
Try again, perhaps?

After removing the bracket entirely I was still unable to get the speedo to seat any lower. Neither the bracket itself or what I was referring to as the grommet where it mounts at the front (a.k.a. speedo bracket buffer https://www.scooterworks.com/Buffer-Speedo-bracket- see part #23969 in the attached diagram for placement) are factors in preventing it from dropping further down. The neck of the fork is just not wide enough in diameter to accommodate the base of the speedo with the cable collar, plus the brake cable - it is just bottoming out as it is jammed against the cable as I feared.

Looking at the specs of available brake cables I see that the upgraded varieties like this one from SIP (Performance, Premium) are 1mm thicker than some basic economy options (6mm vs. 5mm). So if I want my speedo to sit down all the way it looks like I need to switch out the brake cable.

Have you tried pulling the speedo cable down by the wheel as you push it down at the headset? That's usually the way I do it.

Kilow - yes, two people - one pushing hard on the speedo, and one pulling hard on the cable. I wish I had photographed the top of the fork from the front before I put the whole thing back together, but in this picture you can just about see what was clearly evident - the cable collar has nowhere else to go and is biting really hard into the brake cable sleeve.

As is evident from the pictures I took at the beginning of the project, the original speedo cable collar appears to have been a much more streamlined affair, so I could also try finding something like that as a fix too.

For sanity, you could remove the speedo and brake cable and see how it fits.

According to me your Speedo sits about right.

Here is a pic of mine, not the best picture, it is a crop from a picture I have into my phone, I can make a better one later if you need

As a sanity check I'd recommend removing the front brake cable's housing entirely. If you're good after that you can either find a suitably sized front cable or remove some of the outer cable sheath at the top.

Hopefully that solves your problem.

Thanks everyone for these latest observations. At this point I am living with the height (greatly appreciating your picture for comparison ColinBelgium), but at some point in the future I may well try to address it again, in which case I will definitely start with the recommended sanity checks.