Old Soviet Analog Speedometer without cable or adapter
 

While scavenging in an old abandoned house I found an old Soviet analog speedometer, I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world. Sadly I didn't find the cable or the adapter that go with it and thus I'm left with a useless piece of metal... would any of you know where I could find an adapter and a cable for it so I could install it on my bike? Searching on the internet seems to be pointless.

If I can put it on my bike I'll make it Soviet themed in full (communist) red and a star in front.

Here are 2 pictures, I dissembled it and it seems to be in working condition (Soviet engineering rocks!).

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/3497/p1030591z.jpg
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/1976/p1030590i.jpg

Try a motorcycle shop - that looks like the speedo from an early Ural Cossack 350 twin cylinder - or at least the dial does. Maybe they made bicycle ones in the same factory?

"Scavenging in an abandoned house?! = Burglary ???

Thanks will try.

And no, it wasn't burglary, it was clearly abandoned for years: middle of nowhere, broken windows, unusable facilities and all the stuff had to be at least 5 to 10 years old without any sign of somebody having been there in the last few years. It was kind of strange that nobody seemed to have scavenged it before... well, first come first served and I only took this and a brain teaser game anyway. It was mainly because I love decadence and abandoned houses.

+1
Check old BMW motorcycle cables, after WWII soviets took over many BMW plants and used the same machinery.

So the motorcycle adapter can be put on bicycle hub.

It still feels weird as we're almost 2010 and BMW still makes some Soviet compatible components... well cables are standardized so I guess there's no need to reinvent the adapters.

Regardless of how old the building was it wasnt yours therefore = burglary

I dont think anyone said BMW still makes Soviet compatible components.

Cables are NOT standardized.

Try an old Schwinn dealer. Maybe an old exercisor cable will work

If I remember I can have the girlfriend check. She's heading back to mother country for the holidays.

But if nobody lived there and nobody actually owned the stuff would it still be called burglary? If the house was ever going to be restored (not likely) they would surely throw everything away, so I don't feel bad about taking this.

I thought the square cable that goes in the hole was common, so standardized... my mistake. But motorcycle it is then, I'll ask a local motorcycle nut. My main concern was the adapter though, I checked Schwinn speedometers, but they're very rare and the adapters with the cables even more.

I collect (and use extensively) old soviet bloc cameras and find that speedo to be way cool (their Leica copies are wonderful to behold but terrible to actually use). Also soviet engineering does not rock. It is a bunch of janky-arse copying of other designs where metric and whatever the soviets used never quite adds up. Keep in mind that most of their designs were beaten out of folks from Finland and Poland via Stalin. It is lovely in a modernistic/industrial way however!

I agree with Yep, Soviet engineering does not rock. It is funky to look at, but that is about it.
In the early 80's I worked at an oilfield equipment mfg'r. and as part of a deal about selling equipment to the Russians, we had to take some payment in trade for a very large vertical lathe. It was delivered and to be installed by their techs. 10 months later and they abandoned it in our shop.

I would like to add that the Soviets glass in their cameras is amazing for the price. Only because they took over Zeiss factories behind the Iron Curtain (Zeiss Jena). The machines made killer lenses regardless of who was the operator, they just never quite knew how to assemble it into a cohesive product.

Prehaps an exercise bike with a simular speedometer would work, and old 80's exercise bikes are very cheep to buy.

Could anybody provide a link? I'm really looking forward to it.

I know Soviet engineering is a joke, but I love decadence and to see how once great projects fall in pieces.

I'm not sure saying Soviet Engineering is a joke is an accurate statement. The engineering that went into some of the military tech was top notch; furthermore, some Soviet metallurgy was quite advanced, ahead of the U.S. in many cases.

I'm going to send my girlfriend a link to this thread. She'll get a good laugh!!!

I am pretty sure this is not a bike speedometer. It's either a motorcycle or a moped one. I grew up in the Soviet Union in the 80s and most bikes back then were heavy single speeds with coastal brakes. They would never approach 60 km/h :) There were some road bikes around, but those were highly prized and I am sure if anyone managed to get one - they wouldn't put this monstrosity on it.

See, even more quirky Russian engineering...brakes that only work on the coast! ;)

So back to the subject: is there any way to put this "monstrosity" on a bike? It's a simple square ended cable, so I guess I could find it in a motorcycle shop, but I have absolutely no idea where begin the search for the adapter. I doubt anybody would want to give me their exercise bike's adapter.

As for the calibration I'll cut the torsion spring inside to the right size when it's mounted.

How about searching a Russian motorcycle forum? Maybe they'll know where to get parts.

http://russianiron.com/ironforums.htm

Thanks, will try right away.