Does the Met stem need to be modified to go into an SE50?

[Meatball]

That wont be necessary, bones. Everyone should understand that the recommendations given here are done (usually) with good intentions and are sometimes inaccurate. Its "buyer beware" for people making purchases without doing their own research to ensure parts compatability. Suggestions made should be used as a guide to a solution and should not be acted upon without complete and definite proof of fitment. It was my own fault for making the quick purchase before taking the time to confirm. The $15 spent on the cable is of zero concern to me as my main focus still lies in the fix to my speedo cable issue.

Thank you, bones, for the offer. Tells a lot about a person's character in doing so. If you have another recommendation on my issue, Id love to hear it! Im leaning towards buying a Universal Cable Kit like the link below and trying to modify the SA50 cable end by adding the square tip. Also keeping the Met end for fitment into the Met Brake Hub. Unless I can find somewhere to buy ONLY the square tip piece but Ive had no luck. I hate buying an entire kit for one single piece in it. That's usually how those gasket kits go too...Oh well.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/92-UNIVERSAL-SP ... 1628435177

[bonesv]

Hmmm. Thanks man. I have a question. Have you tried to use an elite sa50 hub? I mean, you now have the correct length speedo cable. I use met wheels with the elite hub but I don't know how they would fit with the met forks........you may need an extra spacer on the hub side to make it fit?

[Meatball]

Yes, tried that. Theres a slot in the sa50 brake hub that needs to mate up with the fork protrusion. Shimming on that side is not possible for this reason. Any shimming would need to be done on the non-brake hub side. This means just getting a longer axle spacer than the Met or sa50 one (both too short). However, by doing that the front and back wheels become misaligned to each other and make the tire tracks look like this ---___. The Met brake hub is thicker than the sa50 and puts the front wheel inline with the rear properly.

[bonesv]

Yea. I thought about that after I posted. But you have established that the metro stem fits the se50 frame without mods to the stem, only a few minor mods to the frame?

[Meatball]

YES!! Absolutely! The Met stem itself needs ZERO modifications to fit the 87' SE50. It has the same height as the original, same thread locations, bar height, etc etc. Its like it was MADE to go on this frame.

Couple minor tweaks need to be made to the turn stop peg to get the turn radius correct. Also some cutting on the inner plastic shroud but that's it! The SE50 wheel/hub wont fit without a custom spacer. Doing so creates alignment issues. I suggest going with a Met wheel/hub until more research has been made to wheel combos.

[bonesv]

Have you tried switching everything from left side to the right to see if the cables are a better fit?

[Meatball]

UPDATE! Had some time to tinker today and solved a mystery I was having. the Met stem just didn't seem to sit at the correct height by only 1/4" and my mind was boggled. After taking many deep breaths and starting over at square one I examined every single part and piece with a microscope to get to the bottom of it. FOUND IT!

The Met's lower bearing race(could be the wrong name for it) that's on the base of the stem is different! Causing the bearing to ride too high on the race and ultimately restricting the stem from seating up in its proper location. Also, the bearing cups that hammer into the head tube from the Met are NOT compatible with the SE50 frame.

See pic below of the SE50 lower bearing race on the Met stem...the Met race is removed in my hand. Very slight difference, no wonder I missed that!

[Meatball]

Here are the Met's cups and bearings. Two different sizes from top and bottom. The yellowish SE50 cups are both the same size and Honda used loose ball bearings. Terrible idea.

[Meatball]

Finally, the Met stem is in its final resting home. Using both SE50 cups, SE50 lower bearing race and SE50 stem nuts on the top.

For the record, I didn't re-install the loose ball bearings. I picked up a new non-loose set...like it should've been.

[Meatball]

Had to grind away more of the turn stop nub to get the steering lock to work. It was close but the lock peg was off by just a hair. As a guide, the stop nub should be grinded away to basically match the width of the small bracket right above it...see pic.

[Meatball]

Steering lock works now...sah-weet!

I never actually use it but now I know the turn radius is correct.

[Meatball]

Update: When swapping in the Met stem AND using Met wheels/brake hub...youre gonna need this Speedo cable. I bought a couple wrong cables trying to find the correct one..This is IT!

The stock SE50 speedo cable is the correct length but has the wrong cable end for the Met brake hub. The stock Met cable has the correct end but is overall too short and wont reach.

My pain, your gain...

http://www.webike.de/products/541089.html

[bonesv]

That's a ruckus cable. (zoomer)

[Meatball]

Yup, its a Ruckus/Zoomer style....but longer than stock length. The stock Ruckus and Met cable are each the same length....too short.

This is the only "longer than stock" cable I could find...anywhere!

[sdugasjr]

Finally, the Met stem is in its final resting home. Using both SE50 cups, SE50 lower bearing race and SE50 stem nuts on the top.

For the record, I didn't re-install the loose ball bearings. I picked up a new non-loose set...like it should've been.

Hey meatball, where’d you get the cups and bearing race from? The sealed ones