No, the piece with the locking ring is the neutral safety switch connector. The speedo cable is black and about as big around as a "normal" pinkie finger. It goes into the hole farther back from the neutral safety switch, the one that has the one bolt that clamps the cable into place. There should be a flexible inner cable with the end squared off, the squared off part rotates, it is turned by the speedo drive gear inside the tailshaft.
Gilly