"I must believe the speedo..."

[slofox]

If, like me, you are an obsessive-compulsive record keeper who tracks fuel usage of his/her bike, you need to bear in mind that the speedohealer affects the odometer as well as the speed readout, being as how it basically slows the pulses from the speedohealer to the speedo cluster...

So if you pull 7.5% out of your speed reading, it pulls that amount of distance travelled out of your odometer as well. When it says you have travelled 100km, you have, in fact, done 108km.

Now I knew this would happen and was, I thought, happy enough with this side effect.

Until the first time I filled up the tank after installing the device. Suddenly the gas consumption went from around 40 - 45 mpg (yeah, I'm a luddite and use the old money for gas consumption) to around 39mph and as low as 37mpg. First reaction was "FARK! what the hey?" Until I remembered the change in the reading...

As long as I adjust to the "real" distance travelled it's OK...I haven't suddenly developed a hole in the tank.

Spose I ought to reduce the service intervals as well - from 6000km to 5555.555555555555555555555555555...km.

No gain without pain, huh?

[p.dath]

And if like most of us you rely on the trip meter to know how much fuel is left in your tank, you'll have to make an adjustment there as well ...

[onearmedbandit]

Huh? I would've thought if your speedo is reading correctly (ie 100km/h = 100km/h) then your odometer will be also reading correctly. If your speedo reads 100km/h but your real speed is say 90, then if you travelled at the same rate for an hour you would have travelled only 90km in reality, whereas your bike will tell you you have travelled 100.

My point being, your fuel consumption is now probably reading correctly.

[slofox]

Huh? I would've thought if your speedo is reading correctly (ie 100km/h = 100km/h) then your odometer will be also reading correctly. If your speedo reads 100km/h but your real speed is say 90, then if you travelled at the same rate for an hour you would have travelled only 90km in reality, whereas your bike will tell you you have travelled 100.

My point being, your fuel consumption is now probably reading correctly.

Don't think so. The odo was accurate to start with - most odo's are more accurate than the speedo. Now that the speedo is accurate, the odo under-reads.

[onearmedbandit]

Don't think so. The odo was accurate to start with - most odo's are more accurate than the speedo. Now that the speedo is accurate, the odo under-reads.

Fair enough then.

[BuzzardNZ]

it really fucks me off that the rotten jap bike companies let the bikes get to the showroom floor with the speedo being so off. Now you have to buy some shitty extra thing just to sort it out their god damn mistake. Fucking disgusting.

[sil3nt]

it really fucks me off that the rotten jap bike companies let the bikes get to the showroom floor with the speedo being so off. Now you have to buy some shitty extra thing just to sort it out their god damn mistake. Fucking disgusting.

You show me a stock speedo that doesn't read higher straight off the showroom floor in any vehicle. Manufactures do it to protect their asses.

[steve_t]

You show me a stock speedo that doesn't read slower straight off the showroom floor in any vehicle. Manufactures do it to protect their asses.

I think you mean faster/higher

[onearmedbandit]

it really fucks me off that the rotten jap bike companies let the bikes get to the showroom floor with the speedo being so off. Now you have to buy some shitty extra thing just to sort it out their god damn mistake. Fucking disgusting.

Sell it then to voice your disgust and buy a bike that doesn't lie to you. I hear Ducati speedo's a little more accurate, still out mind you. Rotten bike companies, ooooooh how I hate them.

[sil3nt]

I think you mean faster/higher

[davebullet]

Come ride it tomorrow mate.

Yeah - the weather is good after all. What \harm could a wee little itsy bitsy ride possibly do?

[MarkH]

You show me a stock speedo that doesn't read slower straight off the showroom floor in any vehicle. Manufactures do it to protect their asses.

Indeed they do - it is definitely a deliberate practice rather than poor quality control. I understand the idea of setting the speedo to read high, it is a good idea because there will be some variation due to tyre wear and pressure. The only aspect I would question would be whether there really is a need to read a good 10% too high, surely 2 or 3 percent would be enough?

[Corse1]

You show me a stock speedo that doesn't read slower straight off the showroom floor in any vehicle. Manufactures do it to protect their asses.

Yep (but higher) Ford Ranger ute that I drive is exactly 10%. 110kph on the speedo is actual 100kph.

[p.dath]

it really fucks me off that the rotten jap bike companies let the bikes get to the showroom floor with the speedo being so off. Now you have to buy some shitty extra thing just to sort it out their god damn mistake. Fucking disgusting.

You do realise the error is not by accident, don't you? Bikes sold into the European market *have* to have an error manufactured into them.

[MarkH]

You do realise the error is not by accident, don't you? Bikes sold into the European market *have* to have an error manufactured into them.

Do you have the details on that regulation? My understanding is that the speedos are not allowed to read low, but are allowed to read high.

From Consumer: http://www.consumer.org.nz/news/view...meter-accuracy

Australia has standards for speedometers similar to those of the European Union; and most car manufacturers aim to adhere to these standards. The rules say that no speedometer should read lower than the speed you’re travelling – so you should never be going faster than what the speedo reads.

But in terms of your speedo reading higher than your actual speed, a huge margin of error is allowed. For a car, the international standards allow a speedometer to be higher by as much as 14km/h at 100km/h – which means your car is doing 86km/h when your speedo is showing 100km/h. For a motorcycle, 84km/h actual speed is allowed to read as 100km/h on the speedo.

I guess that does mean that there would have to be SOME error or the guage would read to low in some situations.

Personally I can't see why there needs to be that much leeway. Surely if the speedo reads 100kph when the car/motorcycle is moving at say 95kph while using the recommended tyres at the recommended pressure - shouldn't that be enough to ensure that the vehicle speedo will never read too slow in normal usage.

On my scooter 120kph on the speedo is about 108kph on the GPS, so I'm going a full 10% slower than indicated. I simply allow for the error - but why does a 2007 vehicle with high tech electronics need such a large margin for error? I am sure that the electronics could be programmed for whatever Suzuki want to make it. How much variation am I likely to have in my rear wheel diameter?