Suggestions for replacement speedo?

[Jacob Ezzell]

Sigh. I strayed from my beloved Honda VFR because I was tired of fixing unfixable problems. I didn't want another boring japanese generic bike, so I got a V11 sport. First day out the speedo breaks, its all jumpy at any speed. If I were to replace it with an aftermarket digital speedometer, any suggestions? I found this one that has a built-in volt meter and temp guage...

 

 

Trailtech Speedometer

[ani]

If your speedo (that is, the needle) is jumpy, I'd suggest you take a look at the speedo cable and the two angled gears first before scrapping a working speedo. The plastic angle gears are prone to brake and the typical symptom before breaking completely is jumpy behavior. My speedo was jumpy when I bought the bike, and then stopped working at all, with a little help from me not mounting the angle gear correctly on the speedo, when the angled gear on the engine sheared. Ordered a new one and now it's working.

 

BTW, the reason I was fiddling with it was that my kilometer counter had stopped rotating, while trip continued to function. Reason was some missing teeth on a plastic gear inside. Found a cheap used Veglia Borletti from an old Ducati SS on german ebay which from pictured looked identical to the MG one (except for graphics). It was identical, so I just adjusted the kilometer counter, mounted the MG graphics and needle, and remounted the ducati speedo in the MG housing (which was slightly different). Works as a charm now.

 

/Anders

[Jacob Ezzell]

I removed the speedo cable from the dash end and it it looks like maybe the receiver in the dash for the square cable is a bit worn. Maybe I could pack it with jb weld or epoxy to firm up the connection? What's the best way to grease the speedo cable?

 

I hope I don't have to replace the 60 degree drive gears, mgcycles lists the transmission side bit at $140. For less than that one piece I could get a whole new digital speedo.

[gstallons]

Remove the inner cable from the sheath and put Lubriplate white grease in the cavity and then re-install the cable.

[docc]

Be certain the lower drive has its mount pressed well in. JBWeld the metal disc in place. Tighten the mount to the gearbox and be certain the two screws mounting the upper drive are tight.

 

Even with all that and my third Veglia, my needle bounces crazily slowing to a stop. The best replacement? Probably GPS; although my ZUMO 550 did not outlast any of my Veglias! (OK, I did drop it that one time)

 

Don't shy away from solid reliable expedients:

[moto pierre]

Sigh. I strayed from my beloved Honda VFR because I was tired of fixing unfixable problems. I didn't want another boring japanese generic bike, so I got a V11 sport. First day out the speedo breaks, its all jumpy at any speed. If I were to replace it with an aftermarket digital speedometer, any suggestions? I found this one that has a built-in volt meter and temp guage...

 

 

Trailtech Speedometer

[moto pierre]

I have installed the Trailtech Vapor on my 2000 V-11 Sport because the speedo was grossly inaccurate and the tach never worked. Pics to follow. This is a different unit from the one pictured that has tach function too. Some comments: Speedo is correct if you measure and enter the correct wheel diameter. Tidy installation of speedo sensor on fork leg is difficult. It will work but looks ugly and added-on. Tach signal is jumpy, an approximation at best. I got some feedback from Trailtech, but have not yet found the right solution to eliminate the tach jumping at least 1000 rpm around the true reading. They are really responsive to customer questions, but the inductive pickup seems to be hyper sensitive. Naturally this imprecision makes the shift light function totally useless. Wiring is straightforward if you know your wiring harness, but the supplied wires are really thin. I made a dedicated ground on one valve cover screw to be sure everything worked. The supplied indicator light holders will take the stock Guzzi lights if you wrap them with one or two layers of electric tape. I needed 2 extra lights to use all six Guzzi indicators, but I fitted them into the bracket I made. The engine temp sensor is designed for water cooled bikes and over-ranges at 400 F, so it is useless on an air-cooled bike when the sending unit is mounted under the plug as Trailtech suggests. I wired mine to a spot on the lowest fin of the left cylinder. It might work there but will not provide very useful information. The Trailtech unit is smaller than it looks on their web site, but the display is bright and easy to read, so the size is not a problem.

 

In summary, The Vapor Trailtech is a good try, but not sufficiently well-developed to make a good substitute for the crappy stock Guzzi instruments. There is a German company that makes really nice looking alternative isntruments with the same functions, but they are very very expensive. I'll try to relocate their site for my next post with pictures of the Vapor

[Jacob Ezzell]

 

In summary, The Vapor Trailtech is a good try, but not sufficiently well-developed to make a good substitute for the crappy stock Guzzi instruments.

 

Thanks for the feedback pierre. I was looking at the striker since it has the voltmeter, that's really what I was wanting to add. My tach is working (for now) so I don't need that function.

 

What I'm thinking of doing is making a new aluminum frame to hold the trailtech speedo box and have a round cutout for my stock tach. Then I could mount the stock idiot lights in a stock-ish position, could look pretty trick.

 

What is the low range for the temp sensor? I thought I might use it as an air temp sensor if it doesn't work for the engine temp.

[Guzzi2Go]

...but have not yet found the right solution to eliminate the tach jumping at least 1000 rpm around the true reading. They are really responsive to customer questions, but the inductive pickup seems to be hyper sensitive....

 

Try using the tach pulse from the ECU/original tach instead of inductive pickup.

[Skeeve]

I got some feedback from Trailtech, but have not yet found the right solution to eliminate the tach jumping at least 1000 rpm around the true reading.

...

The engine temp sensor is designed for water cooled bikes and over-ranges at 400 F, so it is useless on an air-cooled bike when the sending unit is mounted under the plug as Trailtech suggests. I wired mine to a spot on the lowest fin of the left cylinder. It might work there but will not provide very useful information.

 

wrt Tach jump: what about wrapping the lead for the tach sensor around a ferrite bead to damp out the voltage spikes that are leading to the jumpy tach? Any Radio Shack should have them...

 

wrt temp sensor: what about mounting it to the valve cover, as Guzzi did w/ their original temp sensor setup in the 90s Cali? Spot? etc. before changing the molds for the head castings to give a more reliable mounting point for the re-purposed automotive radiator pick-up that the factory chose to use. [Must get around to doing Rachethack's mod to the temp sensor one of these days. Winter's here, it might light that fire under my @ss... ] Or just reuse the Guzzi sensor & splice it into the Vapor?

 

Thanks for the great report: lots of very useful 1st hand info here!

[moto pierre]

Here are some pics of my vapor installation. Hope they upload OK. December Cycle World review of new Hyde Harrier (Hinkley Bonneville in replica Rob North frame, tasty !)shows Hyde using the Vapor for instruments, so perhaps I was hasty. Finally got under the tank and re-routed wires. Tach pickup closer to coil with less than .75 in. in contact with plug wire seems to be much steadier. Need to ride it for final assessment. Temp pickup is ID 14 mm to fit around spark plug. No way to fit it on the valve cover. I'll know soon if my bodge on the bottom fin works or not. While I was in there I covered the fuel pump with .75 in. synthetic foam rubber insulation topped with aluminum foil tape. Hope that ends the dread vapor lock that has occurred just often enough to be a real pain. Thanks for everyone's replies.

[Sam38a1]

Check out the speedo at this site very cool http://www.digital-speedos.co.uk/

[moto pierre]

I checked out those Koso gauges. VERY NICE, but have you seen the price...! I think I now have the Vapor working ok. Just ran the bike with the tank off after re-mounting the temp sensor again and using a new tach sensor line from Trailtech with a built-in resistor. Seems to bounce a lot less and the temp was not so high as to over-range, but haven't tried it on the road.. too cold here. See my latest post for how to run the bike with the tank off. Motopierre