Speedometer Accuracy on V11 Sport

[GuzzTim]

Was out riding yesterday w/ a friend, her on the Guzzi and me on the Concours.. We were curious about the Guzzi's speedo accuracy, and agreed to signal each other at 70 and 80 mph. From what we can tell, the Guzzi was showing 70mph when my Connie was at 65, and the Guzzi was showing 80mph when the Connie was at 73mph..

 

So.. a couple of questions.. Are the Guzzi speedo's more "optimistic" than normal, and can you adjust or calibrate the Guzzi speedo???

 

Of course it could be that the Guzzi is accurate and my Connie is off... but I thought I'd start w/ the Guzzi..

 

 

Thanks, Tim

2001 V11 Sport

2002 Kawasaki Concours

1978 GS550E

[V11UK]

UK law permits up to 10% error on speedo readings and my V11 reads 8% fast. It helps if you have a 'friend' with a calibrated police speedometer.

 

What's a Kawaski Concours? We don't have that model over here...

[GuzzTim]

Chris

 

In Europe/UK markets I believe its called the GTR1000. Best bang for the buck long distance bike. Its been around and basically unchanged for about 17 yrs.

 

 

Cheers, Tim

[jrt]

Guzzi speedometers are notoriously optimistic. On my Eldorado, at 65mph I have 80mph indicated. My other Guzzi's are similar, but not as bad. Even the newer speedo on the sport is optimistic, I would imagine. Is this something the Guzzi engineers specify? LOL.

One other component to this- where is the speedo detector on the Concours? On the Guzzi, it's on the tranny- i.e. coupled to the rear tire. The rear tire does slip a bit at higher speeds, giving a faster indication than true speed.

 

J

[TX REDNECK (R.I.P.)]

The rear tire does slip a bit at higher speeds, giving a faster indication than true speed.

 

Jason, are you saying that your guzzi is overpowering your tire at high speed? I too experienced this same phenoma on my Solex At speed week at Bonneville. Anytime I got to 20 mph it would start to lose traction. I thought my bike was way to powerful , but one of the old timers told me it was just that the salt was to wet.

 

betcha you dont know what I was doing at Bonneville see related story

http://www.cfi-us.com/media/redracernews.cfm

[al_roethlisberger]

 

The tachometer isn't a bastion of accuracy either

 

While getting my bike dyno'd yesterday, the tech was concerned that the bike seemed to be idling a bit high(and it does, after the headwork). He said he saw from 1700 to 1900 RPM

 

I thought that might be high too, but then checked out my tach, and the needle was just a hair over the first hash mark above 1k(so I guess showing about 1300 or 1400 RPM).... where it has always sat

 

...and it sounded "normal"

 

Ah well, I guess as long as you know where the guage is "supposed" to read, it doesn't matter

 

al

[Kiwi Dave]

A good idea to check speedometers is to find one of those roadside radar displays that reads "Speed Limit XXX; your speed YYY". After all, it's probably the same technology the man is going to prosecute you with.

 

I've found that prior Guzzi speedo's I have owned were about 10% optimistic, but the current '02 Le Mans and '03 EV Touring are surprisingly accurate.

 

You can also get a fair idea by travelling at slightly above the speed limit (but not too much) and gauging the reaction of the police with their radar travelling the other way. Fun, but a dangerous game!

[al_roethlisberger]

A lot of folks that are interested in "high speed" accuracy also fit bicycle computers such as those by Sigma. But honestly, it's not a big deal to me.

 

Heck, if the speedo is 10% optimistic... hey, that's "insurance" keeping me from getting a ticket

 

al

[badmotogoozer]

Has anybody used a GPS to check their speedo accuracy? How accurate are the GPS units? A friend of mine uses one on his old Triumph and is planning on using it in his homebuilt airplane.

 

Ryan

[mik]

I read a road test in some magazine extolling the accuracy of the 2003 LeMans speedometer....stating something like 'it writes a check it can really cash' or something of that nature. Really doesn't matter to me because I rarely look at that instrument. When I'm in town and around traffic, I just keep up and when I'm in the boonies, well......I just go as fast as like. By the way, Jaap.....what's with the avatar setting device? Did TX break it? I wanted to update my avatar again but it won't comply with my wishes.

[Mike Stewart]

Humm, after being pulled over by the CHP (California Highway Patrol) on my 03 Rosso, I must say that the speedo is right on. Of course I said that I was only doing 75 mph. instead of the 85 mph. that I was really doing (told him that Italian gauges are usually off as he wrote me a ticket).

 

Mike

[titan41]

On my 01 V11S the the accuracy of the speedometer varies at different speeds when checked against my gps unit. The worst it's off is 7mph (reads 60mph when really 53mph). Not to bad over 100mph. 106 indicated reads 104 on the gps. Some of the others I remember are 45 is really 43, 70 is 66, 25 is 23, and 50 is 45. No consistant pattern I can discern.