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Bad speedometer
- Thread starter edzr60
- Start date
52184
GTRider
Send it out for repair. I have had good results with Foreign Speedo in San Diego area. They advertise in the Airmail magazine.
http://www.foreignspeedoinc.com/
Best,
DeVern
http://www.foreignspeedoinc.com/
Best,
DeVern
m_stock10506
Well-known member
Anyname
Active member
And replace the speedo cable as well. That helped my speedo needle stop bouncing
m_stock10506
Well-known member
Good point! Always replace the cable before assuming the device internals are the problem.
stevenrankin
Active member
Good luck
Good luck getting a wobbling needle fixed. I had three speedometer sent to two different places for various repairs on them only to have them all return with what I feel is an unacceptable amount of needle play. In discussion with the two vendors, they assured me they bench tested the units before sending them back and they were fine. a third vendor said send them the units, spend an enormous amount of money and we will fix them. They didn't promise to solve the problem. One unit was brand new and only needed to have the odometer set for mileage. Because the unit had to be taken apart, and the needle removed, the previously new unit with a rock steady needle came back to me with a needle that bounced five mph plus or minus at 60mph. This is not acceptable especially since I sent a unit with no bounce. They could not figure what would cause my problem. Talking via email with two of the fellows brought up more questions to answers as to the cause of the problem. I would have felt a lot better if one of the two had said he thought he had an idea as to the cause of the problem.
I have an old 85mph speedometer I took apart just to explore the workings and I have an idea which I can't prove nor do I get comments from the two vendors, that the cause of the bouncing needle is the spring tension. I get a lot of talk about the spring and such having to do with speed calibration and I get that but, in playing with my junk speedo, I can see a loose spring means a bouncy needle, while an over tight spring means inaccurate speed. There is a fine line on how to wind it.
I admit, I was going to send them videos of the problem as well as how a speedometer should work but, I never did. I purchased a NOS unit and got installed it. I now have rock steady needles on both of my bikes and both are 100% accurate for speed.
I don't want to spend money to ship ether of the three units in question to any of the vendors repairing unless they give me some kind of promise they can fix the problem. I may be unreasonable but the shipping costs are coming out of my pocket. One of the vendors as I wrote said send it to us, spend a ton of money and we will fix it, but, if it isn't fixed, I have to pay the shipping to send it back to be fixed.
That is my tale of woe with speedometer repair, maybe you will get lucky and maybe I am being unreasonable, but I KNOW, I sent units in that came back with what I perceive as a problem. Oh yes, I am sure some of you have BMW speedometer needles bounce on your bikes, and that it is acceptable. I currently have one unit with over 100K miles that is rock steady, one new unit that is rock steady and I did have two units one with 200K miles that were rock steady until they were worked on. So, I know how they can be rock steady. Until I find a vendor who can fix the bounce, I have three units in my box as paper weights. St.
Good luck getting a wobbling needle fixed. I had three speedometer sent to two different places for various repairs on them only to have them all return with what I feel is an unacceptable amount of needle play. In discussion with the two vendors, they assured me they bench tested the units before sending them back and they were fine. a third vendor said send them the units, spend an enormous amount of money and we will fix them. They didn't promise to solve the problem. One unit was brand new and only needed to have the odometer set for mileage. Because the unit had to be taken apart, and the needle removed, the previously new unit with a rock steady needle came back to me with a needle that bounced five mph plus or minus at 60mph. This is not acceptable especially since I sent a unit with no bounce. They could not figure what would cause my problem. Talking via email with two of the fellows brought up more questions to answers as to the cause of the problem. I would have felt a lot better if one of the two had said he thought he had an idea as to the cause of the problem.
I have an old 85mph speedometer I took apart just to explore the workings and I have an idea which I can't prove nor do I get comments from the two vendors, that the cause of the bouncing needle is the spring tension. I get a lot of talk about the spring and such having to do with speed calibration and I get that but, in playing with my junk speedo, I can see a loose spring means a bouncy needle, while an over tight spring means inaccurate speed. There is a fine line on how to wind it.
I admit, I was going to send them videos of the problem as well as how a speedometer should work but, I never did. I purchased a NOS unit and got installed it. I now have rock steady needles on both of my bikes and both are 100% accurate for speed.
I don't want to spend money to ship ether of the three units in question to any of the vendors repairing unless they give me some kind of promise they can fix the problem. I may be unreasonable but the shipping costs are coming out of my pocket. One of the vendors as I wrote said send it to us, spend a ton of money and we will fix it, but, if it isn't fixed, I have to pay the shipping to send it back to be fixed.
That is my tale of woe with speedometer repair, maybe you will get lucky and maybe I am being unreasonable, but I KNOW, I sent units in that came back with what I perceive as a problem. Oh yes, I am sure some of you have BMW speedometer needles bounce on your bikes, and that it is acceptable. I currently have one unit with over 100K miles that is rock steady, one new unit that is rock steady and I did have two units one with 200K miles that were rock steady until they were worked on. So, I know how they can be rock steady. Until I find a vendor who can fix the bounce, I have three units in my box as paper weights. St.
stevenrankin
Active member
Vendors
Okay, I ranted in my last answer, and I am being a bit unfair to the vendors. Palo Alto, is one of the vendors I contacted, to be honest, I would not send a unit to them at all. I sent them an email explaining my problems in detail only to get an email back saying ship us the unit we will charge you an enormous amount of money to fix it, the cost is the same no matter what we do. Oh we promise to fix it. Sorry gang, I am not going to pay you for a full overhaul on an unit that only needs minor adjustment.
Foreign Speedometer and Terry, were gentlemen and did have long email discussions with me regarding my perceived problems but both were not sure if they could solve the problem or not. As I said, the cost of shipping is on my head.
I failed to follow up with videos of the poorly working units along with properly working ones. So because of MY decision, I now have three paper weights.
I think perhaps the lack of their wanting to further discuss the spring tension as being a cause of the problem clouded my mind against sending units back to FS for warranty work on work done and to Terry for further work. I may not be an expert but as I said, I have experimented with a unit at hand and can see a possible problem or solution. I am not happy when this information is dismissed or not taken into consideration.
Bottom line is I am telling my story, and my results, and my opinion. I would recommend either of the two vendors FS or Terry but, I do so with a caveat. St.
Okay, I ranted in my last answer, and I am being a bit unfair to the vendors. Palo Alto, is one of the vendors I contacted, to be honest, I would not send a unit to them at all. I sent them an email explaining my problems in detail only to get an email back saying ship us the unit we will charge you an enormous amount of money to fix it, the cost is the same no matter what we do. Oh we promise to fix it. Sorry gang, I am not going to pay you for a full overhaul on an unit that only needs minor adjustment.
Foreign Speedometer and Terry, were gentlemen and did have long email discussions with me regarding my perceived problems but both were not sure if they could solve the problem or not. As I said, the cost of shipping is on my head.
I failed to follow up with videos of the poorly working units along with properly working ones. So because of MY decision, I now have three paper weights.
I think perhaps the lack of their wanting to further discuss the spring tension as being a cause of the problem clouded my mind against sending units back to FS for warranty work on work done and to Terry for further work. I may not be an expert but as I said, I have experimented with a unit at hand and can see a possible problem or solution. I am not happy when this information is dismissed or not taken into consideration.
Bottom line is I am telling my story, and my results, and my opinion. I would recommend either of the two vendors FS or Terry but, I do so with a caveat. St.
m_stock10506
Well-known member
I would not send a speedometer to Foreign Speedometer. They repaired my R100 speedometer 3 years ago. Odometer stopped working. They did a good repair, but the speedo came back WORSE as far as accuracy. I adjusted that problem myself by moving the needle slightly. It's good enough and I didn't want to send it out again. Terry did a great repair for me on my '74 R60/6 speedometer. It works smoothly and is very accurate.
Anyname
Active member
Both gauges on my R80 bounced quite a bit at high speeds until I replaced my fork springs with softer ones. The one I took out were for an RT, which the bike originally was, but since it no longer has the fairing, they were too stiff. Adding the RaceTech Cartridge Emulators didn't hurt either.
stevenrankin
Active member
Bounce
I used the wrong term, bounce, I meant waver. St.
I used the wrong term, bounce, I meant waver. St.
