Speedometer Error on my '23 RT

[Motor32]

I just returned from a ride with my phone speedometer app running on my '23 RT.

Speedometer App speed indicated =

App 50 MPH / TFT = 53MPH

App 60 MPH / TFT = 63MPH

App 70 MPH / TFT = 73MPH

App 80 MPH / TFT = 83MPH

I was consistently 3 MPH below what BMW had programmed into the TFT speed, FYI. (your results may vary, lol)

Steve

App I use :

 

[Omega Man]

Real common. From the Similar Threads pane-

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?82223-Speedometer-Error-2015-R1200R

OM

 

[Motor32]

Real common. From the Similar Threads pane-

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?82223-Speedometer-Error-2015-R1200R

OM

All of my bikes over the years have this built into them, one was off by 7 MPH, crazy.

Steve

 

[littlebriar]

There's a European law that prohibits manufacturers to produce vehicles where speedometers read low so the germans, in particular, intentionally set them to read high. The law is ECE/324
I have owned many beemer cars and they all read high as far back as my '91 3 series convertible. The odometers were all spot on though.

 

[PoorUB]

Every motorcycle I have owned was 5-6% off. Reads 52 or 53 at the GPS 50 MPH, 105 or 106 at 100 MPH, 158 or 159 at 150 MPH.

 

[lkraus]

I just returned from a ride with my phone speedometer app running on my '23 RT.

Speedometer App speed indicated =

App 50 MPH / TFT = 53MPH

App 60 MPH / TFT = 63MPH

App 70 MPH / TFT = 73MPH

App 80 MPH / TFT = 83MPH

I was consistently 3 MPH below what BMW had programmed into the TFT speed, FYI. (your results may vary, lol)

Steve

It's nice that the error is always the same, so you can easily compensate. (Just add 5 mph to the speed limit and you'll probably be OK.)

Check your other vehicles against the app, you will probably find that they are also in error.

Every vehicle that I've ever driven or rode had a speedometer that read higher than my actual speed. To relieve the boredom of long trips back in the 60's I used to time the passing of interstate mile markers, then do the calculation in my head. Sometimes just checking over one mile, sometimes for ten or twenty miles. The speedo was always off by at least 3 mph, up to 6 miles an hour at higher speeds. The odometer, however, is usually correct.

Today, unless I'm just running around town, the GPS is my speedometer.

 

[brownie0486]

My RS and RT are both off by 3mph higher than my garmin 4's and 5's show. I set the cruise at 75mph on the highways, knowing it's actually 72 mph. In a 65, most states troopers allow up to 73 on radar without stopping that vehicle.

In states that are 75mph posted, I might set it at 83 only really doing 80. I don't care to ride over that speed for any length of time however. When it's 75 posted, I usually just keep it at 78 on the odo.

 

[Motor32]

This must have been a fluke that the speedometer (76 MPH), Nav5, and the App all read almost the same 75 MPH on my 2020 RT.

Steve

 

[Hodadd]

My 2020 GSA is off by more than standard deviation of 5%, approximately 7-10% depending on the speed. It gets more inaccurate as the speeds rise. Then as I go much faster than legal, which I rarely do, honestly, it comes back down to a normal deviation.

 

[pglaves]

Check your other vehicles against the app, you will probably find that they are also in error.

Every vehicle that I've ever driven or rode had a speedometer that read higher than my actual speed. .

My BMW bikes have always read a little high.

But my 2004 Chevy Colorado is exactly on - matched to the GPS at all speeds above 10 mph.

Ditto for my 2014 Ford Focus.

It is a European thing.

 

[tepeterson7848]

My 93 Suzuki is 10% optimistic (or high if you prefer) from 30 mph to 90
My 22 R1250 RS is 5%

I know now about the EU rules but I didn't when I was younger so when I thought I'd hit the ton I was only doing 91... probably saved my life.

 

[SteveAikens]

My BMW bikes have always read a little high. It is a European thing.

Exactly. I've been driving and riding BMW's for more years than I care to look back to. Every single one of them have had "fast" speedometers, some as fast as 5 mph vs GPS speed. Same issue with my Triumphs and the Vincent BS I had.

I don't recall a single Japanese bike I've owned with that issue but was a problem with every Harley I've owned, the last being my Sportster - you know, the one with the "Certified Harley Davidson" speed-o. BTW, take a peek at the picture. The Sporty is already running one mph...



Personally, I have no real concern about this. I base my "reasonable speed" more on traffic flow than speedometers. I do keep an eye on my GPS's because I normally try to ride a little over traffic flow, and more than a little over "limits" where there's no traffic and out in the boonies when there's nothing to see, good roads and conditions allow it.

 

[lee]

There's a European law that prohibits manufacturers to produce vehicles where speedometers read low so the germans, in particular, intentionally set them to read high. The law is ECE/324
I have owned many beemer cars and they all read high as far back as my '91 3 series convertible. The odometers were all spot on though.

When the law was written it was probably difficult for the mechanical speedometers to stay accurate.
Now that we have accurate electronic speedometers I wish they would drop the law.
Since I've owned a GPS all of our US made car speedometers match the GPS.

It's also time for the US to not require the low beam to be lit when the bike has a LED Daylight Running Light.

 

[strataj]

I heard a while ago that BMW authority bikes have spot on accurate speedometers, anyone know if this is correct?

 

[alegerlotz]

No surprise... I've never owned a vehicle that had a dead on speedometer, especially because as your tires wear the percentage that the speed is off will be even greater because the diameter of the tires is smaller on worn tires than on new ones.

 

[SteveAikens]

I heard a while ago that BMW authority bikes have spot on accurate speedometers, anyone know if this is correct?

Today's RT-P's maybe. My 2001 sure wasn't.

 

[Omega Man]

I heard a while ago that BMW authority bikes have spot on accurate speedometers, anyone know if this is correct?

Police cruisers have “certified calibration” identification right under the odometer. I have never noticed the certification on a motorcycle……mostly HD’s around here.

OM