Modern bikes with electronic speedos?

Err, thanks.

Does that mean that, out of the box, the standard speedo was showing 100
kph when you were really doing 91.5 kph, and, when showing 200 kph (just
for the discussion, mind) you would really have been doing 183 kph.

I have to admit that the speedohealer having a program as you describe
scares the hell out of me, 'cos I can't get my head around how it would
have enough info to figure out such a conclusion.

But, then again, I am getting old.....

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Makes sense. The manufacturers build error into the speedo so that it
always reads higher than actual speed and there is no easily accessible
means of accurately determining what recalibration is required to the
average punter... that's without even considering the possible cost of
defending themselves from litigious individuals who make adjustments and
lose their licences as a result.

On the fixer vs bicycle computer debate, the cost of the speedo healer
was about 3x what a useful bicycle computer costs, but because Honda
provided me with this magnificent, large, illuminated, digital speedo on
my dash, I thought it silly to fix it's error with an additional, small,
hard to read, prone to theft, non-illuminated supplement.

Nev..

 

It doesn't... but the user does. It has a test mode, whereby it starts
at a low speed, and displays that on your dash, then it doubles it,
doubles it again, doubles it again, doubles it again. From the
resulting display on the speedo you can determine if the error is a
constant kph (the error remains constant throughout the speed range) or
if it is a constant percentage (the error increases at rate the speed
increases). It only knows how to receive an electric signal from the
sensor, perform an algorithm on it, and then retransmit it to the
speedo... It doesn't know how the results will be interpreted, therefore
the user must determine this when setting it up. I calibrated it with a
GPS using average measurements at various speeds.

Nev..

 

Cheers mate...that now makes more sense.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

As accurate as an analogue.
The main reason for digital speedos is to allow multi-region functions for
compliancing.

justAL

 

I haven't really followed what happens with this shit these days, but
in the past the speedos were deliberately designed to read high so a
manufacturer can't be sued for their instrument telling you that you
were safe but you still get booked. Now that was possibly just a
fable, but sounded pretty kosher to me. These days I can't see why
they don't nail it. If you change your tyre profile, gear ratio,
whatever, then you have stepped outside the manufacturers' specs and
the onus is on you.

I've never owned a GPS, having grown up in the days when you'd look at
a map and memorise where you had to go and just fucking got there, but
how accurately can they pinpoint speed? Does the US still have that
inaccuracy built into the data return so they can't be used to
pinpoint terrorist targets? I'd think we'd be getting over that by
now, surely. If they are going to get you, they are going to get you.

On a side note, a good friend of mine from up the northern part of
Taswegia came down to Hobart a couple of months ago. She is a lot
younger than me and has grown up with no concept of lack of computers,
mobile phones or GPS. She had to use a GPS to get from the Hobart CBD
to North Hobart. We're talking about 10 blocks here. She has no sense
of direction and I am wondering whether GPS is going to remove this
common sense from the next generation? For example, we were at a gig
in Launceston a year or so ago and she was driving. We pulled into the
carpark behind the venue after circling the carpark to find a spot.
She then started walking in 180° in the wrong direction. Jeezuz. We
had been there earlier in the afternoon to set the band up, so it
wasn't as if it was a place she hadn't visited before.

I got confused in the UK for quite a while as the sun moving towards
the southern horizon in winter as opposed to the northern horizon
threw my sense of direction out completely for a month until I got
used to it.

Hmm, long silly meaningless blergh. I must be hungover.

I still think all these toys are taking away peoples' natural ability
to communicate/navigate. Or am I just getting old?

Cheers
Kev

 

It's probably economics. The potential cost of litigation arising from
users ability to poorly adjust an instrument which has been calibrated
in the factory (albeit purposely erroneously) vs the cost of doing
nothing, which is nothing. (someone who ordered a cup of hot coffee
from McDonalds successfully sued them for not being warned that they
might burn themselves with the contents, remember)

but surely these are just an evolution of maps. What about before maps
were first mass produced.. people would have just known where to go, or
asked.. I wonder how many people thought maps were superfluous and would
reduce people's navigational skills.

Had nothing to do with terrorists AFAIK.. The GPS selective
availability which limited the accuracy of civilian GPS to 100M was
switched off (reduced to 10M) by Clinton. Civilian GPS still isn't as
accurate as military GPS decoders as far as I know.. but civilian
satellites to provide greater accuracy for civilian GPS have already
been launched, primarily for aircraft to locate runways.. google for
WAAS. There was also going to be some sort of European GPS system to
reduce their reliance on the US military GPS network, but I don't know
if that ever got off the ground.

If she didn't have it, she can't lose it.

OLD.

 

I saw one of those facing a row of three cars stationary at a traffic light.
It was reading 25kmph, so I do worry a little about the accuracy of the
device, mainly in relation to the beam dispersion.

Mind you, it was radar, not laser, so that has some bearing.

Judging by those, my speedo is accurate (or at least consistent with the
device) up to about 80, then starts to read high. I would only use that as
any kind of reference if I was the only vehicle approaching and had
maintained a constant speed reading for a fair bit before the indicator,
which I have been able to do a couple of times.

P

 

Don't forget to factor in the idea that if odometers read (say) 10%
high, then people who regularly replace new vehicles based on mileage
(especially fleet vehicles) replace them 10% more often. That's gotta
be worth something to a manufacturer.

Moike

 

Well founded cynicism but inaccurate.

The ADRs actually have a far tighter accuracy requirement for odos than
speedos. The error margin for speedos is +10% (not plus or minus, just
plus...) whereas for odos its 2% IIRC.

Point is anyway that you can trust your odo more than your speedo, and
nev's example of the speedo being optimistic and the odo correct is
quite common. (I can count at least 10 vehicles I've owned that have
been the same. I habitually compare speedo to odo when doing long trips
- doing the maths in my head often makes a few kms of boring freeway a
little more interesting)

JL

 

There's an angle I hadn't thought of. If the manufacturer gave you a
means of reducing the odometer reading to something below whatever was
specified in the relevant ADR, the vehicle probably wouldn't pass ADR
compliance.

Nev..

 

Kev mate

To my knowledge the yanks turned off the worst of the GPS jitter a few
years ago. You can now get to within a metre or two of a position.
Given that, your speed can be calculated reasonably accurately.

I too don't see the need for a GPS, as paper is still my prefered
method. Well at least until they come down under $100.

Don't be too hard on the girl. Some people just don't have any sense
of direction. Nothing to do with technology, they just use what is
available to help them. By the way, how many times in the last week
did you pull out a pencil and paper to do a multiplication or long
division? You too use technology available to help you.

I also got confused when I first hit the UK. There I was, 24 hr
flight, jetlagged and desperately trying to stay awake, my brother who
had lived in London for years asked me which way we were travelling.
Of course I automatically look for the sun and get the direction 180
deg. wrong.

SteveB

 

Good point and indeed very true. Hadn't thought of that - there are in
fact hefty fines for getting caught doing so.

JL

 

Kevin Gleeson wrote:

That seems logical to me, and was why I asked the question.

They can give you a very accurate indication of speed provided the speed
isn't changing _very_ quickly.

In a F1 car on a circuit, a GPS wouldn't give any meaningful speed info,
but it would give accurate info in an aircraft or boat cruising at a
fairly constant speed.

Cruising down a decent road, at a constant speed, the GPS gives an
accurate benchmark for comparison with a speedo.

The inaccuracy has been switched off. Even when it was on, the speed was
still as accurate.

"They" (US and others) have developed GPS jammers as a more useful
countermeasure than just the diddling factor.

When I first arrived in Oz, Sydney constantly had me lost.

Not only did the sun move in a funny direction, but there were so bloody
many bits of water about to be crossed by bridges.

We are all getting old.

The only fair thing in life, we all get older at the same rate.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Crunt

 

Yeah - exactly what I was doing. And it was sort of an epiphany, I
hadn't really thought about it, it rises in the East and sets in the
West. Duh. After a while I clicked onto the fact that it did the arc
to the South and that is where I was getting confused. Just hadn't
thought about it before I got there.

 

Yeah, I must admit after living in Melbourne which is basically a big
grid, the twists and turns of Sydney took me a while to get used to. I
ended up nailing a few critical points that I could head for and
navigate from there. But the other thing that I noticed when I moved
to Sydderknee was the "no right turn for the next X kms". Hadn't
encountered that one before, so my scan of map before I left, looking
for major intersections was thrown when you couldn't actually turn
right at that intersection. Then the road inevitably bent off in a
different direction to follow the waterways and I was fucked again.

First time I rode into Sydney was about 1982 I think. I was wanting to
get onto the Harbour Bridge as I was staying with a mate in Mosman. I
didn't quite get the lanes right and I'm suddenly heading west and had
no idea where the hell I was. It was night time too (after a non-stop
ride from Melbourne), which didn't help matters.

 

In aus.motorcycles on 4 Nov 2007 20:17:01 +1000

It's to keep those Inner Westies out. If they can't find it, they
won't overrun it and force the prices up.

Zebee
- happy Campsie dweller

 

Nev.. wrote...

So, when you use a speedo healer, if you correct it for speed does this mean
that the odo will still be inaccurate; ie. -6.5%?

 

CrazyCam wrote...

Yep, $40 will get you a Sigma Sport BC1600 (or similar) with trip computer
functions thrown in. And it'll be as accurate as anything out there if you
calibrate it correctly.