08 | GPS Speed vs Speedometer

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YammerHammer

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Cedar Rapids, IA
Noticed my first ride on the bike that people here in IA were walking away from me on the interstate @ 80MPH - and that is not the norm here in IA. Grabbed the GPS the other day and speedomter speed seems to vary as much as 10% from GPS. I spoke with the sevice manager at local dealer and he said that is pretty much the norm - has anyone else had this experience? Is there any way to adjust?

 
My Zumo always reads about 4mph slower than the speedo. This goes for the FJR, and my car, so I would think It's an issue with the gps, and not the vehicle!?!?!???!!

 
My Gen I (an 05) was dead on. My Gen II (an 07) is off about 3-4 at interstate speeds. Speedo accuracy seems to be a victum of progresss & refinement in other areas on the FJR. I haven't seen 10% errors yet though. Based on the technology I repectfully must disagree with TCMike. I think the GPS's are far more accurate (I know this is not intuitive).

 
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My 07 is off by about 4-5 mph at that speed according to my GPS. So if I want to ride at 70 mph I just ride at indicated 75.

Mac

 
My Gen I (an 05) was dead on. My Gen II (an 07) is off about 3-4 at interstate speeds. Speedo accuracy seems to be a victum of progresss & refinement in other areas on the FJR. I haven't seen 10% errors yet though. Based on the technology I repectfully must disagree with TCMike. I think the GPS's are far more accurate (I know this is not intuitive).
Just a coincedence that both my vehicles are off by the same amount? I'm still skeptical, but just in case, I'll go 4mph faster, and tell the po po you said it was ok.

Do you work for Garmin in K.C. ?

 
My Zumo always reads about 4mph slower than the speedo. This goes for the FJR, and my car, so I would think It's an issue with the gps, and not the vehicle!?!?!???!!
Dude. It's not a GPS issue. Lots of high-tech satellites calculating that speed. Whereas on a vehicle, changing the size of the tire can throw off the speedometer. Speedometers on vehicles are frequently off, most often on the high side.

 
My Zumo always reads about 4mph slower than the speedo. This goes for the FJR, and my car, so I would think It's an issue with the gps, and not the vehicle!?!?!???!!
Dude. It's not a GPS issue. Lots of high-tech satellites calculating that speed. Whereas on a vehicle, changing the size of the tire can throw off the speedometer. Speedometers on vehicles are frequently off, most often on the high side.
Both vehicles have original tires. I would have thought a system directly attached to the vehicle itself would be more accurate than a signal from outer space, encountering umpteen miles of varying interference/atmospheric conditions. If you insist though, I'll go by the Zumo's speed, at least I'll get there faster,(hopefully without any tickets).

 
Most every bike I've owned over the last 40 years (many) typically have read 2 to 5 mph on the low side My '05 and '07 FJR read 4 to 5 low. It's interesting to hear that some are seeing readings from their FJR on the high side. I'd be curious to know whether those that are seeing high readings are using OEM tires, or other brands?

As inexpensive as GPS chips are getting now-a-days, I wonder how long it'll be before we see computerized speed-o's auto-corrected via averaged GPS readings, as standard equipment?

SR-71

 
The Zumo talks with no less than 4 satellites at a time providing multiple simultaneous signal references. Through a high tech bit of chicanery the satellites get the GPS systems to time sync with the atomic clocks on the satellites with an accuracy of around a billionth of a second (10-9 of a second). The basic speed of signal transmission is based on the fixed speed of light. If that wasn't enough, the GPS perform minute corrections to the speed of light to compensate for signal disturbances through the troposphere and ionosphere. Three dimensional triangulation is solid math, if the programming is accurate the results are accurate. The GPS software is burned into memory devices in bulk, one GPS out of thousands shouldn't have accuracy errors.

First and foremost, almost all motor vehicle manufactures intentionally produce speedometers that read high, odometers are generally accurate. These days ECU/PCMs can pick up engine or transmission signals and deliver very accurate speed measurements. Even so, this is just mechanical speed, the true speed is effected by tire wear and tire inflation (inflation also includes temperature induced pressure changes). I've replace sets of tires that were numerically identical based on sidewall info, but were actually significantly different in true diameter. I use a laptop to reprogram my car's PCM to correct for tire size.

You need to find a town with a speed sign board and go test out your vehicles speedometers. This is one of the best free services the police provide ;) If uncorrected my car reads 6 mph high at an indicated 40. Our truck measures 6 mph slow, our Element measures 2 mph slow, my FJR reads 1-2 mph slow @ 40. My car is so far off because of the performance tires I'm running.

 
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Another option is the Yellr Box..

https://www.blackrobotics.com/

They allow you to do your own speedo error adjusting up or down from .025% up to 33%.

FYI, the ABS speed sensing system(at least on the 07A) will not allow you to adjust your speedo slower (lower) than a true speed.

If you do.. (I messed with this), the abs takes over and self corrects itself and reverts back to the original pre-programmed error ratio...

Mine is around 5% high. When I adjusted it down only 5%(to true speed).. It worked like a charm. True speed on the speedo and the ODO

was dead on too.

WW

 
Another option is the Yellr Box..
https://www.blackrobotics.com/

They allow you to do your own speedo error adjusting up or down from .025% up to 33%.

FYI, the ABS speed sensing system(at least on the 07A) will not allow you to adjust your speedo slower (lower) than a true speed.

If you do.. (I messed with this), the abs takes over and self corrects itself and reverts back to the original pre-programmed error ratio...

Mine is around 5% high. When I adjusted it down only 5%(to true speed).. It worked like a charm. True speed on the speedo and the ODO

was dead on too.

WW
I had this on my wing for years: https://www.blackrobotics.com/yb_faq.htm

You can correct you speedo error enough to drive yourself crazy if you are so inclined. It worked great for me. The instructions say to be sure its waterproofed after you set it up. Of course I didn't. After the 1st wicked rain I was caught in it stopped working. After a couple hours riding in the dry it started working fine again. Then I waterproofed it. . . No more problems (used silicone rubber around it).

As another poster already mentioned those unattended police speed indicators are a great way to check your settings but I just used my gps on the highway.

 
I can settle this pretty quick:

GPS : 81 MPH

FJR speedo : 88 mph

Cops laser : 81 mph

So, who/what do you think is right?

KM

 
This has been discussed on other sites.

From what I've read, there are very strict regulations against a bike's speedo reading too low, even a small amount.

The speedo reading can vary (unless it's digital) by the angle at which you are looking at it.

Therefore the manufacturers err a bit on the side of caution.

I agree GPS is accurate (as long as reception is locked in).

Also, the correction factor will not be addition nor subtraction, it will be a percentage.

The faster that you go the more mph it will be off.

 
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I can settle this pretty quick:
GPS : 81 MPH

FJR speedo : 88 mph

Cops laser : 81 mph

So, who/what do you think is right?

KM
Nuff said. I'll go with the gps reading.

Now I want to go find me a radar speed warning sign to do some tests.

 
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