Curiosity

[Firehawk068]

Thanks Noel, I will check it out when I get back from the Black hills Rally. 

[moparman70]

I did a run a few days ago going up 395 on the way to the rally  ( nice 4 lane separated highway in the desert here - not many entrances. ) My GPS top speed was 121 but my speedo -- well it was in the 140's.   I have found when you get to the upper speeds the speeds have at 15-20 pct variance not reliable at all.   At 90 speedo shows 102-107.   

So if you are interested in top speed you absolutely must get a GPS --- I put mine on an info page the shows a huge speedo so it makes it easy to compare to the FJ as well while travelling.

On another time( not this rally)  I was on the 395 I did a run of 137 with Bags  - it had more  --- FJ was solid - straight and true ---

steveecccc

[The General]

It always surprises me when I read about people "discovering" the FJ speedo reads fast. This has been the case with car and bike speedo's for as long as I can remember, and always by a similar margin. Manufacturers do it to protect themselves.

It is not FJ specific.

I see no point in having it corrected as everything else you drive and ride will have the same error. It is by design, not a fault.

I have a digital GPS speedo (even though my speedo works fine) because it's easier to see at a glance and where I live we have a strictly enforced 3kph tolerance and therefore a need to know your exact speed, not somewhere near it.

Noel

I recently drove my daughter`s new cars. (I have two.....and hence the reason for my old cars!).
I`m guessing the inbuilt GPS naturally matches the speedo. I`ve been meaning to hook up my easily transferable garmin to check them. I am sure their inbuilt GPS will be out by the usual speedo error, but I was judging their speeedometer by those highway markers. (quietly in my head, as I know they push every boundary on everything!...I wouldn`t divulge my thoughts).   
When I get to drive them by myself I will do a miss myth check.   

[The General]

To satisfy the nerd in you, or if you're having a slow night, you can also send it to "Google Earth" and do even more things with it.

Some years ago when the "Spot" gadgets first came out, a mate set up my computer with Google Earth so I could track him through the Finke Dessert just for fun. It amazed me that when he occasionally messaged me from a campsite I could almost see the grains of sand he was on. Through one section where he had the blips set for every 15 minutes I could see his average speed was well over the Ton in sand! (KTM990)

I`ve been thinking ta buy one of those wrist watches like your son`s for awhile now....do they really measure all strokes?  I`m not sure I wanta compare to years ago!   Think I`ll wait till the upgrades can do the exercise for me!   

[oz.fj]

Ray said" Hey, I did 195kmhr on a ride last year, now where's that knock on the door.......... "

HEHE, i was behind you that day at willowbank,  I actually hit 220 kph trying to keep up with you.. 

I think I my have been in front of you two that day at Willowbank Raceway... I think your speedos are out 

[Harvy]

Ray said" Hey, I did 195kmhr on a ride last year, now where's that knock on the door.......... "

HEHE, i was behind you that day at willowbank,  I actually hit 220 kph trying to keep up with you.. 

I think I my have been in front of you two that day at Willowbank Raceway... I think your speedos are out 

OK.... I remember that day...... had trouble keeping the front wheel on the ground at 220Kph in 3rd gear..... 

[GhostMerc]

My dad bought an 84 the day it came out.  He was probably 23.  He's got a few stories from that time period.  I've heard them since I was a kid, and it wasn't until recently (I'm now 29) that I heard the full versions of these stories.  I read one of the magazine shootouts he kept.  The radar clocked the FJ at 154 mph (248 kph) at redline in top gear.  He would take a wide open country road to work and spend part of the trip trying to push past red line and max out the speedometer.  Near as he can tell he's been 160+ (257) while being quick to point out that there's no road like that around here anymore.

The fastest I've ever had my '86, according to the speedometer, is 145 mph (233 kph).

I would love to have the right conditions (closed track, safety gear, paramedics on standby) to push a motorcycle past 200 mph.  Doing it on an FJ would just be icing on the cake.  It's been a thought of mine ever since I watched "The World's Fastest Indian"

[ribbert]

I have invested more than most in a speedo check.

In the final days of the era of fast road travel, I departed Adelaide at 10pm heading to Melbourne 750kms away. I had a car that was only several months old and had the standard tyres changed for better ones before I even picked it up. It was a road I knew well, the conditions were perfect and the traffic negligible, just an interstate truck every half hour or so.

As soon as I cleared the hills I set the cruise on 200kph. The next 400km's only required backing off a handful of times. This was a little faster than my normal cruising speed because of the exceptional conditions. I had driven this road maybe 40 times in recent years and depending on traffic and weather it could be as slow as 80kph, but that night was perfect. My wife was in the passenger seat and my two young children in the back.

As nothing much was open on the highway at that hour my wife had brought a thermos of coffee and some sandwiches, there was nothing to stop for other than fuel. I have always found driving fast invigorating and was loving the drive.

After an uneventful few hours and 400 or so Km's later (Horsham) I am jolted by police lights reflecting off the car interior, at that speed, mirror checks hadn't seemed necessary.

The night had been so quiet on the road they abandoned their patrol early in the shift and returned to the station where they were monitoring the truckies CB radio, which of course mentioned me every time I passed one of the trucks. The copper said they had come out specifically to meet me and had calculated almost to the minute when I would get there.

Realising immediately there was nothing to argue or dispute, I copped it on the chin and maintained a pleasant demeanour. The cop said they had a new magistrate in town who seemed determined to establish his reputation as a "hanging judge" and he felt that if I were to appear before him, which the speed required, there was the possibility of 7 day custodial sentence and certain licence loss, he didn't think it warranted that risk as I seemed like a "sensible bloke".
He let me off with a maximum "on the spot" fine. I thanked him and got back in the car, my wife asked "how much this time?" Surprised when I told her, I assured her it was a bargain.


That was a very sad day for me. Not because of the money but with the words "custodial sentence" ringing in my ears, just for speeding for god's sake, I realised it was over. The one activity that I had enjoyed so much over the last 20 years, one that had given me so much fun and so many great memories was finished. A sad day indeed.

Community and Police attitudes had shifted and technology was now making getting caught an increasing likelyhood rather than a remote possibility. It was over. She reckons my driving went to the dogs after I slowed down. I have never enjoyed driving for the sake of it since. It has just become a means of getting from A to B rather than an activity in itself. Consequently I also lost interest in good cars, as what made them spectacular could no longer be enjoyed. Cup holders and parking sensors holding the interest high performance and handling once did.

Anyway, the point of my story, the speedo was spot on 200, the detected speed was 187, I still have the ticket. Although I have been pulled over much faster, that is the fastest I've ever been booked for.

Speedo error at that speed - 13kph, about what I consider normal.



Noel

[ribbert]

The FJ with a fresh 1219 motor, light weight pistons, valve job, adjustable cams, 165psi in all cylinders, pods, jetting, baffles out, ignition advance, no luggage, higher gearing, tucked in and a favourable tail wind will go to the the end of the speedo, and I don't know which way the electrodes on the spark plugs were facing.

RPM? no idea. The roads I do this on are usually single vehicle width bitumen, not the time to be scanning instruments.

It now has a high mileage standard motor in it and I've never bothered to look at the speedo when wrung out. I enjoy riding it fast but knowing exactly how fast doesn't seem to matter.

Noel

[ribbert]

I`ve been thinking ta buy one of those wrist watches like your son`s for awhile now....do they really measure all strokes? 

Doug, trying to get you head around all this technology at our age is more likely to cause a stroke than count them.

Noel

[ribbert]

Ray said" Hey, I did 195kmhr on a ride last year, now where's that knock on the door.......... "

HEHE, i was behind you that day at willowbank,  I actually hit 220 kph trying to keep up with you.. 

I think I my have been in front of you two that day at Willowbank Raceway... I think your speedos are out 

OK.... I remember that day...... had trouble keeping the front wheel on the ground at 220Kph in 3rd gear..... 

So, that's who I passed.

Noel

[fj1289]

My dad bought an 84 the day it came out.  He was probably 23.  He's got a few stories from that time period.  I've heard them since I was a kid, and it wasn't until recently (I'm now 29) that I heard the full versions of these stories.  I read one of the magazine shootouts he kept.  The radar clocked the FJ at 154 mph (248 kph) at redline in top gear.  He would take a wide open country road to work and spend part of the trip trying to push past red line and max out the speedometer.  Near as he can tell he's been 160+ (257) while being quick to point out that there's no road like that around here anymore.

The fastest I've ever had my '86, according to the speedometer, is 145 mph (233 kph).

I would love to have the right conditions (closed track, safety gear, paramedics on standby) to push a motorcycle past 200 mph.  Doing it on an FJ would just be icing on the cake.  It's been a thought of mine ever since I watched "The World's Fastest Indian"

Don't know where you're located, but those opportunities do exist.  There are a handful of venues around the US where they do 1 mile land speed racing and measure your speed over the last 132 feet of the run.  Maxton was one of the best known - was run by the East Coast Timing Association -- they now run at Loring Maine (1.5 miles!) and Willmington.  There's some others in Texas (Beeville) and Houston (they do 1/2 mile and 1 mile) and Mojave (1 mile and 1.5 miles), and the first Colorado Mile will be this September at Front Range Airport on the east side of Denver!

[twangin4u]

I've had mine up to 140 (speedo reading) and it felt like it had plenty more, but my tires are a little out of balance and she began to feel like she was coming apart. Then I got off the bike and looked at my shinko ties and saw they were rated at 131 mph. Oops.
  Speed doesn't really matter to me, but I was curious as to what others have experienced compared to what I have. Evey once in a while I'll get a little froggy and wind it out but for the most part I just cruise.

[Arnie]

twaingin4u,

I think you'll find that the "H" speed rating is for SUSTAINED speeds of UP TO 130mph.
Sustained is defined as an hour or more, so its unlikely that you were in much danger from exceeding the tire rating.  Other danger factors might come into play though, just sayin :-)

[Paul1965]

84 fj 1100... What's the fastest you've gotten her to go??

Just curious

On my 84, 135 by the speedo.