89 fj speedo reads way high.

[MACHV]

Hello all. Been lurking a while, so greetings from John in the Chicago Suburbs. Glad to be here. Proud owner of a fine 89 FJ with a nice highway setup. Had it about a month now and am convinced this is the best bike I've owned. Love this engine. I understand now why owners find them hard to part with.

The only complaint on my new baby is I just found out how innacurate my speedo is via two different gps systems. I searched a while on how I might rectify this but not finding much. Speedo reads about 5 mph high from the start, up into the forties. 60s-80s its around 10 high and if I want to go 100, I have to make it read 115. I haven't done any math on this but it seems to be on a percent curve, which would mean a change in drive gear, right? The previous owner did the FZR front wheel with a Pilot Road. Rear rim is Stock. I know that cable speedos are always innacurate but this is pretty far off up at highway speed. Owned 5 bikes over the years with cable operated speedos and never had one this far off, however all have been unaltered stock bike until this one. Does the FZR rim and Michelin combo really make a big diff from original? I have no frame of reference since this is my first and only FJ. Is there something I can do to the FJ speedo (DIY-wise) as far as adjustment or repair to make it read more accurate at highway speed, or does it need to go to a shop? New cable? New fluid? Not looking for dead on here. Just a accuracy through the highway range would make me happy.

Thank You Folks.
Ride Well.

[Harvy]

MachV...... your speedo is exhibiting what most would consider normal behaviour. I doubt there is an FJ out there that does not have a % error at the speedo.
Your replacement front wheel is wider, not larger in diameter, so this has not had any impact an the inaccuracy.
To my mind you have 2 options:
1. Take the plastic cover off the cluster, ride the bike with GPS speed verification, and mark the face of the speedo accordingly.
or
2. Replace the cluster with an Acewell or some other digital cluster, which calculates the road speed from the wheel diameter.

HTH
Harvy

[Firehawk068]

mine also is off by about 15%
I just use my GPS for accurate speed reading.

[Arnie]

OR the cheap alternative is to get a bicycle "computer"
Once you get it adjusted, you'll have an accurate speedo, 1 or 2 additional trip meters, and a clock.
All for about $10-15.

Arnie

[andyb]

Or go to a different front tire size.  Gearing is independent of the speedo's output on the FJ, unless it's been converted to front-wheel drive.

It's most likely a percentage error, but may not be linear, so you'll want to test at many speeds.  The easiest fix is to replace the indicator dial with one scaled appropriately, but that's pretty surgical.  To start off, make sure the bike is wearing a tire of the proper size (120/70-17) on the front, and know that a badly worn tire will allow the error to get worse.  If the new front wheel is a vastly different size (110/80-18 or some such) then all bets are off.

[Steve_in_Florida]

WHAT???!!!? All this time, I HAVEN'T been going 165MPH?!?

Personally, I just use the speed-O-meter as a guide.

If the actual speed is less than what my speedometer registers, it may explain why I haven't been pulled over for speeding more frequently than I already have!

[MACHV]

Well 5 out of 5 replies counts as gospel to me. Will live with it. I thought that needle was blurring bast a little quicker than the G force onset.

[moonrunnah]

110 on mine is about 100 mph
but 25mph is 25 mph

i also have a very bouncy needle

[tmkaos]

MachV...... your speedo is exhibiting what most would consider normal behaviour. I doubt there is an FJ out there that does not have a % error at the speedo.

Harvy

Wow I must be bucking the trend.. My '92 with over 140,000km is spot on (less than 1 km over 360km distance traveled at 110kmh on the open road) as confirmed by km markers on road side, and my GPS.. All my ride mates use me as the baseline to figure their gas mileage and distances traveled as all their newer bikes with less km read incorrectly.

So there are accurate FJ ones out there or is it just mine?

[hein]

note to tmkaos.

You can have an accurate odometer and still have an optimistic speedometer. Both my FJ1200 and my FZ1 share these characteristics. Strangely my FXDX is accurate on both counts.

Hein.

[markmartin]

My speedo reads about 10% + high, as compared to a GPS. 

[tmkaos]

note to tmkaos.

You can have an accurate odometer and still have an optimistic speedometer. Both my FJ1200 and my FZ1 share these characteristics. Strangely my FXDX is accurate on both counts.

Hein.

I seem to be lucky in that mine is accurate both ways too, at least up to about 120kmh as confirmed by roadside signs we have here in NZ with built in radar - as you approach it flashes up your speed as a reminder. I'm waiting for the day when they get cheeky and put a camera in them too. My GPS also reads spot on with my speedo, again up about 120kmh, after that I tend to be paying more attention to the road than the speedo so i can't comment as to how accurate mine is above that.

All I was saying was that there are some good FJ ones out there - it might be worth the hassle if MACHV wishes to get a another one and swap it out..

Happy riding!

James

[hein]

Hi James.

  You obviously got lucky with your speedo. Most speedos I'm familiar with are optimistic even though they had accurate odometers.  At the extreme end of the optimistic scale, I'd rate the Italian units as #1.

  Maybe they are watching you and taking pictures.

Hein.   

[fj11.5]

my 1100 seems acurate, and dousnt bounce, but its about 100 m out over the 1klm speed checker, but the 1200 in my possesion , speedo bounces like a small excited dog, most likely jack russell  , rpm,s say its going about 100 k,s speedo says  120 130 140 80 

[bigbore2]

Just sent in my speedo to Foreign Speedo in San Diego.  In our discussion, he said they usually set the speedo to Yamaha's stock setting, which i am understanding by posts is way off. I then asked him if they could set it to be exact and he said yes.  There is a way to set it by measuring out 52 ft. 9 1/2 in.  and counting  the number of revolutions the cable makes, both full and the last part revolution. They then set the speedo to the number given to them.  I am in the process of doing that now and he told me the speedo would be accurate. Just thought I would post this for you all.