Author Topic: How accurate are items on display?  (Read 4280 times)

Offline clogan

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How accurate are items on display?
« on: April 02, 2013, 07:54:59 PM »
Is everything overstated on your bike's display?

The speedo appears to read a bit higher than actual speed, at least on my 2010 Connie; The indicated mpg appears to be waaaaay overstated - compared to actual computed mpg; Tire pressure readings are a couple psi greater than my gauge. Odometer is ever so slightly greater than actual distance traveled.

Has anyone else noticed this?
It's interesting to note that all items are OVERSTATED on the display.
2010 Neptune blue C14
2009 blue KLR
2013 DRZ400

Offline maxtog

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2013, 09:09:25 PM »
Is everything overstated on your bike's display?

The speedo appears to read a bit higher than actual speed, at least on my 2010 Connie; The indicated mpg appears to be waaaaay overstated - compared to actual computed mpg; Tire pressure readings are a couple psi greater than my gauge. Odometer is ever so slightly greater than actual distance traveled.

Has anyone else noticed this?  It's interesting to note that all items are OVERSTATED on the display.

On *ALL* vehicles in the USA, the speedometer reads higher than actual.  This is because of severe penalties if it is even slightly lower, so they always make SURE it is higher, unfortunately.

I have found the MPG estimations to be pretty accurate.

I don't know about the odometer, but I have no reason to believe that it is less accurate than any other typical vehicle.

Tire pressure seems to be more accurate after warmup.  Plenty of threads on that.  The main thing is that on the C14, the pressure sensors attempt to adjust for ambient temperature.  Personally, I think that is stupid and I would much rather know the ACTUAL pressure.
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline daveyboy

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2013, 09:21:01 PM »
I have only had my C14 for a few weeks, but I went on a couple hundred mile ride today.

When I got to about 166 miles, the fuel guage displayed empty.  I went and filled up--it took 4 gallons... .

That is not something unique to the C14--my pickup will show virtually empty when there is still a significant amount of fuel left.
My Kawasakis:
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Offline robbie

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2013, 04:30:22 AM »
The odometer and speedometer go hand in hand so when the speed reads slightly faster then the miles will tick up slightly quicker. I believe on these bikes the norm seems to be about 3-5% off so for every 1000 miles you have about an extra 30-50 on the clock. There is a device called the Speedohealer that many have installed to correct the speedometer and odometer if it bothers you.
http://www.healtech-electronics.com
2009 Kawasaki Concours 14, 2003 Goldwing, 2002 Goldwing, 2015 F-150, 2018 JK Wrangler, 2002 TJ Wrangler

Offline Conrad

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2013, 04:37:25 AM »
Is everything overstated on your bike's display?

The speedo appears to read a bit higher than actual speed, at least on my 2010 Connie; The indicated mpg appears to be waaaaay overstated - compared to actual computed mpg; Tire pressure readings are a couple psi greater than my gauge. Odometer is ever so slightly greater than actual distance traveled.

Has anyone else noticed this?
It's interesting to note that all items are OVERSTATED on the display.

I prefer to think of it as being optimistic.       :)
Northern Illinois   Silverdammit '08 C-14 ABS

"Don't bother me with facts, Son. I've already made up my mind." -Foghorn Leghorn

Offline Boomer

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2013, 04:42:31 AM »
Manufacturers of vehicles have allowable tolerances for speedometers.
These are +10% and -0% so for a real speed of 30Mph they are allowed to read between 30 and 33 Mph.
Also remember that the tyres you fit will affect the reading and as the tyres wear the speedo will read higher although not much higher.
I just calibrated mine w.r.t. a GPS unit and ride accordingly.
All of my vehicles are at the full +10% (98Acura RL, C10, C14) so I ride accordingly.
Haven't been busted yet.  ;D 8)

A friend has an R1150G Adventure and the speedo was over-reading wildly.
He kept asking why I was riding so fast when I was cruising @ 85 indicated (77Mph real speed) the same as I have for the last 20+ years.
He said his speedo was showing nearly 100.
BMW checked it at the next service and there was something wrong with the sensor.
George "Boomer" Garratt
Wickford, UK


Offline maxtog

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2013, 05:30:41 AM »
I have only had my C14 for a few weeks, but I went on a couple hundred mile ride today.

When I got to about 166 miles, the fuel guage displayed empty.  I went and filled up--it took 4 gallons.

It you wait until it alerts, you will have about 1.1 gal left, meaning you should only be able to add a bit less than 5 gal.
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline connie1

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2013, 10:10:47 AM »
Regarding the tire pressures...I would trust the tpms far more than the handheld gauge.  Handhelds are notorious for being inaccurate so unless you have a very high quality gauge it's a guideline not an absolute.
I've got a mid-quality dial gauge that happens to agree with the tpms but that doesn't necessarily make either of them right.  But you go with what you've got.
Man do I love this bike! Red '09

Offline AZBob

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #8 on: April 03, 2013, 11:30:39 AM »
The odometer and speedometer go hand in hand so when the speed reads slightly faster then the miles will tick up slightly quicker. I believe on these bikes the norm seems to be about 3-5% off so for every 1000 miles you have about an extra 30-50 on the clock. There is a device called the Speedohealer that many have installed to correct the speedometer and odometer if it bothers you.
http://www.healtech-electronics.com

It depends on the vehicle. My CBR's speedo is off by quite a bit, but the odo is 100% accurate (same with my car -- although my car is only off by 1mph and not a percentage). Incidentally, the diagnostic reading of the vehicle speed sensor is also 100% accurate on my Honda, so that means a small calculation is purposely performed in the speedometer electronics. I suspect most manufacturers do it this way.

Offline Dalroo

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #9 on: April 03, 2013, 02:42:34 PM »
It seems pretty universal from these posts and personal experience that the speedo is typically fast. The percentage margin on mine seems to grow with speed. According to my GPS, it is roughly 3% fast at 60mph, while 5% different at 80mph, and while I will not personally attest to it ever happening, an educated "guess" would have it off almost 9% at 120mph.

Fuel range seems to be close for me, although the DTE resets every 10 seconds, so you have to consider. Having only one bar on guage is not the same as "empty". Zero bars, with red light and flashing fuel guage on mine at 1.1 gal as well. While I've only done it a few times for more than a few miles, twice I've had to go approximately 30 miles or so to the next station. Higher pucker factor and both times took 5 gallons to fill to tab. So, a little more than a half gallon, or more appropriately 15-20 to fumes. That is the real "Empty", or close enough. FYI - I will usually get the fuel warning at 170-180 miles, and have even gone 190 with near perfect conditions, moderate speed and ECO mode.

My TPMS is spot on when I check against handheld. Early on I was impressed by how close they were. And by the way, I find the TPMS reading to be the most critical of the displays, so 99% of time my readout is showing tire pressure. I click thru other readings, but use TPMS as my default.

Offline stevewfl

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #10 on: April 03, 2013, 02:55:25 PM »
The display accuracy is as rough cut as the rest of the KAWASAKI

<'cept KiPass>!   
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Offline maxtog

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #11 on: April 03, 2013, 03:12:01 PM »
It seems pretty universal from these posts and personal experience that the speedo is typically fast. The percentage margin on mine seems to grow with speed. According to my GPS, it is roughly 3% fast at 60mph, while 5% different at 80mph, and while I will not personally attest to it ever happening, an educated "guess" would have it off almost 9% at 120mph.

It would be extremely unusual for a speedometer error to not be a linear percent.

Quote
both times took 5 gallons to fill to tab. So, a little more than a half gallon,

The tank holds more than 5.5 gallons (6.1/6.2), and I think it is usable down to almost 0 based on what I have read.  I would never push it that far.  But if you filled to 5 gal, you should have had 0.6 or 0.7 left, meaning quite a number of miles available, still.
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline stevewfl

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #12 on: April 03, 2013, 03:28:09 PM »
+1

I've went 48 miles with low fuel flashing and still had fuel remaining. 

That's how accurate it is
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Offline maxtog

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #13 on: April 03, 2013, 03:34:28 PM »
+1

I've went 48 miles with low fuel flashing and still had fuel remaining. 

That is pretty impressive, because we have all pretty much determined it starts flashing at about 1.1 gal left.  48 miles on that is really starting to push it :)

Of course- I assume the tank data comes from a mechanical float and variable resistor... technology that is not exactly known for high accuracy.
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline stevewfl

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #14 on: April 03, 2013, 03:39:15 PM »
That is pretty impressive, because we have all pretty much determined it starts flashing at about 1.1 gal left.  48 miles on that is really starting to push it :)

Of course- I assume the tank data comes from a mechanical float and variable resistor... technology that is not exactly known for high accuracy.

I don't know how "much" fuel was remaining, I just said "with fuel remaining" because it hadn't ran out!
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Offline tonedeaf

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Re: How accurate are items on display?
« Reply #15 on: April 03, 2013, 07:59:14 PM »
I find the errors to be small enough that I ride as if they were correct. That way you should be OK on fuel, visits from the law and so forth. (Try to out guess it I you could wind up seriously unhappy.) The one I trust only relatively is the TPMS numbers, they are just too low (I have two high quality gauges that both agree and the TPMS numbers, with warm tires, are almost always the same amount off). So once the tires are warmed up, I just watch to make sure the numbers don't stray much.