Total Motorcycle Community Forums

slimcolo wrote:

dr_bar wrote:When travelling, I came across many odometer test areas

We used to have these everywhere but they disappeared years ago

I actually came across several in the USA, I believe I-95 in Maine had one, Hwy 2 in Michigan, Wisconsin, N.Dakota, and Montanna all had test areas... They were wrong too, (of course they did have it in miles as opposed to my kilometres... )

My speedo reads 10% faster than I am going (55 indicated on speedo is actual 50mph. However, my odometer is very close.

The calibration of the odometer and speedo can be separate. On mechanical speedo's, the needle can be off while the gears running the odo can be spot on. On electrics, the needle can be off while the odomewter still counts the correct amount of pulses per mile.

My Pickup is spot on with miles and speed with my GPS. My car is a little optimistic about speed but correct on miles.

Sweet. Now I can knowingly adjust my speed, and from here on in not need to worry about copping a 14kp/h over the speed limit fine.

Most motorcycle magazines make note of what the real speed of a bike is compared to what is stated on the speedo. Some speedos are optimistic and many are pessimistic. Most of them stay accurate up until 30 mph and it goes off from there.

Did you check that the speedo cable is properly lubed and also screwed in tightly enough?

Maybe your wife and the people who passed you feel like the speed limit is too slow anyhow.

I thought the whole planet knew that speedos are +/-10% off

This is the reason our speed cameras are supposed to be offset and our speed can only be officially logged by traffic cars that have had their speedos calibrated at the start and end of each shift.

Kal wrote:I thought the whole planet knew that speedos are +/-10% off

Nope. Would appear that I was sleeping when the announcement went out.

But now that I do know, I can get on with riding comfortably without the niggling concern for my integrity gnawing away at my concsience.
Call me strange, but I value things such as doing the right thing for no other reason than because it's the right thing to do
Have tried life the other way, and it leads you right back to where you started; knowing nothing and going noweher without a lot of help.

Kal,

No radar or laser in UK?? I could learn to ride on other side if that's true!

Kal wrote:Different regions have different strategies. There are laser and radar systems, but then three is at least one region that has no traffic Police - instead they rely purely on Gatso's.

Currently Bike organisations are trying to get laser and radar clocking of bikes recognised as ineffective. They managed to clock a Fireblade doing 30+mph recently. However there was no one aboard and the sidestand was down.

Legally there is always supposed to be a 10% margin of error, however I do know of one camera that is set for 30mph on the money.

You don't want to live here. We're a tiny island with 60million people on it, we are captured on film an average of 300 times a day and no one actually knows how many speed cameras there are anymore...



I would go into the Criminal Justice Act, the Police Act, the Police and Terror act not to mention the Terrorism Act but there isn't space. I do not live in a free Country.

Odd how your bike is a 1984 model...