[kelly]

I bought my ZR-7S back in July and am riding it to work and play whenever possible. I have about 2700 miles on it so far and look forward to every upcoming mile. Two thumbs up!

But my question is about the speedometer. I suspected it was reading higher than my actual speed, but that suspicion was confirmed while looking through these strings a few days ago. One of the members (I don't recall whom) had his ZR-7 dyno tested, and had RPM vs. MPH included in the charts.

According to his data, assuming stock sprockets, the bike is actually going about 14% slower than my speedometer reads. No big deal you may say, but it is also piling up the miles on the odometer that much faster as well. I left the comparison numbers at work, so I can post them tomorrow if needed.

My question is, has anybody else tried to rectify this with a new speedo gear or anything? Thanks-

 

[Andy]

Welcome Kelly,

From what others have wrote on the old Ezboard forum is that the odometer is accurate and the speedometer is slow by 10%.

Kawasaki most likely doesn't bother to make the speedometer too accurate for cost and/or liability reasons and therefore have it read on the slow side.

Perhaps the needle can be moved so the speedometer would be more accurate. Although it may not bottom out at 0 MPH.

The odometer part is straight gear/cable driven. Laws most likely mandate it to be accurate.

Andy

 

[jarelj]

I'd like to see someone who's bike is still under warranty go back to the dealer with this problem. It's obviously a faulty setup, so theoritically Kawasaki should fix it. Anyone game??

 

[MedZR7Treker]

Ahhh, yeah, we can fix that, yhea. Ah, yhea, we're gonna need you to leave the bike here, say, yhea, a while, yhea....Yhea, you can pick er up, say, ahhh, yhea, next year sometime, yhea.

I hate reading about slow speedo's. I want to think I'm really going that fast, damn it !:~

Can I use this as an excuse when selling the bike, if I ever sell it that is? Sure, it says a million miles, but in actuallity, it's only five point three. Took it around the block one time ! Never used it again. Been locked up here ever since. Yup, that was fifty years ago, boy how time goes.:laugh:

 

[kelly]

Thanks for the input guys. So it's not just my speedometer, it's everybody's. And my S is still under warranty so I'll ask them at the 3000 mile checkup to fix it. I'll let you know what they say. (Uh, yup, we have three of our best guys on it :z ).

For info, here's the comparison of the RPM vs MPH (5th gear) on the dyno (thanks to other member X) and as read on my speedo:

RPM Actual Speed My Speedometer Reading
4000 50 58
5000 63 72
6000 76 86

I'm still not convinced that the odometer isn't piling up imaginary miles at the same rate. More to come.....

And no, these numbers aren't on my speedo swim trunks. (Just thought I would head you guys off at the pass.)

Kelly

 

[Martin64]

"Head 'em off at the Pass", good job!

 

[TheScamp]

Aerostich sells a digital spedometer which I'm probably going to order. It's on page 4 of the 'Communications' section. It's got a bunch of odometer functions (trip distance, total distance, ride timer) and a clock too! It's only $23, so I figure why the heck not?

 

[bluwngoliv]

I don't know why it's such a big deal that the speedometer is off. Most bikes read about 5% fast, ours just happens to be more like 10%. I just go 10-15 mph faster then the posted speed limit (depending on my speed) and don't worry about it. Let's face it, you're never going to get a ticket for going 5 mph over the speed limit anyway.

 

[Andy]

Hey Scamp,

From what I have read in the Yahoo ZR Forum, those digital speedometers are kind of difficult to calibrate.

I guess having two inaccurate speedometers is better than one.

Andy

 

[TheScamp]

Well, I'm a total electronics gadget guy, so it should be a good time.

 

[Itztli]

Speed accuracy

Best regards team:

IMHO the best way to go is with a GPS unit to get the exact speed.

 

[Martin64]

Does it keep a "real time" speed or an average? Also, just to stir it up some more, what does it base it's measurements on. I do survey work sometimes and know from triangulating distances from sattelites (?sp) and doing straight line (pt. A to pt. B) and doing actual distances on the ground (topo), you're gonna end up with 3 different measurements.

 

[srogaski]

GPS Speedo

I use my GPS for accurate speed. I've zoomed past those little trailer cart things that the Police setup to show you your speed. Here's the latest results.......35mph speed limit, Speedo said 72mph.......GPS said 69.4 and the Police cart said 69. So I'd presume the GPS is most accurate when it comes to my speed. And no, there weren't any actual police officers out there.

 

[Andy]

Regarding which device is accurate, the only one that matters is the rader gun the police officer is using...

Andy

 

[kelly]

Well, I took my bike in to the dealer today for the 3000 mile scheduled maintenance. I asked them to fix the speedometer because it's reading significantly high (see above).

The service manager said it's not a warranty item unless it's broke broke, like not working at all. Couldn't convince him otherwise. No way they were going to touch it. I tried!

kelly

 

[Tom Bozeman]

Thanks Kelly, my warranty is up in March so I won't bother them with the speedometer either. Tom