The beemer final has a working Speedo again

Discussion in 'Australian Motorcycles' started by The Happy Drunk, Mar 12, 2009.

  1. I've finally got the beemer's speedo to work again.

    Spent ages cleaning all of the contacts within the speedo unit,
    cleaned the connections on the way down to the sensor, cleaned the
    sensor (after shearing the bolt holding the sensor - wasn't even
    being hand-fisted) When I had the unit open I found that someone had
    "repaired" it before. By attaching extra wires and bypassing the
    flexible circuit board thingy and stuffing a couple solder joints.
    Besides the solder, the other problem was, they didn't bypass the the
    dirty contacts going into the speedo cluster.

    Put it all back together and suprise suprise ..... it still didn't
    work. The only difference I noticed the needle fibrating slightly
    while the wheel was slowly rotating. the needle became still when the
    wheel sped up. After a little experiment ....... in particular,
    swapping the polarity of the sensor and the speedo suddenly came back
    into life :)

    I think during the process of fixing the speedo, I stuffed up (well
    duh). While fault finding, I replaced the plugs going into the speedo
    and "somehow" put the plugs into the wrong spots ..... either way, I
    finally have a better speedo then the bicycle speedo I have fitted as
    a stop gap.
    __


    Cheers
    The Happy Drunk
    K100RT
     
    The Happy Drunk, Mar 12, 2009
    #1
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  2. The Happy Drunk

    Knobdoodle Guest

    Congratulations!
    I fully appreciate the satisfaction of getting something old and battered
    working again.
    Not in the same league but I finally found the intermittent open-cct that
    was making my left headlight run dull (both beams in series).
    Now I might be able to see the roos on BOTH sides of the highway!
     
    Knobdoodle, Mar 12, 2009
    #2
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  3. The Happy Drunk

    BT Humble Guest

    I fixed the trigger switch on my electric lawnmower (the plastic pivot-
    post had snapped off)...


    BTH
     
    BT Humble, Mar 13, 2009
    #3
  4. Surely they are wired in parallel. In series each headlight would only have
    6 volts across the filament and any dodgy connection would affect both.
    Also an intermittent open cct should cause the light to go out altogether
    not run dull. This would be a high resistance connection. I know you cant
    get a higher resistance than an open cct but my point remains...high
    resistance equals dull lights, open cct equals no lights.

    Years of experiance with bevel drive Ducatis' have made me a reasonably
    competent MC electrician

    Capt. A. L.
     
    Capt.about_lunchtime, Mar 13, 2009
    #4
  5. The Happy Drunk

    Knobdoodle Guest

    I didn't say both headlights in series!
    No the earth on the left was the open-cct so on low beam the 12v was running
    through the low filament and then back through the high filament to the
    right high filament and then to the right earth.
    On high beam it'd run high-> low to other low to earth.
    So you'd always have one bright (and one dull filament that you couldn't
    see) on one side and two dull on the other side.
    You see the same thing on cars a fair bit.
     
    Knobdoodle, Mar 13, 2009
    #5

  6. Ok I see now that makes perfect sense
    Very good deduction work there

    Capt. A. L.
     
    Capt.about_lunchtime, Mar 13, 2009
    #6
  7. The Happy Drunk

    Knobdoodle Guest

    [embarrassed face] I ... errr.... pulled the connector and the wire fell off
    the back......
     
    Knobdoodle, Mar 13, 2009
    #7
  8. The Happy Drunk

    theo Guest

    Falcon tail-lights were like that for a long time.

    Theo
     
    theo, Mar 13, 2009
    #8
  9. The Happy Drunk

    Andrew Price Guest

    I love seeing the number of well travelled much loved bikes with inexpensive
    push bike speedo's on them (Moike?).

    If you can be bothered to get fussed about entering the exact circumference
    of the tyre they give you a surprising amount of useful and accurate
    information for a small investment in time and cost.

    The whizzz bangery on the lcd screen of the trump on the other hand requires
    the finding and re-reading of The Manual, as no human brain can remember
    such weird button sequences.

    Oh for simple things that work ...
     
    Andrew Price, Mar 14, 2009
    #9
  10. The Happy Drunk

    Nev.. Guest

    You'd already checked all the others? That's Science !

    Nev..
    '07 XB12X
    '08 DL1000K8
     
    Nev.., Mar 14, 2009
    #10
  11. The Happy Drunk

    CrazyCam Guest

    Aye, I am seriously considering fitting a pushie trip-computer to my
    Triumph.

    I've fitted them to most of my bikes for the last while, and had thought
    the Triumph wouldn't need one, but, as you say,Andrew, it's a
    complicated dash on the modern Trumpies.

    regards,
    CrazyCam
     
    CrazyCam, Mar 14, 2009
    #11
  12. The Happy Drunk

    alx Guest

    Finding a bike computer that supports over 99.9kph can be a battle.

    Cheap and large digits, look for a T9 Tigra...supports 199.9 kph. The
    manual is actually comprehensible too.

    Under $20, just guestimate the wheel diam and zero in with a GPS.
     
    alx, Mar 15, 2009
    #12
  13. The Happy Drunk

    GB Guest

    GPS? Is that some sort of new-fangled tape-measure like device
    for measuring wheel diameter?


    GB
     
    GB, Mar 15, 2009
    #13
  14. The Happy Drunk

    CrazyCam Guest

    Previously, I have used BC Sigmas quite successfully.

    I only once had a problem with an el-cheapo trip computer, CatEye, on
    the Z50, where, because of the small wheels, it would overwhelm the
    processors counting speed. It worked upto about 75 kph then started
    showing strange patterns on the display. The Sigma was quite happy up to
    over 210 kph on the Hornet.

    Guesstimate? A bit of chalk, three minutes and a tape measure to get an
    accurate rolling diameter. How hard is that?

    Zeroing in (or out) error by GPS isn't actually that easy, since a GPS
    reading of speed is only accurate at a constant speed in a straight line.

    I have done it a few times, but chalk and a tape work much better.

    regards,
    CrazyCam
     
    CrazyCam, Mar 15, 2009
    #14
  15. The Happy Drunk

    Knobdoodle Guest

    I had a Sigma too but no matter how many times I ran a tape-measure around
    the front wheel or measured out a rotation on the concrete I couldn't get it
    exactly right.
    Once I took it out to one of those speedo-measuring signposts on the highway
    and set it it was perfect though.
     
    Knobdoodle, Mar 15, 2009
    #15
  16. The Happy Drunk

    Nev.. Guest

    The Sigma Sport (Don't get excited G-S) is claimed to show 300kph, but
    will display speeds in excess of that.
    http://www.thisstupidurl.com/sigma1.jpg

    Mount the magnets and sensor close to the rim rather than the hub.
    Harder than it sounds. If you're pushing the bike along unladen for a
    couple of wheel revolutions really isn't an accurate way to replicate
    the rolling diameter of the tyre under normal load. You'll probably
    need to drop the tyres down to 10psi, or do the measurements with a
    rider on the bike.
    Many GPS units will have a top speed memory. Most bicycle computers
    have a top speed memory. All you need to do is ride in a straight line,
    no need to monitor the actual speed you're riding at. Accellerate
    slowly, you need to hold the top speed for at least 1 second before the
    GPS will get an accurate speed reading. Then you stop, check both top
    speeds and make whatever adjustment is necessary to get the bicycle
    computer to register the same as the GPS. Yes, there is a requirement
    that the top speed be achieved in a straight line. That shouldn't be
    too hard to arrange.

    Nev..
    '07 XB12X
    '08 DL1000K8
     
    Nev.., Mar 15, 2009
    #16
  17. The Happy Drunk

    bikerbetty Guest

    Gosh, and there I was thinking a GPS was some kind of new-fangled Kwaka
    sports model or something <snigger>

    betty <running>
     
    bikerbetty, Mar 15, 2009
    #17
  18. The Happy Drunk

    alx Guest

    1. What's chalk? 2. What's a tape measure and where do I stick it?

    3. Is it really a challenge going in a straightline at a constant
    speed??

    As already mentioned, tyre diameter varies with speed. However,
    practically, the effect is minimal for the tolerances required here.

    Alternative (and IMHO...assuming RTA have an accurate "tape measure"),
    go find the 5 km speedometer test runs (Hume Highway south of
    Campbelltown or F3 freeway on way to Newcastle).

    Set the digital trip meter to zero and compare after traversing the
    5km/5000 metres. The bike speedo prob has more sig digits for the trip
    function than the odometer function.

    But again, for all practical purposes, calibrating with a GPS device
    (eg run Sports Chrono on a suitable Nokia phone with external or
    internal GPS), whilst riding in a straightline at constant speed
    shouldn't be too taxing for most post-Learner riders :)
     
    alx, Mar 15, 2009
    #18
  19. The Happy Drunk

    alx Guest

    and first one to ask which lane to use and whether inside or outside
    on curves is the Designated Daily Smart ass.
     
    alx, Mar 15, 2009
    #19
  20. The Happy Drunk

    CrazyCam Guest

    alx wrote:

    Well, I have chalk and tape measure in my garage.
    I also have a nice bit of quiet, dead end road, right outside my house.

    Recalibrating a Sigma is all of about three minutes for me.
    Depends. Have you ever tried it riding a Z50 Honda?
    <puzzled look> You are suggesting a two hour round trip for me to
    either of those options, as against three minutes, right out side my
    house? ...and the freeway isn't too flash an idea for a Z50, either.
    Aye, right.
    BTW, just so as you don't get the wrong impression, back in the early
    '90s, I was using a Sony Pyxis (IPS-360) to calibrate the speedo on my
    BMW, and I do, occasionally, cross check speedo against GPS, if I happen
    to be carrying a GPS on the bike at the time, but it isn't the preferred
    method of setting a pushie trip computer.

    regards,
    CrazyCam
     
    CrazyCam, Mar 15, 2009
    #20
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