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[ultrarnr]

On Saturday with a long straight four lane road, a GPS and cruise control I decided to make sense of the speedometer on my Ribelle. Bottom line is it reads 10% high.

So:
10 mph shown is 9 mph actual
20 mph shown is 18 mph actual
30 mph shown is 27 mph actual
40 mph shown is 36 mph actual
50 mph shown is 45 mph actual
60 mph shown is 54 mph actual
70 mph shown is 63 mph actual
80 mph shown is 72 mph actual
90 mph shown is 81 mph actual
100 mph shown is 90 mph actual
110 mph shown is 99 mph actual
120 mph shown is 109 mph actual
125 mph shown is 112.5 mph actual

I find my self generally just looking at my GPS instead of my speedometer but at least its easy to do the math if you don't have a GPS.

[Fran K]

Can you change the wheel circumference that is used for generating the speed number?

Is the mileage off the same 10% or so?

[DonTom]

On Saturday with a long straight four lane road, a GPS and cruise control I decided to make sense of the speedometer on my Ribelle. Bottom line is it reads 10% high.

So:
10 mph shown is 9 mph actual
20 mph shown is 18 mph actual
30 mph shown is 27 mph actual
40 mph shown is 36 mph actual
50 mph shown is 45 mph actual
60 mph shown is 54 mph actual
70 mph shown is 63 mph actual
80 mph shown is 72 mph actual
90 mph shown is 81 mph actual
100 mph shown is 90 mph actual
110 mph shown is 99 mph actual
120 mph shown is 109 mph actual
125 mph shown is 112.5 mph actual

I find my self generally just looking at my GPS instead of my speedometer but at least its easy to do the math if you don't have a GPS.

European bikes all read very high. Perhaps because of the speed cameras used all over Europe. 


And the worse of them all is the Energica.


USA bikes are the most accurate. Zero and HD agree to 1 MPH to my GPS.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[reini]

Is the mileage off the same 10% or so?

The mileage is correct. It looks like they are deliberately adding those 10% on the speed display alone.

[DonTom]

The mileage is correct. It looks like they are deliberately adding those 10% on the speed display alone.

I noticed that also. On all my European bikes, the odometer is accurate, the speedometer reads high, with  the Energica being the most inaccurate of any bikes I've owned.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[umrath]

European vehicles usually all read about 10 % higher than the actual speed.

The reason is very simple:
In Europe the speedometer is not allowed - under no circumstances - to display less than what you actually drive.
It is however (within reasonable limits) allowed to display more.
Due to the fact that the actual speed can in fact differ (e.g. depending on the tire wear or pressure), the manufacturers usually opt to take the save road here.

[Crissa]

How would you grow your tire by 10% tho?

-Crissa

[DonTom]

European vehicles usually all read about 10 % higher than the actual speed.

The reason is very simple:
In Europe the speedometer is not allowed - under no circumstances - to display less than what you actually drive.
It is however (within reasonable limits) allowed to display more.
Due to the fact that the actual speed can in fact differ (e.g. depending on the tire wear or pressure), the manufacturers usually opt to take the save road here.

I heard it was the same here in the USA, but USA bikes normally read no more than 1 MPH high, including Zero. Are Zeros accurate in Europe, or do they make it read high for the bikes sold in Europe?


Of my ten bikes the most inaccurate three are (in order of most inaccurate by reading too high):


1. 2020 Energica SS9.
2. Triumph Trophy SE.
3. Moto Guzzi Stelvio.
4. The three Japanese bikes (all read around 4 to 5 MPH high at freeway speeds)
5. My two Zeros (very close, 1 MPH high at the very most)
6. My HD Road Glide (right on the nose--any speed)


(I only have a GPS speedometer on my 1971 BMW)


It's obvious what the first three bikes listed above have in common.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[DonTom]

How would you grow your tire by 10% tho?

-Crissa

By changing it to a different brand.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[umrath]

Are Zeros accurate in Europe, or do they make it read high for the bikes sold in Europe?

I haven't checked my SR/F yet.
I only know that Teslas are much more accurate than the average car in Germany.

[ultrarnr]

I wonder if the speedometer error is really a marketing issue. There is no question that a top speed of 125 mph looks a lot better than a top speed of 112 mph. And it is unlikely that anyone would not buy a certain motorcycle just because the speedometer wasn't accurate. I get the speed camera issue but 2-3% should be plenty if that was the driving factor. Maybe we should be happy that Energica didn't want to claim the Ribelle had a top speed of 150 mph because they can adjust the speedometer to read whatever they want it to. Pretty sad in my opinion.

[Crissa]

How would you grow your tire by 10% tho?

By changing it to a different brand.

A 10% larger tire seems far-fetched.

And having a speedometer that is off is a safety issue.  It's you're not keeping pace with other traffic, you're more likely to get into an accident.  Not to mention if you get used to one set of speed errors, you'll ride incorrectly on a bike that's correct.

-Crissa

[Hans2183]

My SRF reads 95 when riding 100 km on dash.
The Energica SS9+ I still have to check but it for sure is a bit slower, more towards 90 km.

[Richard230]

European vehicles usually all read about 10 % higher than the actual speed.

The reason is very simple:
In Europe the speedometer is not allowed - under no circumstances - to display less than what you actually drive.
It is however (within reasonable limits) allowed to display more.
Due to the fact that the actual speed can in fact differ (e.g. depending on the tire wear or pressure), the manufacturers usually opt to take the save road here.

I heard it was the same here in the USA, but USA bikes normally read no more than 1 MPH high, including Zero. Are Zeros accurate in Europe, or do they make it read high for the bikes sold in Europe?


Of my ten bikes the most inaccurate three are (in order of most inaccurate by reading too high):


1. 2020 Energica SS9.
2. Triumph Trophy SE.
3. Moto Guzzi Stelvio.
4. The three Japanese bikes (all read around 4 to 5 MPH high at freeway speeds)
5. My two Zeros (very close, 1 MPH high at the very most)
6. My HD Road Glide (right on the nose--any speed)


(I only have a GPS speedometer on my 1971 BMW)


It's obvious what the first three bikes listed above have in common.


-Don-  Reno, NV

My Zero, Yamaha FZ1 and oddly my 2020 KTM 390 Duke (and of course my 1999 Saturn station wagon) read just 1 mph below their actual speeds. My two BMWs read about 8% faster than their actual speeds. And my cable-driven clockwork 2011 Royal Enfield's speedometer reads 5 mph fast at 35 mph and 2 mph fast at its top speed of 78 mph.  (How does it do that?)

[DonTom]

I only know that Teslas are much more accurate than the average car in Germany.

The Tesla probably uses the GPS for its speed when it can and perhaps switches to another method only when it cannot get the GPS signal(such as in a tunnel). Just a guess, I really do not know how it works in my Tesla.


-Don-  Reno, NV