Gps says my speedo is off
 

I have been looking through alot of threads and have noticed that people say their speedometer is not right according to their gps. Today I thought I would try and see what happens. Well, basically my speedo is off ( high )by about 5mph until I get to about 45mph then it get's off even more. At 65mph indication my gps was only reading about 58mph. This kind of sucks because I go for my road test on tuesday with a state trooper to get my licence. How could kawasaki sell this bike in the U.S.A with such a difference.

Also I have read how people are going 75-85 mph on their stock bikes. Is this the speedo or gps readout. The fastest I have ever had my bike is 72mph on the speedo. So, that's really only like 64mph. Now I know why people would ride my ass all the time. I was going to slow. My bike is stock gearing.

Yup, that's about right. 10% low. 6 mph low at 60 indicated = 54 mph actual. Pretty standard for these bikes, and many others from Japan. How could Kawi do that? Dunno. Please lodge a lawsuit against them and win a million. Guess it keeps you from speeding.

Is there any way to fix this problem. My 1979 suzuki TS100 which is an oil injected street legal 2 stoke bike is dead nuts on with my gps.

There's something called a speedo healer out there. I haven't looked into it with this bike. On my Vstrom it fixed the speedo error and moved it to the odometer -- no thanks!

Kawasaki wants us to think we are going fast. The 09s+ have an electronic speedo and still have the same error.
This amount of error would never be acceptable with a new car, so why it is for a bike, I don't know.
I don't think a speedhealer device will work on a 07 with an anolog speedo.
You could open up your speedometer and reposition the needle on the shaft.
If you make it dead on at 60, you will be within 1.5 mph between 50 - 70.
There is a thread on doing this.
I have an 09 and have been doing the -10% math as I ride. I have also found my odometer to be 10% high. So, when my bike says it has 10,000 miles on it, it will realy only have 9,000. I may get a speedhealer, as it should fix both problems.
On my 07 KLR650, the anolog speedo was 7% high, but the odometer was dead on. Have you checked your odometer?
Craig

I've had dozens of bikes in the last 40 years of all types and most if not all had speedo's that weren't correct, nothing new at all. Most were consistant enough that with a little math I knew my actual speed, no problem what so ever as long as you know your machine. As far as top speed goes I've seen an indicated 90mph on my 09 which was really just north of 80mph in real life.

Yep 4.5 mph on both bikes, I have 2 Gps's on the Honda, and they are both accurate, but the bike is slow. Which is nice, because you can do 5 over according to the spedo and still be right on. Just don't get too used to doing that and then get in your car. LOL

Yes. You can rotate the needle on the shaft to (pretty much) correct the error. It can only be made exactly right at one speed, but repositioning it will make the speedo more accurate everywhere.

I'd suggest rotating the needle to make the speedo correct at the speed you ride the most. It's been a while, but I think I set mine to be right on at 55mph.

Ron :D

How do you do this. I looked in the service manual and it says nothing about the speedo. Maybe I missed it, I will have to look again.

Here's something I found on the on the Kawasaki Voyager owners group site.
It looks like someone there found a way to correct speedometer error by replacing one of the gears in the sending unit.


Speedometer Error
Reprinted from AVA Tech Tips Manual
Get your own copy of the Manual Here!

Problem: The speedometer is in error by a plus five to six miles per hour. In other words, when it reads you are going 65 MPH, you are in reality only doing 60 MPH.
Solution: The gear located at the end of the speedometer cable has twenty-five teeth. If the number is reduced to twenty-four teeth, the speedometer will then read five to six miles and hour slower. The receiver for the speedo at the front wheel must be replaced with Kawasaki Part No. 41060-1025. You must also put in a new oil seal which is Kawasaki part No. 92049-1057.

Craig