So I went for a ride this last Saturday and was noticing that my speedometer seemed off by quite a bit. The readings seemed a good 10mph (maybe more) faster than I was really going. Are the speedometers usually off by this much, or is there something that needs adjustment?

 

It's more like a 10% offset from your actual speed. Unfortunately many motorcycles (not just Kawasaki) have really far off speedos. I know it sucks, but unless you have a bike with a speed sensor instead of a cable like your bike most likely has, there is no easy way around it. You just need to calculate in your head what the actual speed is. 50MPH=45MPH, 100MPH=90MPH and so on...

 

I just make up the difference in my head. I just drive 50 when the speed limit says 40.

 

that's weird, first time i hear of the difference in the spedo like that..... thanks for the heads up!!!

 

Kawi speedo's are known to be off. Remember now, with the speedo off your odo will be off too. Best way to get an accurate
discrepency is use a GPS. My speedo is about 10% off and the odo is off about 5 miles per 100 traveled

 

5 miles low of 5 high?

 

wo w, I had no idea. Is that done on pupose for some kinda added safty feature or something??

 

That's why when you are going "75" on the highway so many people are stillpassing you, haha.

When the bike speedo is at90mph, my GPS showed 83 mph. In normal driving (no, I am not usually aiming for 90 on the highway) - I want to go around 74-75, so I'll have the speedo to 80.

So, my speedo ishigh by 8%, most people I have talked to say there's is close to 10%. Other higher end sport bikes are off by even more most of the time.

 

It's not just Kawasaki speedos, ALL bikes err on the optimistic side, partially because they have to cover themselves legally. If they made speedos that registered SLOWER than actual, they would risk a class-action lawsuit by all the riders who got tickets that weren't their fault.
I had a Honda Superhawk that was ridiculously optimistic. At a registered 90mph, the GPS speed was 78mph. 10% overstatement is common, but it's nearly impossible to get a 100%-accurate speedometer.
Our speedometer is based on the circumference of the front tire, and that circumference will vary from tire to tire and even on how worn your front tire is! So when your front tire is new, your speedometer will be closer to accurate than when it is worn.

I put a 1-tooth LARGER front sprocket on my ZX9R, and now that speedometer is nearly GPS-accurate (at least until the rear tire is worn.)

If you're desperate to know exactly how fast you're going, you can either tape a table on your triple clamps (i.e. 5=7; 10=12; 15=18...) OR you can get a bicycle computer and mount it on your bike. Avocet and Shimano make nice ones, you can manually calibrate them to your wheel size, AND they have other features like clock, average speed, max speed, calories burnt and heart rate.

Good luck and Peace!
-Chris in Carlsbad, CA