Km speedo?

[iwannadie]

so when i bought my bike it was from canada(im in the us). the guy said he put gauge inserts in to make it show mph rather than spend the cash on new gauges. now that seemed all fine well and good. but im wondering how accurate that is now?

i was doing the speed limit 45mph and a cop was behind me, we were in traffic and everyone was passing me. which of course felt like i was going slower than everyone else when they should be doing the same speedlimit. i dont want a cop to think im going slow on their account.

[harrye]

Do you have a freeway nearby with mileposts (markers)? If you do, then run the mile at 60 mph and it should take one minute. Measure the actual time and calculate the variance.

If you know the distance from one location to another, you can determine your speed by timing yourself at a steady speed. On a straight stretch of highway without stoplights from one crossroad to another, a city map might tell you the distance between the two points.

Otherwise get someone in another vehicle to ride near you at your pace and see what their speedo reading was.

[The CyberPoet]

There are a few of things that can affect the speedo reading on the 98+ Kats, including:

Sprocket tooth counts (anything off 15/47 will change the reading);
Rear tire size (anything off a 150/70ZR17 will change the reading). As will tire wear & tire growth, and even brand (different 150/70's have different actual sizes).

Additionally, there is a certain degree of over-reporting built into the system for legal reasons (all vehicles).

Simple way to figure it out:
Ask a traffic cop to clock you with his radar gun. Most will be cool about it if you explain it.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[iwannadie]

There are a few of things that can affect the speedo reading on the 98+ Kats, including:

Sprocket tooth counts (anything off 15/47 will change the reading);
Rear tire size (anything off a 150/70ZR17 will change the reading). As will tire wear & tire growth, and even brand (different 150/70's have different actual sizes).

Additionally, there is a certain degree of over-reporting built into the system for legal reasons (all vehicles).

Simple way to figure it out:
Ask a traffic cop to clock you with his radar gun. Most will be cool about it if you explain it.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

everything is stock except the inserts over the gauges.... oh well id rather go slow with no ticket, if people start passing me to much i just gun it and thats that ;p

[WildKat]

yeah just be careful with that, "just gun it and thats that" cuz when the cop stops you make sure he gives the readout on his radar gun,

[Mojoe]

Simple way to figure it out:
Ask a traffic cop to clock you with his radar gun. Most will be cool about it if you explain it.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

+1 to that. I have done it twice so far because i doubted my speedo accuracy. bothe time the cops were more than willing to clock me. every spring the cops set up a gun in the wal-mart parking lot close to here and you can go verify your speedometer. they do it for like 2-3 weekends. call your local popo and ask if they have something similar in your area.

on another note, i just bought a new guage cluster off ebay for my kat cuz the speedo wasn't working. i was worried it would be mph only...which is ok cuz i can convert in my head easy enough....but it is still illegal. kph has to be there. the one i got from the states....texas to be exact, has both mph and kph.

[katanapat]

Well, i haven't ridden my new kat yet, but ask someone to post what speed they're at at a certain rpm in a certain gear. As long is they're bike is in relatively the same condition/setup as yours is you should have a good idea. Do you have any of those automated radar signs that say 'your speed is' in school zones where you are? I got one to register 153 km/h once (long story, my buddy towed the sign to an open stretch of road, lol). Cheers

[iwannadie]

i usually cruise in 6th gear at 4k rpms i think might be just under 4k closer t0 3800k which keeps me at 50mph indicated.