Possesed Speedo!

[Bob T]

Went for a nice ride this weekend, and was cruising at 80mph - and thought I was doing really well at holding it at such a steady speed - who needs cruise control. Until I got to the 35mph speed limit, and the speedo informed me I was still doing 80! When I got to the parking lot and shut down, it dropped to 60 - man these bikes are fast. Even standing still! So after facing the ridicule from the HD riders we rode another 50 miles and the next time I stopped it did return to 0 mph and worked ok for the rest of the day after that. It appears that for a while the speedo acknowledged a speed increase and displayed that, but when you slow down, it was not returning. So I actually didn't do 140mph, but 80mph after an initial indicated start of 60mph... does that make sense?
AnyHoo - before I start chasing ghost bad connections and earth's (flashbacks of Prince Lucas here) - has this been experienced by anyone else and was a fix found? The other thing, which I think is unrelated, after filling with gas, the gauge takes a minute to let me know the tank is indeed full.
But the day was not a total loss, my buddy on his new HD wanted to see how fast it would go. I was riding just behind him all the way and never noticed he was really trying! He was kinda put out when I asked him if he had the chance to open it up.

 

[TURBO200R4]

in my shop i have had a couple of dodge caravans that the alternators went bad and while they were standing still engine running the speedo read about 50 mph. I think what happen was that a diode went bad and let signals get into the speed sensor. we were able to disconnect the connector going to alt. and everything returned to normal.
sounds like you got a little glitch maybe it won't happen again.

 

[Boog]

I have no info on the speedo Bob, but my fuel guage does the same thing since I got it new (Oct); it takes a few minutes for it to register full after the fill up.

 

[Bob T]

in my shop i have had a couple of dodge caravans that the alternators went bad and while they were standing still engine running the speedo read about 50 mph. I think what happen was that a diode went bad and let signals get into the speed sensor. we were able to disconnect the connector going to alt. and everything returned to normal.
sounds like you got a little glitch maybe it won't happen again.

I forgot to mention that it was still showing 60mph with the ignition off. I'm guessing the Speedo is a stepper motor and it wasn't getting the signal to show a reduction in speed.

 

[Bob T]

I have no info on the speedo Bob, but my fuel guage does the same thing since I got it new (Oct); it takes a few minutes for it to register full after the fill up.

Thanks Boog, it's not a worry as apparently the fuel gauge is only there for looks anyway. At 1/4 registered I only get 3 gallons into the tank. So I use the trip instead.

 

[ksquared]

I have no info on the speedo Bob, but my fuel guage does the same thing since I got it new (Oct); it takes a few minutes for it to register full after the fill up.

That's completely normal. It's covered in the owner's manual.

 

[Tripps]

It's the stepper motor in the speedo, I had to pull my instrument cluster in my truck and send it to Norman, Oklahoma, guy rebuilt it for $65 vs $700 for a new one at dealer.

 

[Bob T]

It's the stepper motor in the speedo, I had to pull my instrument cluster in my truck and send it to Norman, Oklahoma, guy rebuilt it for $65 vs $700 for a new one at dealer.

Good to know they can be repaired - Thanks Tripps.

 

[mexican]

Good to know they can be repaired - Thanks Tripps.

If everything else fails i know a good Catholic priest

 

[Triple Trouble]

I had the same thing happen to my Tachometer 2 years ago. Kept reading higher and higher. Switch the ignition off and back on and all was good. after about three weeks it returned to normal and has been good since.