Survey: Got GPS? Which speedo do you use?

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

During the long ride home from the UnRally yesterday, I became consciously aware of the fact that I almost never look to the bike's speedometer anymore. Nope, when I want to know how fast I'm going, I look at the GPS.

 

How about you?

[Firefight911]

Motorcycles come with speedometers? Who knew?

[Albert]

I virtually always do that too. To me the gps, mounted above the dash, is more convenient to scan than looking down to the gauge. I use my gps in my car and some of the rental cars I use as well and find myself doing the same thing there too. I have found that the BMW's speedo reads about 2 mph fast.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Motorcycles come with speedometers? Who knew?

 

People who see a speed trap up ahead and don't want a ticket.

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

The GPS except when changing speed. Its a bit slow to catch up.

[ERdok]

GPS

 

According to my GPS, none of my three bike's speedo's are accurate:

 

BMW: 2 over

H-D: 3 over

Triumph: 5 over

[OoPEZoO]

GPS when its on the bike. I never have it on the bike during the week when commuting, but on weekend jaunts or trips I always rely on the GPS for speed.

 

I have my 276c set up so it shows speed in the top right hand corner and that point is almost perfectly centered in my view and sits a good 6" higher than my speedo. My eyes always go to the GPS first.

[jrcarpenter]

Definately the GPS if it's on the bike, wich it is most of the time anymore.

[Bill Murray]

GPS. End of story.

[Quinn]

My speedometer; it has less glare, easier to read, and I've learned that it reads five over. Periodically I compare it to the gps while riding; about as often as I check my gear indicator, fuel and temp gauges. Then again, I also check my turn signal cancel and choke lever throughout the day just to be futzing with things while riding.

 

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[Sliplake]

Look at both depending on glare. The BMW appears to be about 3 over. Always set the cruise control from the GPS.

[Starfighter]

GPS......................

Nice big friendly numbers.............

[Firefight911]

The law is why your speedo is inaccurate. It states the speedo can read as much as 10% high but may not read low at all.

[Skywagon]

GPS only. I mounted mine underneath the shelf for no glare.. so can't actually see the bike speedometer.

[SageRider]

I use a level ground straight road as a GPS reference.

My speedometer reads 2-3 MPH high.

The GPS is inaccurate going up or down hills and through tight twisties as compared to the speedometer.

[Kathy R]

GPS

 

On the Wee, it seems the correction varies

 

Up to 35mph - matches the GPS

Up to 50mph - the bike speedo is off/low 2-3mph

Over 55mph - the bike speedo is off/low 5mph

[hopz]

GPS...

 

Not only is the speedo accurate, the arrival time is Always perfect.

When I arrive the time is always right-on... how does it do that?

[realshelby]

Speedometer!

 

I know it reads a touch fast, but I don't even have to "read" it, a quick glance and I know where it is at. In other words I don't have to focus on it, which means my eyes stay more on the road. I have learned to sense the position of the needle in the lower part of my vision without actually focusing directly on the needle. I do have a new GPS in my truck that has the "posted speed limit" displayed in it. I find myself glancing at that as it is useful going thru small towns and such. Don't bet your bank account on the speed displayed being 100% accurate but it is amazing technology. I still use a GPS unit as a map more than anything else. Altitude, time, speed, etc. have their place of course, but only a small amount of my attention goes there.

[RichEdwards]

I use my Zumo's speedometer. My speed is there on the screen, right next to the speed limit (which turns RED when I exceed the speed limit, as I often do.)

[BerndM]

My speedo on my 05 RT is always within 2 mph of the GPS, so I usually use the speedo.

The GPS (Nuvi 855) is very handy though in letting me know what the posted speed limit is (usually) incase I missed the signs.

 

[WestyLancs]

Tend to use the GPS as it's mounted above the clocks so more in line

of sight that the speedo. Tend to set cruise control with the tacho - 4000 rpm in 6th = motorway speed limit plus 'a couple', but not enough to get in hot water.

[Kitsap]

The GPS wins.

 

It's easier to read than the speedo on the bike. I have it mounted above the dash for easy visual acquisition and never remove it, even during the weekly commute.

[Whip]

I never look at the speedo on the ZUMO.

 

I use the bikes exclusively.

 

 

[K12LTS]

I got in the habit of using the GPS speedo exclusively on the K1200LT because the bike speedo was off by 10%.

 

The 09 R1200RT is more accurate than the LT, it's only fast by 2-3 mph at cruising speeds and that's acceptable.

[tallman]

Uphill I average Speedo (75%) & GPS (25%), downhill I reverse that.

Level road, into the wind, GPS 60% speedo 40%, with the wind

I reverse that.

 

If I can pass a roadside "your speed" radar display I mentally recalibrate the speedo after various speed passes and adjust percentages accordingly.

 

Of course evry 1,000 miles of wear on the tires produces a mesurable change in speed reading so you have to adjust for that too.

Helps pass the time...

[Rocer]

Guess I'm kinda an analogue kinda guy - I don't like being bracketed by digital readouts but rather see the needle working within the fore and aft range. Same goes for my watch.

 

Now for the first season with the Bugeye I first had no speedo and then when I did it was great to have the gps along to do the conversion to km/hr plus collecting data not to mention being able to read the gps screen in the dark as the instrument lights weren't sorted out yet.

 

On aRTy I tend to use the gps for some navigating and data items like ETA's. I even used it once to find the nearest gas station when I was running on vapors on a Sunday so

piloted to the larger concentration of stations in case of no Sunday hrs. But as far as using

the gps as a speedo, after the initial comparison with the bike's speedo, no.

[dirtrider]

During the long ride home from the UnRally yesterday, I became consciously aware of the fact that I almost never look to the bike's speedometer anymore. Nope, when I want to know how fast I'm going, I look at the GPS.

 

How about you?

 

Morning Mitch

 

I guess I have to agree that I almost never look at my bike’s speedometer either. In fact I have a difficult time reading it accurately with my sun glasses on.

 

On the few occasions that I do ride without a GPS I find I really miss it’s given accuracy & digital readout. I am a fast rider so really like to know exactly how fast I’m going at all times & for me the OEM speedometer just isn’t close enough.

At 100 mph indicated on my OEM speedometer I am only going 90.5 actual mph. A bit closer when I lean it over on the smaller outer part of the tire but still a long ways from accurate.

 

I suppose it depends on a persons GPS system , both of my Garmin GPS units are extremely accurate at all speeds & even under moderate tree or heavy cloud cover.

 

[Smoky]

GPS almost always.

[edbremer]

GPS, especially when riding the Big Blue Pig....that speedo is way off.

[DiggerJim]

GPS. The speedo view at my most efficient speeds is blocked by the clamp for my Contour camera

 

I'm running 2 Zumo 550s & they agree with each other on the speed but the speedo shows high by 3-5 mph depending on my efficiency.

[Haynes]

Usually the GPS.

After having the GPS on so often I know where to put the speedo needle to give me the right speeds.

[KDeline]

GPS when it is on the bike.

[mikeR1100R]

Again, GPS when mounted on the bike.

 

Going off on a bit of a tangent, I wonder how many fewer miles my bike has actually gone if the speedometer is 2 to 3 mph fast?

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Again, GPS when mounted on the bike.

 

Going off on a bit of a tangent, I wonder how many fewer miles my bike has actually gone if the speedometer is 2 to 3 mph fast?

 

The speedometer and the odometer each have their own calibration. On my 1100, the speed read about 5% high, but the odometer read only about 3% high (confirmed by both GPS and interstate highway mile markers). It might have been cause for complaint if a warranty issue came up shortly after the odometer crossed the 36,000-mile mark (at which point the bike would not have covered a true 36,000 miles), but nothing ever happened there for me, so it was kind of a moot point.

[notacop]

Both of my GPS's say the same thing. That the speedo on the bike is wrong. Why argue with majority.

[IRPUK]

I use the speedo for normal riding, the GPS for setting the cruise control.

 

Both tend to over-read; I was not doing more than the limit honest officer

[Selden]

GPS

 

On the Wee, it seems the correction varies

 

Up to 35mph - matches the GPS

Up to 50mph - the bike speedo is off/low 2-3mph

Over 55mph - the bike speedo is off/low 5mph

I've noticed that in my car, where it's a little easier to compare the two. 50-60, the car and GPS speedometer are very, very close; above 70, the car reads about 0.3 mph low (I just fitted slightly oversize tires, so the car speedometer/odometer is pretty much dead on). I've always known that the R1100RT speedometer optimistic. Interestingly, on both vehicles, the odometer is more accurate than the speedometer (about 0.5% low on the car; 3.5% high on the bike).

 

Because it logs highest speed, the GPS tends to keep me more aware when I exceed....

[Selden]

The speedometer and the odometer each have their own calibration. On my 1100, the speed read about 5% high, but the odometer read only about 3% high (confirmed by both GPS and interstate highway mile markers).

My experience exactly. Honda (auto) got hit with a class action lawsuit several years ago because odometers in some models were ~10% optimistic, which meant that cars were going out of warranty much faster than they should have.

[Foot]

I use GPS because it's more in my line of sight than my bike speedo.

[Dave Glen]

I don't have a GPS although I have checked my speedo with one. I prefer to be not where I should be some of the time, travelling is more interesting. We have extremely tough speed laws with a 3 klm above the speed limit max. allowance. I set my cruise with the tacho and then hold down the computer button for a couple of seconds while on average speed setting. This scrolls the reading but it settles down in a couple of hundred metres. This speed is within .5klm of true (as checked by the GPS on a long dead straight road).

 

Regards

 

dave THE bastard

[TrickLidz]

GPS- it's right there,easier to see and accurate!

[Kinsley]

I really don't pay much attention to either, I just ride what feels right for the road and conditions unless I'm coming into an area where i might have a radar experience, then it's usually the speedo.

I have data fields on the GPS filled with ETA, Distance to Turn, Elevation, etc.

[RockBottom]

No Speedo for me.