Andrew

I just installed a speedo hub from the R1100R. It has a 2.875 ratio, compared to the 3.0 ratio stock on the Oilhead GS. The changeover is quick, under 15 minutes including cleaning your hands afterwards. Bottom line: it works just fine, and my speedometer is now *much* more accurate.

Here are some data for 6th gear:

Tires: Metzler Tourance
38.5 rear, 35.5 front, cold pressures

With 3.0 speedo hub,
3000 RPM 65 mph indicated, 60.8 actual, 6.9% error
3500 RPM 75 mph indicated, 70.0 actual, 7.1% error
4000 RPM 85 mph indicated, 79.2 actual, 7.3% error

With 2.875 speedo hub,
3000 RPM 62 mph indicated, 61.2 actual, 1.3% error
3500 RPM 71 mph indicated, 70.0 actual, 1.4% error
4000 RPM 80 mph indicated, 79.0 actual, 1.3% error

I used a Magellan 315 GPS on flat straight sections of freeway at steady throttle to allow the GPS time to settle. Obviously, my data collection technique is imperfect, it's hard to read the analog speedometer and the digital GPS at the same time while avoiding trucks and SUVs. The GPS is only accurate at steady speeds on straight roads.

The part number from BMW is 62 12 2 306 532. Maybe you'll find it for less than I paid... but it's worth it for peace of mind.

Now I'm happy, a 1.4% error is much better than a 7% error. If I were buying a new GS, I would demand that the dealer include the speedo hub from the old Roadster in the package, out the door. It's absurd that BMW gets away with selling bikes with inaccurate speedometers.

--
- andrew, Berkeley, '87 R80, '00 R1150GS
- "Moto per Mangiare, Mangiare per Moto"

__________________

Marc

Andrew,

Good stuff! Thanks for the write-up, comparisons and part numbers. When I'm in the dealer next week getting some warranty work done, I'll pick up the speedo hub and get to renchin'.

Marc

__________________
"...this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation." -- President George W. Bush

01 R1150GS (Titan Silver)

moon

Andrew,

Did you collect any data regarding the odometer? Is it safe to assume that the odometer is off by the same degree of [in]accuracy? Or is it possible that fixing the speedo might cause the odometer to be off.

-joe

__________________
Y2K R1150GS
<font color="silver"> Losing your mind makes it harder to find.</font>

PaulG

Andy, I checked with my local supplier an they said
"Unfortunately the ratio you have quoted works like this:
62122306287 ( BMW part No ) fits spoked wheels on the R1100R and the R1100GS, the ratio is 3.0 = 1
62122306532 ( BMW part No ) fits R1100R only cast wheel and is has a ratio of 2.875 = 1
This means you won't achieve the ratio you require if you fit the speedo drive to a GS. :mad:
how did you do it m8, and with which bit?

moon

I wish I had read this before I ordered the $50 part last week. Andy, are you out there? How about answering some of our inquiries?

I did a little experiment on the highway watching mile markers to try and answer my own question. The odometer *is* off by what seemed to be the same amount. I don't have any hard figures though.

John™

All y'all just quit listening to your dealers and pay attention to the real experts here on ADVrider! Andy is right on with this one. The part he quoted is the same as the stock RT and various other bikes. The one our bike came with is listed in the parts fiche as the one for RT's fitted as authority bikes (ie police). I did the transplant this weekend (took about 11 minutes) and my speedo is now about 1% off. If that means my odo is a little slow, so what. I'll check it tonight, but I don't think it is gonna matter to me at all.

Oh, and the 2.875 ratio drive fits the GS nicely in place of the original 3.0. It is so nice having a working speedo. And warrantied, too!

John Menefee

__________________
RE: Hedge69 - Because, doofus - with the exception of that monstrous cock of yours, most of them are simply too small.


"enough time has passed so that historical facts can be ignored" - Jimmy Carter

Andrew

> 62122306532 ( BMW part No ) has a ratio of 2.875

Yes, that's the right part, and the one I noted originally, see post at top. Joe, I hope that's also the part you ordered... it works just fine. I didn't take any meaningful odometer data, but I can report that my mileage seems to have dropped, which would be in line with a more accurate odometer, assuming the old one was telling me more miles than I had actually ridden.

I still say, do this fix, get the 2.875 ratio speedo hub for a spoked wheel R1100R, and enjoy a speedo with less than 2% error.

Andrew

I should add that all dealers I've run this past have been very snotty about it. They flat out refuse to acknowledge that it's a problem, or that there might be a fix.

Plenty of snotty riders, too, who just huff about putting a GPS over their Speedo. Well, the speedo hub fix is cheaper than a GPS, and doesn't have the sampling lag that any GPS will have to show current speed.

I would not buy a new bike from a dealer without this speedo hub included in the out-the-door price.

moon

I've been using my GPSIII+ to measure speed since I bought the bike. The only problem[s] I've found are when riding through tunnels or at night. I've never been able to switch the backlight on while riding with gloves on. So when the sun goes down I have to switch to using the console speedometer.

I'm looking forward to trying out the fix.

PaulG

Cheers Andrew, Looks like I'll have to go for it, thanx for the reply m8 :): :):

jocflier

Hey all;

Just a little information that i was given this morining.I ordered my unit last Wed. the 5th..The unit was not in the U.S. but the homeland and would not be here for a couple of more weeks...So if you order one; don't look for it for a least 4 weeks...

Unless my dealer is giving me the old run around..


Rick

moon

I got a call from the dealer this morning with the same news. So I guess the word is out about the fix.

Scary Mc

While my bike my 1150 was in the shop this week for it's continuing overheating problem the tech installed the new speedo hub. It works great!!! Just a bit over 1% off the actual GPS measured speed.

Thanks for the research Andrew!

Later- Scary Mc

moon

I went in and picked up my new speedo hub the other day (part #62-12-2-306-532) and BMW of Denver installed it for free. The place is growing on me. On the ride home I used the reading of my GPSIII+ to check the speedometer accuracy. At 50mph (according to GPS) the speedo read 52. At 25 it read 26. So I'm getting an error ratio of about 4%. This isn't as good as the 1 or 2% others have seen but it still beats the 10% error I was getting before. So I guess in this case YMMV.

Unless my GPS is off. Anybody got a fix for that? :):

Re: the odometer it was hard to tell over a short distance on the highway but the mile markers seemed to come up a lot closer to what was indicated on the GPS. But no exhaustive research was done and it's been way cold here lately.

Andrew

>At 50mph (according to GPS) the speedo read 52. At 25 it read 26.
>So I'm getting an error ratio of about 4%. This isn't as good as the
>1 or 2% others have seen but it still beats the 10% error I was
>getting before. So I guess in this case YMMV.

Joe, I think the difference here is that your speedo was off by 10% to start with. Mine was off by 7% or so, and my error is now just over 1%. I think the Roadster speedo hub is a definite improvement, but it will only reduce the error, not eliminate it.

Joe and I have the same tires (Tourances) and ride them at almost the same pressures, so his speedometer being off 10% while mine was off 7% shows sloppy manufacturing tolerances as well as a bad attitude on the part of BMW.

But I'm a happy rider these days... accurate speedo, nice Pro-Taper bars, a purring motor and the roads just beckon to come ride them.

- andrew

moon

Awesome analysis of the facts, Andrew. You're right. That would account for the difference. I'm sure I could send my speedometer out somewhere for adjustment. I don't think that that's worth pursuing. Even I'm not that obsessive.

Gerg

Andrew, If your speedo reads BETWEEN 65 and 70, how fast are you going (without reading you GPS):
It's called estimating :):

For testing accuracy,most put the spedo on a given spedo setting (55, 60, 70, 80) then read the GPS. When doing and indicated 55 I'm going 50 on my GPS...~ 10%.

New spedo drive is on the list of "things to do" but a Valentine Radar Detector might be first

Greg

Ken

I solved the problem too... it's called a newly installed gps!!! yes!!! Take that BMW!!!

Marc

I odered one of the R1100R Speedo Hubs (62122306532) along with the 3.2 final drive that I've been blabbering about in another thread. Before it gets here, I decided to do a little measuring. Here's what I got:

1). 36.0 GPS miles = 37.85 Odometer miles. (5.14% difference)

2). 60.0 GPS MPH = 64 Speedo MPH. (6.67% difference)

All measurements were taken on a flat, straight freeway with no obstructions to hinder GPS reception. I was able to get to 60.0 GPS MPH and hold it for about ten seconds listening for constant engine RPM - then observe the speedo. I did this several times and consistently saw 64 MPH.

Interestingly, the Speedometer is "more off" than the Odometer! Once I receive and install the new speedo hub, I'll post my "After" data. As Eric said earlier - it will be very nice to have a BMW with a reasonably accurate speedometer...

Marc

eap

Hi Marc - any results yet? Now that the warm weather is here and I'm not preoccupied with keeping warm while riding I'm ready to look into this annoyance.

Anyone have knowledge of the "YELLOW BOX" $100 fix? http://www.blackrobotics.com/inst.htm .

__________________
----------------------
eap '01 R1150GS, Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Surf your watershed
Save the Bewbies

Andrew

Greg old valley-dweller,

If you look at my original post, I showed indicated speeds of 65, 75, and 85 mph and compared those with the readings from the GPS. I purposefully read them when the needle was atop an indicator, no mental math required. Once I tested with the GPS, it was really hard to see any difference between indicated and GPS speed.

But to your point, it's no big task to estimate the value between two markers, we do it all the time. The thing I don't (didn't, heh...) want to do was first estimate the indicated speed and then do a quick calibration on that to get the 8% correction.

Does it really matter? You know when you're going into a corner too fast, like that tricky section below Isabella where the tight downhill curves get you gripping the seat with your clenched buttocks. No need to look at the speedo there. It's just, for me, peace of mind to know exactly how fast I'm going.

Sounds like the fix is working for other riders, I guess I'm not the only one.

etonline

I assume all this testing was done on GS's none Adventures correct?

Any thoughts on corrections for the Adventure?

markgsnw

has anyone looked into having a speedometer shop recalibrate their speedometer?


Mark

temoore

I have heard good things about Palo Alto Speedometer. The following link takes you to the BMW R11 area.

http://www.paspeedo.com/bmw93.htm

Andrew

Anyone who put a 2.875 speedo hub on their GS, I'm curious what change, if any, you've noticed on indicated distance. How has the change affected your odometer readings? And how measured?

Fyrmd

Shouldn't this be a required repair under warranty? If the speedometer is off, then the odometer is probably off as well. This would make your warranty expire earlier than it should possibly constituting fraud.

Marc

This has been tried. They claim their spec is +/- 10% (the 10% always seems to fall in their favor). Of course, that would never fly with their 7-series. Bastages. So, to make it "fair" - when you get to 33,000 miles on the odo, unplug the cable and ride for a few months. Then, when you figure you're at the "real" 33,000 or so, plug it back in and keep riding. That will even out the unfair advantage. You trust them, right? It's time for them to start trusting us!

MPM

bcum1

I think that you hit this one on the head , that BMW can off tollerances on the hub is BS. I think that It has got to be predetermined to be off by as much 10 % .
My dealer says that BMW will honor most all slightly expired waranty fixes depending on the problem.
I dont have any waranty left as I ride a 95 GS , is this part also a fix on my ride ???
RE:
I cant believe I just found out about this great tread, Thanks..

Timberwoof

The speedometer indicates with a mechanism that is independent of how the odomoeter works. The speedo works by spinning a magnet and letting it drag a little steel cup that the pointer is attached to. The tightness of the return spring affects this. The odo works by turning counter-wheels directly connected to the cable. The speedo and odo can be off from each other.

For example, my R1100GS's speedo is off by a constant of +5MPH. IOW 60MPH indicated is 55MPH actual. The odometer is as accurate as my GPS was.

When calculating speedmeter error, consider the offset constant as well as the error factor. While my GS was off by a constant 5MPH, my Honda Civic's speedo is off by a factor of +3%. Remember y=mx+b from high school algebra? m is the factor and b is the offset. You need both. It's easiest of you graph the data ... and hope you get a straight line.

The government mandates how much error speedometers can have; IIRC, they can't read too slow, but can read too fast. So the +/-10% line is crap. Speedos can read up to +10%.

Marc

Well, I finally got off my ass and put the damn thing on. For the benefit of you visual learners out there, here's how to put the speedo hub in yourself! Hey, if I could do it, so can you - it's real easy and you can save yourself a buck or two. (Retard tip: be sure to read the Nm scale - NOT the foot-pound scale when using the toruqe rench!) Ready? Here we go.

1). Here's a picture of the tools you'll need. A Touque rench, a Phillips screwdriver, a ratchet, a 6mm Hex socket, an 8mm hex socket, a 17mm normal socket and a hammer for me to hit stuff with (you prolly won't need the hammer). I didn't have Molykote paste - you should. I did find time for 2x beer.

---

2). Here's the new speedo hub complete with part number (2 306 532):

---

3). Take your 8mm hex socket and remove the bolts holding on the brake calpiers (4x):

---

4). Get your 17mm socket and remove the retaining screw thing (1x):

---

5). Get your 6mm hex socket and loosen the clamping screws (2x). I took mine all the way out - you don't have to:

---

6). Remove the axle:

---

7). The spacer falls on the ground:

---

8). Thar be the offensive, inaccurate part:

---

9). Here's how to take it off - reverse the procedure to put the new part on:

---

10). Slide the axle back on. If you have the Molykote, here's where you should coat the axle with it. Be sure to put the spacer on first... Tighten the axle nut (1x) to 30 Nm per the manual:

---

11). Tighten the retaining screws (2x) to 22 Nm per the manual:

---

12). Slide the calipers back into place. Tighten the caliper screws (4x) to 40 Nm per the manual:



You're done. And so am I. I'm going out for a ride to see how accurate this thing is now. Follow-up measurements soon - it's a nice day and I probably won't be back for a few hours. See ya!

Marc

bcum1

Ok It sounds easy nuff, wrench tarts take notice I know I will.
Keep us posted dood

Marc

Well, here's the "poop" on my pre- and post- speedo hub swap. Just to be sure numbers were accurate, I checked the cold tire pressure with the same gauge (40 PSI spot-on) both times. So, is it worth it? Well, the odometer is now almost perfect. The speedo, on the other hand, is still off by 4%. Well, it's better than it was. Considering it was ~$50.00 plus a bit of time...for me - yes. For someone else, maybe not. You make the call.

That's about it. Good luck.

Marc

fish

Outstanding documentation of your modification, Marc. You should get pui more often...you're quite productive the next day.

So it seems that the easiest and cheapest thing to do would be to do nothing, and keep watching your GPS. Thanks for the info!

__________________
FYYFF

Said Ellsworth: "I may have fucked my life up flatter than hammered shit, but I stand here before you today beholden to no human cocksucker."

Said fish: Flug's like an idiot savant...minus the savant part.

kevbo

A shop safety moment, re. the first photo:

Use a carpenter's (claw) hammer only for driving nails. The faces of such hammers are hardened (*) and can shatter violently if they strike a hard bolt, axle shaft, or even a punch. My dad carried a shrapnel scar on his gut from exactly such an event.

Ball or cross-peen hammers have soft faces so that they don't shatter, but can still splinter if allowed to mushroom.

*at least the higher quality ones, so that they maintain a rough ground finish which helps prevent nails from bending

__________________
Sincerity is the most important thing. Once you learn to fake that, the rest is easy.

eap

Ditto, ditto, and ditto:):
Ditto to

DohTo -except that a GPS costs way more than $50
Ditto

Ditto

Javarilla

Too bad Marc did all that work to a silver bike. Now, if he'd done this to a yella bike, it'd really been worth the effort!


Nice visual doc, Marc. Almost as good as being there and drinking the beer while I watch!

Cheers,
Javarilla

Robert3826

This will add confusion to the issue…
I went to the BMW dealer yesterday to complain about the speedometer error. The service manager said he has heard this complaint many times and said BMW would not fix it because they “designed” it that way. He did say the fix would be to put in a new speedometer drive.

He said the one I needed was BMW part # 6212230678 (2.6 Ratio). He went to the phone, had a short conversation, and came back. He said the new drive unit would arrive in the morning.

The cost… Retail cost was $49.25 He said his cost was about $20.00. What I can tell you is he charged under $15.00 for the unit because I am such a great guy… (And I bought my bike from him only 8 months ago).

It did arrive overnight. I picked it up and installed it. I mounted the GPS and went for the test ride.

It appears that the speedometer is now nearly exact (speed). It is difficult to tell because we are comparing analog to a digital GPS. The speedometer now only appears to read .5 to 1 mph high.

Lesson: learned:
1. Some dealers do know what they are talking about (some do not).
2. My BMW dealer is the best.
3. The 2.6 Ratio drive worked perfect for me. (#62122306078).

Ride safe all!

Rob Nordlund

TigerJimmy

I noticed an interesting thing about my 00 R1150GS.

The speedo is inaccurate, like other people's, but in 6th gear the tach is amost 100% accurate as a speedometer -- if you double it. 2000 RPMs = 40 mph, 3750 RPMs = 75mph, etc. That doubling thing is really no big deal once you learn how to "reinterpret" the tach.

In high gear I don't use the speedo any more.

Obviously, that doesn't work in any other gear. Duh.

Forgive me if this is a stupid or obvious post.

Jim

__________________
Jim
'00 R1150GS
'72 R75/5
'65 R60

lpmb

Um... why does it matter ?????

I've just done 5500 miles on the bike, stock Speedo and GPS.... It never much concerned me whether I was doing 55 or 50.... 75 or 80 for that matter. I just don't really see the problem --- there are so many other things on the bike that require attention --- windshield, poor hand protectors, flimsly luggage mounts, pig-in-the-dirt handling etc.

I just always find it interesting that there are people out there who would expend enormous amounts of energy fixing small problems... not a criticism, just an observation --- not my style I guess.... hell, I'm still worried about the economy.

LPMB.

fish

That's consistent with the pics you posted a while back of that horribly accessorized GS in NYC. I'm still not sure what problems he solved, but he spent a lot of money doing it. Do what you want, eh?

chadhargis

I wouldn't consider $50 a huge amount of money for a BMW speedo drive. It's an easy fix, and it works well. My speedo is still about 2.5mph fast, but that's my safety margin. Mine was more than 5mph off BTW.

__________________
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'06 Buell XB12X Ulysses - "Loud Fans Save Lives"
'06 Honda Goldwing - "Loud Stereos Save Lives"
Nashville, TN

twinrider

Shit, I consider the 7% error a nice safety margin against speeding tickets, kind of like setting your watch ahead 5 minutes. And I'll feel all the more like a GP God if the speedo says I'm doing 85 mph around a tight bend, even if I know its really only 78

TR

impi

I'm confused. Which is the correct ratio ? the 2.87 or the 2.6 ?

__________________
"Impi"
'05 BMW R1200GS
'05 KTM 450 EXC
IBA# 14443
_____________________

impi

I'm confused. Which is the correct ratio ? the 2.87 or the 2.6 ?

Andrew

2.875. Look back through the thread for the BMW part number.

BUBB

Well my speedo seems to be about 7% off also. My main gripe is my warranty is going to be up 7% early!

Just doesn't seem fair....

twinrider

Hook up a Sigma cycle computer, then disconnect your regular speedo for a few thousand miles. That will even things out warranty-wise.

__________________
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....................,/¯../
.................../..../
............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\
........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
.........\.................'...../

K2R

I'm confused. Which is the correct ratio ? the 2.87 or the 2.6 ?

__________________
Lodewyk
Impi
'02 1150GS - Black
'90 R100GS Paris Dakar - White/Red
____________________________

=====================

I'm going to pick up my front wheel today and will try to check on the 6212230678 part. Seems 2.6 is quite a bit off from the 2.875.

__________________
Bill
'01 Blue/White R1150GS

Harpeaux

BMW P/N 62122306532 (2.875 ratio)

Harpeaux

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Iron Butt Member #12512

Yes I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.

Grok

Yup,
And ainchoo hurtin' yer gas mileage too?

__________________
"Sixth gear? We don't need no steenking sixth gear!" - Willoutlaw

BUBB

Well I suppose, the money I'm savin' on gas will make up for the shortened warranty. I feel better allready.

Maybe I should go for 10% off? Think that would be greedy?

R-dubb

I tried the 2.6. Didn't like it at all. The speedo was pesimistic by 5%(showing a slower speed than I was traveling, read 50 at a true 53mph . Not good.

The 2.87 is just about right, reading about 50 at a true 48mph. I'm very happy with that.


R-dubb

Grok

I dunno, we do need to conserve energy.

TWK

I ordered the part # listed (62122306532)...it is marked 2.9 on the hub.
Is this another case of BMW mis-matching parts and part numbers, or is what you have been referring top as 2.87 stamped with a 2.9 designation?
TIA

__________________
TK

R-dubb

Yes, same part, a rounding error, as the actual ratio is one gear divided by the other, mine is stamped 2.9 also.


R-dubb

K2R

Thanks for clearing that up.

Harpeaux

My 2.875 is stamped 2.9 as well. Sumbitch works good though....

Harp

webfootrider

Any thoughts on this yet?

R-dubb

Yeah.....The Adventure uses the same front wheel and there is only a small difference in profile between street tires and knobs.

I'm sure they use the same speedo and hub. So, they are the same. Not really a lot to think about.


R-dubb

TonyA

Fair question. Here's one answer.

I love to ride, and my GS loves to be ridden fast. Thing is, I don't love to get speeding tickets. That's a conflict that needs to be managed about every 2 seconds or so.

With a big speedo error, I'm less sure how fast I'm going. So sometimes I'll be riding slower than I can (get away with). With a smaller speedo error, there will be fewer times that I'm several mph below the limit.

That delivers 2 benefits to me:

:eyelashes Mrs. Bluehair Cruise Control Buick will not creep up behind me as often. Remember that she has a speedo that is 4% optimistic, the same as that new 2.875 drive gear that's in the mail to me as I write.

Mr. Amphetamine-snacking 18-wheeler is still going to pass me, but his approach speed will be smaller.

- Tony A.
'04 1150 GS

impi

I ended up fitting the 2.875 - The odo is pretty much spot on, the speedo is much closer, the difference at 75 mph is now only about 1-2mph - better than the 5+ I had to put up with initially.

impi

Anyone have any idea what the ration on the R1150GS Police edition is ? I figure that one would be pretty close if not spot on.

Clif Port

Asked my dealer about the Police GS speedo drive, Impi, and he had a mechanic just back from school who said they were told that the police speedo is different, and uses its own drive with a different ratio. So you have to buy a matched drive & speedometer and they don't sell them to civilians. Guess we unwashed masses can't be trusted with accurate data concerning our groundspeed.

impi

We'll just have to see about that... now where did I put the details of that Nigerian BMW Bike dealer .....

chrisell

This is all very complicated and expensive. I prefer my method of measuring the actual speed by GPS then sticking a small white stick-backed-plastic triangle to the face of the speedo glass in the right place.
Works for me and it's 100% accurate. Well - as accurate as my eyeballs, the needle and the face of the speedo glass

__________________
Chris Longhurst.
R1150GS.
(but wants Honda to bring Varadero and AT to America)

Harpeaux

Chris,

Doesn't cure the odometer problem though.

The dirve is only about 40 bucks.

H

Randy

mine is stamped 2.9 too but don't work so good. just got around to borrowing a gps unit this past weekend and checked it out before and after the switch. can't rmember exact numbers but it was roughly 7 mph high at 70mph before and now it's about 5mph high after the switch. i guess mine was off by more than the norm originally. i was hoping to bring it down to around 1-2 mph high.

i wonder if it has anything to do with front tire selection. i have bridgestones on it now. maybe when i replace them with tourances the circumference will be a little greater therefore bringing the actual speed up a little closer to indicated. anybody have any experience with this issue?

__________________
"Life is too short to do anything other than that about which you are absolutely passionate"

Randy

TonyA

I installed the 2.875 drive yesterday. The swap takes exactly takes one hour if you have to hunt through an auto parts store to find that the 6mm and 8mm allen drives have all been sold, then go next door to the hardware store and find they don't have any packaged singly, then hunt through their socket sets to finally find a cheap one that includes the 6 and 8; then hunt through the other pieces in the set you just bought when you find that the brake calipers are held on with Torx bolts instead of hex sockets; then do the actual job and when you're finally done, scrub the moly off the fingers.

I ran a short odometer test but it needs to be redone on a longer, straighter line. A GPS cuts corners of a curved course because it calculates the distance from one point to the next and they might be 2 seconds apart.

Here's the speedo check results.

TonyA

Reads 1 mph high for each 25 mph.

Attached image

 

Harpeaux

Randy,

Mine was about 7 MPH high to start with as well. I now read about 3 mph high at 80. The odometer is much closer, less than 1% error. I'm running Tourances, so a change for you may make a difference if there is a significant variation in sidewall height.

Harpo

Randy

i feel your pain but for those planning the swap, you don't really need to remove the calipers. i was planning to but then realized that i don't have the torx drives to do so. i found that all you need to do is remove the front axle and let the wheel drop down to the floor and roll it forward. there is enough clearance with the calipers in place to get the wheel far enough forward to replace the speedo drive. takes less than 10 min including reinstalling the wheel and tightening all the bolts to proper spec.

Randy

i can't remember exactly how much off mine was originally and the stretch of slab i used for testing wasn't perfectly flat or straight so my readings were probably a bit off on the gps. i didn't document anything as i already had the new drive (got it when i got the bike) and was planning the swap so i just did a quick check to see what it was doing before and after the swap. i think it was about 7 high at 70 which is 10%. i do know though that now it reads ~5mph high at 70mph. that's still about 7% error. i guess it is a little better but was it worth the $? by my calculations i would need a 2.7 ratio drive to get a 10% reduction from stock and get it right on the money. but then if i went with a slightly higher tire profile i would be reading low so, oh well. i can live with the error but i was hoping for a little better. i checked my ford f250 mon. and it's about 3mph high at 70. if i had my own gps i would check all of my bikes just for kicks. i'm sure they are all off by a bit.

Harpeaux

Randy,

I'm really surprised that you're not getting any better performance after the odo drive swap. BMW makes a 2.6 drive, which I tried on mine, but it was significantly more under reality than the 2.875 was over reality. You might want to give it a try. I believe the P/N is 6212230678.

Good luck!

Randy

well, after thinking about it and doing a little math, i'm not. the difference btween the stock 3.0 and the 2.875 drives is only a little over 4% which at 70mph is only a reduction of around 2.8mph which is probably pretty close to what i got. the 2.6 would be about a 13% reduction which would be aorund 9.3mph which would put me under-reading by a couple of mph. by the numbers i would need a 2.7 to get it spot on but i'm not aware of that option being available so i'll just live with it. 5mph isn't really that big of a deal. but if i had thought about it first and realized that it was only going to make a 2.8 mph difference i probably would have saved the money. not really worth the ~$50 to me.

iillyyaa

Hm... Once installed, it can be adjusted on the fly... This might be a good thing to use for those who are alternating between 19" and 21" front wheels. Because the speedo is mechanically driven, I imagine you'd have to get into some serious rewiring close to the speedo itself, if it is even possible... I noticed that they listed "All BMW Motorcycles" in the compatibility section, so hopefully they tried it before.

So, anyone here tried one of these? I'm curious as well.
--
Ilya

__________________
'02 BMW R1150GS/Adv.
'00 Aprilia RSV Mille
'99 ATK 260LQ
'98 KTM 400RXCe
'99 Suzuki SV650 LRRS #760

Too Many Toys

The yellow Box appears to be for electronic speedos, not good old cable-driven units like the GS has. Am I right on this?

__________________
TMT

If I wanted to stop and smell the roses, I would have rode to the flower shop.

'05 R1200GS (non-ABS)
'04 Triumph Thruxton
'04 Honda 250X
'03 Kawasaki KLR650
'03 Yamaha TTR125L Mini-Motard
'61 Lambretta Li125

iillyyaa

I just looked the microfiche for the GS, and it does indeed appear that the speedo is "mechanical" all the way. The speedometer cable connects directly to the speedometer gauge, thereby excluding any possibility of electonic intervention. Sorry for false alarm on this one - I thought that the cable might be connected to a signal generator in the dash that was then electronically wired to the speedo. Apparently, that is not so.

Then I guess I'll get the 2.875 hub. BTW, it appears that if you adjust for the added diameter of the tire, the 3.0 hub should be almost exactly accurate for the 21" front wheel conversion, to within 5%.
--
Ilya

sinanozgen

I have a BMW R 850 R with spoke wheels, a civil police bike, with 18 inch front wheel...



It shows app. %10 more speed and kilometer when I compare with my fiends bikes (sorry I don't have a GPS). The speedo hub is 3.0 (It was a police bike but there is no police speedo 2.8).

In the ETK (the spare parts program of BMW), it said that; for all GS and for spoke wheels model of R version the 3.0 speed hub is the original spare part. For the police bikes with spoke wheels 2.8 speedo hub is suggested for perfect measuring.

2.6 speedo hub is the part of aluminum cast wheels of R and RT.

Sinan Ozgen
Berlin-Istanbul

2Laud 2Bro

Different option for speedo fix.

Changed 7% speedo error to 1% by putting on a taller front tire. GPS verified.

Metzeler ME880 is a bias ply vs Tourance radial and should give better mileage for tarmac.
Front 110/90-19
Rear 160/70 B17

profwacko

I ordered the 62122306532 speedo drive from the Chicago BMW website yesterday.

They showed the msrp as $44.xx and I got it for $35.something.

Phlegm at Eleven.

__________________
Ride well. Ride Safe.
WEAR YOUR GEAR!!
-Jack Price
03 R1150GS
01 R1100S (sold)
01 KTM Duke (for sale, Cobra kit coming)

Trixie

sinanozgen:


I keep hearing about this bloody ETK, yet still can't locate one- how do you find this parts list? no luck on Ebay, or other online searching to date.

__________________
----------------------------------------------------

Wow. That's the closest I've ever been to one without licking it. -Lobby

I only missed it by a million... -Ken

iillyyaa

I just did a search on eBay for "BMW ETK" and came up with a shitload of matches. Looks like someone isn't doing their homework...

Randy

ok, so just what is this "ETK"? is it a fiche on CD type of thing? guess i'l try ebay to see how much they are.

followed the link above and they all appeared to be for BMW autos. not bikes

i've always liked having my own fiche/parts book. makes ordering the correct part much simpler, especially over the phone. my KTM came with two parts books, engine and chasis. it doesn't have a price list but being able to quote a part number to my parts guy is much more foolproof than hoping he understands my description, over the phone, and then picks out the correct part from his book.

Trixie

Bah!



I did a search yesterday in motors, and got nothing...


Thanks for the link.

next week, I'm shopping for air compressors- please have your recommendation ready

iillyyaa

They have both. I'm sure that some of the auction descriptions say that.

Giles Wemmbley Hogg

I fitted an IMO from Touratech. Magnet bolt replaced one of the ABS ring bolts. Sensor mounted on an ally plate near the ABS sensor. Calibrated on a local authority measured mile and is precisely correct. I only have to check it occasionally to adjust for tyre wear.
It has the added bonus of working out daily-annual-trip mileage. Miles to next service. Road book functions as well as revs, engine and ambient temp. Oh and fuel consumption.
If you love gadgets you`ll love this.

Attached image

 

sinanozgen

ETK: Elektronik Teil Katalogue (Electronic Parts Catalogue, I guess)

ETK is a cd and there is both spare parts of cars and motorcycles (in the same cd)... You can enter and search with your frame number also (the last 7 digit i.e. ZB22933). Or you can go by the model, year, and month...

There is no parts prices in the cd. But I live in Berlin and I check the prices of Chicago BMW with the main BMW Dealer Berlin, they are app. same(sometimes Chicago is better). For Chicago BMW dealer(as you know):

https://www.chicagobmwmotorcycle.com...es/2frame.html

You can have a print out of the ETK pages also, for a hard copy of spare parts list. But I think it is much easier to use the cd.

Sinan Ozgen
Berlin-Istanbul

configurationspace

The more recent GSes have less hex head bolts and more torx head bolts.

Instead of an 8mm hex socket you need a T45 Torx socket for the 2003+ 1150GS bikes.

NJ_Bob

I replaced my 3.0 hub with a 2.9 a while back, but did not have much chance to evaluate it's performance until this past weekend.

With the 3.0, both my speedometer and odometer registered high - nearly 10%.

Now, with the 2.9, the odometer is about dead-on, and the speedometer is only high by about 5%. When I'm going 70 it now says about 73 instead of about 77.

I'm running Tourances with about 5k miles on them.

4 friends and I did a "Saddle Sore" Iron Butt ride on Saturday.

The mileage is as follows:

According to:
Rand McNally: 1,083 miles
Garmin Gps V: 1,081.5 miles
GS Speedo: 1,091

Less than 1% error is close enough for me.

The swap only took about 15 minutes from couch to completion.

__________________
Bob Naumann - W5OV - Plano, TX - I want a K1200GT - IBA #19100

Codewheeney

I just fitted the 2.875 speedo drive (part # 62 12 2 306 532) to my 04 GS, and it's a great improvement. The speedo is marked 2.9. Some numbers:

Trip Odometer Before (w/ 3.0 speedo):
Measured Distancnce 78
Odometer 82.2
Error 5.38%

Trip Odometer after (w/ 2.9 speedo)
Measured Distance 61.8
Odometer 62.3
Error 0.81%

Eyeballing the speedo vs. the GPS at steady speed gave me an indicated 73 mph at a real 70 mph, or about 4% error, not too bad.

Measurements were taken with a Garmin GPS V. The bike has a recently (1500 miles ago) Anakee front tire.



JC

__________________
Jim
Tempe, AZ - 2004 R1150GS, Ride Reports
I am that merry wanderer of the night.

..-. -.-- -.-- ..-. ..-.

Reprobate

For use with my roadbook, I installed a Sigma BC800 bicyclecomputer. I bought the extra long Sigma cable (for the rear wheel) and a Touratech magnet bolt. The TT bolt replaced one of the bolts of the ABS ring, the cable is attached with tie-raps.
As exact as I want it to be... The Sigma is programmed with the exact circumference of the front tyre. I'm not anal enough to change the program when the tyre wears - I put the Sigma on with a half-worn tyre, so the difference is negligent.

__________________
Beware of the lollipop of mediocrity! Lick it once and you'll suck forever

beemer boy

I bought the different speedo drive to correct the speedo error as well. Should have my bike up and running next week. One of the reasons for me was value of the bike. Seems in the end I always end up selling my bikes, and mileage is a factor. So every BMW odometer reads 10% higher miles than is actually on the bike. So these higher numbers will in fact diminish the value of the bike at resale time. " Yeah I see your bike has 100,000 miles on it, when I was really looking for a bike with no more than 90,000, yada yada yada."

__________________
2004 KTM 950 Adventure
1995 Honda Africa Twin

pmdave

Thanks everyone who contributed to this thread. I just discovered the speedo error on my '03 1150GS Sport, when comparing GPS to speedo. I was a little shocked to see that to ride at a steady 55 mph, I had to get the speedo up to about 68. As I recall, I came up with a 19% error.

I submitted a thread to the bmwmoa forum under oilheads, and finally someone directed me to this thread, which has been most informative.

After some negotiation, one of the shops has agreed to replace the speedometer under warrantee. However, they were silent on the drive hub change. Since I probably won't be running Tourances, I think the "2.9" drive will be excellent, once I get a reasonably accurage speedo, and I'll get one on order.

My suggestion on the moa forum was for riders in the USA to send notes about defects they consider to be safety related to NHTSA, so that if there is a trend, NHSTA might order the manufacturer to come up with a fix. Once NHTSA issues an order, the company has no choice but to develop a fix that is acceptable to NHTSA, and then issue a recall.

My feeling is that on a machine as expensive as a BMW, a critical item such as the speedometer should be reasonably accurate. I would define "reasonable" as "within 5% as delivered with stock components". I know that a motorcycle manufacturer can have a speedo that reads up to 10% faster than actual, but here's an issue where BMW should use it's mighty technology to do better than the minimums to justify the healthy price tag. If you bought an inaccurate Rolex, would you put up with sticking little dots on the dial to represent "real" time?

Is an inaccurate speedometer a safety hazard? I think it is. If you believe a speedo that is say 10% optimistic, and you're trying to avoid a ticket, you would be riding 10% slower than traffic. And I think that would be hazardous. If you also believe that an inaccurate speedo is a safety hazard, (or if you're just pissed that BMW is so arrogant about the whole deal) consider sending a note with your speedo error experience to Bob Young, NHTSA office of Defect Investigations, ryoung@nhtsa.dot.gov.

It seems to me that if owners can buy a stock BMW part to get the speedo closer to reality, BMW could supply new machines with that same part and save us all the trouble.

pmdave

NJ_Bob

Dave,

Your experience (19%) is a bit extreme for sure. Does your bike have the 3.0 drive on it? Mine was reading high by about 10%. The 2.9 with Tourances gives me less than 2% error on the speedo, and more importantly to me, the odometer is now pretty much dead-on.

I salute your motivation on this, but I'm not sure that it will result in future BMW's having more accurate speedometers & odometers from the factory.

The safety issues are a concern of course, but I am more incensed by the effect of the odometer rolling up miles faster than reality, therefore ending your warranty sooner than it should.

BMW prices are high. If they would stand behind their products better, and not pull this sort of denial crap, I would honestly be willing to pay more for it. I think most of us have an expectation that we're buying the best there is, and the company should stand behind it in a manner suitable for the best product available. Looking at this situation, it's clear that BMW is out of touch with their customers. Denial and arrogance are not good qualities for a company that relies on selling their image to get the prices they do for their bikes.

Perhaps they're now going after a different type of customer?

nationwide

Hi all, I've also ordered the parts for this modification. Trouble is, I got a part wrapped in plastic with a 62 12 2 306 532 part# sticker, but the drive itself says 3.0 on it. Are they messin' with my head???

__________________
OLC!

Jason sends

mtwillyman

I just ordered a 2.87 speedo drive from Cicago BMW. Hope it works out. It was $44.90 delivered. Will update post after installation on the Pig. I used P/N 62 12 2 306 532. Thanks for the valuable info from the members of this site.

mrfreeze54

Will this fix work on the r1200gs or just on the r1150gs, or will it work on both bikes?

JimVonBaden

The 12GS is an electronic sensor, so no, it wont work.

As a matter of fact, my 12GS is only off 1MPH according to my GPS!

Jim

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peterman

all the beemers i have owned (6, and from '66 to '05) have read at least 5 mph over actual speed, maybe bmw"s idea of helping to prevent speeding tickets?

__________________
peterman
____________________________
05' R12GS
79' R100RT
81' Honda 110 trail

BMWMOA #113444
BMWRO


"The path by which we travel is only visible after we pass though the fog of indecision" anon