Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge speedo error is gonna cost me.

got stopped for speeding today 60 in a 45. speedo said 55.
State cops around here usually wont stop you unsless you are doing more than 10 mph over the posted limit. Oh well at least I know how much my speedo if off by now and which direction.

I believe yours is the first post I've seen with a speedo error low.
I think I'd borrow a GPS and see exactly what it's doing.

I got a speeding ticket on the way home from the NorEast Rally
at Pat's in NY. The trooper said I was doing 87 when I blew
by him, I had an indicated 95. This confirms my thoughts that
the speedo reads about 10% high.

The trooper wrote me up for 74. I was happy to pay the $210
ticket, I earned it!

This is the first I've heard of a speedo reading low???
Uncle Charlie

I agree. Mine reads 10% high, confirmed by my Quest GPS unit. Never heard of our speedos reading low.

So from what you guys say in reality i was doing around 50!!!!! this bites.

Did he show you his radar or any proof of your alledged speed?

Soren

Got stopped today on the way back from Barber. He said 79 in a 55, speedo said mid 80s. Wide open road, no traffic, he let me off with a warning.

You might get lucky with him not showing, but not showing proof or offering to tell you the last time his radar was calibrated might help. I often wonder how cops do the "speed matching" thing. Like were you going 80? or did THEY have to go 80 to catch you? Ya know?

In CT, the state's attorney (the prosecutor) or their assistant will offer the opportunity to plea this out prior to trial. Typically what will happen in CT as a result of a not guilty plea, is you arrive early, get in line, then talk to an assistant state's attorney. If your MVR is clean, you have a shot at a nolle, or a reduction to the lesser charge of "failure to obey a state traffic commission sign." When you meet with the state's attorney's assistant, consider politely and respectfully asking something like, "Since my record is clean, (if applicable) would you consider a nolle" I don't doubt what you're saying, but if it were me, I wouldn't even mention the speedometer error, or calibrating radar guns, or the 7,011 excuses they've already heard. They're in a hurry, and don't want hear it, plain & simple. It's generally a case of how many MPH over, your priors, and what the officer's notes say as to where this will go. Whatever happened and was said at the scene of the arrest is on paper and in front of the assistant state's attorney when he or she speaks to you. If you don't agree with what the state's attorney offers you, you will then have the option to refuse the offer and see the judge, but it doesn't make sense that the judge would ignore the suggested disposal of the home team and side with you.

I'm not clear how this works if one skips the opportunity to plea prior to trial, and just heads into court vs. whether or not the arresting officer appears. We are guaranteed the opportunity to face our accuser in court, but then again, the judge has within his or her power the option to make you appear again to allow the officer's appearance, and if the officer does have to appear and the court wastes further time on what they consider a very minor issue, your chances at a plea bargain may evaporate. In my humble opinion, if the officer appears, and the court makes time for you, it's now a matter of economics - someone is going to have to pay for their time, and you have what is to them, what is essentially a due & payable 'invoice' in hand.

Footnote on priors - the myth about paying out of state tickets early and then they don't appear on ones MVR is just that - a myth. If you have any violations within say, the past 5 years, from almost any state (except Mass.) then those violations are visible to the prosecutor. Since the CDLIS system came online, the states seem much better at sharing information. If you have any questions regarding what is or isn't still on your MVR, you can stop by CT DMV and get a copy of your record.

If we're talking Middletown court, (where the breaks are few and far between) and you absolutely need to beat this, let me know. I have a friend who was a prosecutor there, and is now in private practice.

I had read here some time ago that our speedometers were accurate to speeds up to 60 mph (or there-abouts), but about 10% optimistic at speeds over that.

So in 50 mph zones, or lower, I don't push it too much. Speed zones over 60, I'm calculating 19 mph over and staying close to it. (I'll try to maintain an indicated 84 mph in a 65 mph zone, or 89 mph in a 70 mph zone.)

I have been rewarded with 3 citations for speed on the bike, but in all three instances, I was running over that 19 mph "cushion", or thought I was in a 70 mph zone when it was only a 60 mph zone. I can't gripe - I deserved what I got. I sure can't blame the machine or speedo.

I get them deferred when I can, and keep the Defensive Driving card in my back pocket to use as a last resort if I run into a bad stretch of luck, in which case I will again take the Advanced Rider Safety Course to satisfy that. I have made up worse excuses to ride....

Any chance you WERE doing 60 in the 45 zone, and got slowed down to 55 before you were able to look?

I think the speedo's are 8 to 10% optimistic all around, it's just that 10% of 30 MPH is only 3 MPH so it's not a big deal...

Mine tested exactly 10% accross the board.

Excessive speeding over here was pushed really hard a couple of years ago.
They were talking of trying to make it as anti-social as DUI.

I got fined and had 3 points on my license for doing 35 in a 30 stretch.
£60 ($110) and three points which stay on the license for 4 years (insurance needs to be notified for 5 years).
No need to go to court (I was busted fair and square) just send the money off and walk off with my tail between my legs for being such a piece of scum in society

Mine wasn't considered 'too' bad, my insurance company weren't that bothered when I called them and it didn't effect my renewel.

At 12 points, I believe, a driver automatically loses their license for at least a year.
Then you have to re-take all your tests again.
Insurance also goes through the roof especially if it's a DUI offence.

What Ade doesn't say is that for the first two years after passing your test - bike or car - it's only 6 points on the license and you're banned.

Only 8 months till I've passed that hurdle. But no points either!

yeah mine's exactly 10% high, too. weird that they couldn't have fleshed this issue out in the first year or two.

I tested mine against a GPS while riding with a HD friend, he was holding 75 and I was holding 78. It turns out we were both going 73. I guess that means mine reads about 7% higher than actual at that speed.

Pretty sorry state for any indicator in 2006 not to be able to give you accurate info. For a marque or dealer to say, well, it's allowed 12% (or whatever) and it's only off by 10% or less... really! This is 2006, how hard is it to have a device included as a basic instrument that measures speed and distance accurately?

A speedo should be at least able to give you info as accurate as the radar that can be used to measure you against the posted limit.

How long would you keep a watch that were 'allowed' to be up to 10%, even 2% off all the time?

And then there's that worthless tach!

Sorry to hear about the points.

Now let's talk radar guns and cops.

They are like oil and water.

Regarding 4 lane+ roads:

They pull over the vehicle in the left lane when they clock a speeder and vehicles are in both the slow lane and the fast lane. Slowing down rapidly is OK if you are the guy in the slow lane as they assume the lunk in the fast lane is the one slowing down. (Slowing down keeps you from being seen by the man passing the fast guy/girl.) How many times have I passed a vehicle in the right lane (yeah i know the rules) and the cop pulls over the vehicle in the left lane. Just goes to show you that they think they know which vehicle was speeding. If you must speed, stay as much as possible in the right lane and never argue with the man. Also, our rides have a very small radar-print. Use this to your advantage. Stay as much as possible in the shadows and again, in the slow lane.

Forgot to mention that the larger the diameter of the tire from stock, the lower your speedo will read.

According to those "Your speed is" wagons, mine ramps up from dead accurate at 0 to +10 MPH just over 35. It then stays at +10 up past 75. Don't want to go any faster past one of those things just in case they are able to monitor them.

jj- you hit the nail on the head. This is the most stoooopid thing.
IT IS 2006 TRIUMPH! MAKE A SPEEDOMETER THAT IS CORRECT!
Its not rocket science anymore (or anyless if you have an RIII)

Okay Jackson.....now DIDN'T I warn you about putting that there 21-inch wheel on the front, and that your SPEED was gonna show a lot slower on that there BIG CLOCK than what chu were REALLY GOIN'?! DIDN'T I, HUH???!!!

Actually, like others here, your's IS the first of these bikes(or almost any bike nowdays) that I've ever heard with a error showing LESS than what you were supposedly really going.(that is if you still have the stock 18-incher up front)

OR....the officer in question was having a hyperglycemic reaction after that lunch at Krispy Kreams that was effecting his calibration o' that there radar gun o' his.

Well ladies and gents thanks for all the support.I am gonna fight it.Or at least see if can cop a plea due to a relitivly clean driving record. Only citation I had within last five years is a warning for failure to wear corrective lenses.

after reading what you all have had to say.

1. I was just about only vehilce within a 1/4 mile of him at the time. 2 lane road nothing in other lane either. So whatever his read was it had to be me.

2.My eyes went right to my speedo as soon as i spotted him (kind of a reflex i think we all may have). It said 55.

3.For the most part i have a graet deal of repsect for our police specially the staties (hell i think most of them ride). But I think the krispy creme induced sensorey overload that somone here mentioned may apply in this case.

4.have arrainged a speedo match ride.with a friend of mine that rides a Victory which he claims is dead on from 0-80.
(will post the results of that)

5.Anybody want to spend the a day in court?

Never,never,never appear in court unless the offense carries a mandatory appearance. Hire a lawyer, and let him do it. It's usually cheaper. My last one cost me $65 and they got the ticket dismissed. If you think of the time you will miss from work, it's much cheaper this way. Plus, going to court in general is bad juju. Unless you're going to work.