Molotov256
Member
Hey everybody -
I'm trying to figure out a way to get a speedometer on my bike (mostly to satisfy my curiosity regarding how fast I'm going when it feels like I'm going really fast). I ordered an analog speedometer off ebay for pretty cheap, but it didn't come with any directions, so I just tried to figure it out on my own. It wasn't a very complicated unit - it's got a piece that mounts on the front axle and has a metal rod that sticks into the spokes to turn the reader, and cable turns with the reader and attaches to the speedometer itself to turn the needle over the gauge face. I think I hooked it all up right, but I'm getting obviously inaccurate readings. Here's some pics:
The speedometer seems to think I'm going about twice as fast as I actually, am, but that's just an eyeballed estimate. Then, once the needle approaches 25mph, it jumps around all over the place and quickly pegs itself all the way around to the underside of 0, as if I'm going 70mph or something. When I stop the bike, the needle slowly works its way back down to zero, but it still indicates that I'm moving after I've stopped.
I'm wondering if I have the reader piece that sits on the front axle clamped too tight between the forks... my front axle isn't very long, so it doesn't leave much room for the reader. Would I be better off with the reader outside of the forks? If that's the case, it would be problematic, because I wouldn't have enough thread left on the axle to put the nut on to hold the wheel in place.
Has anybody else dealt with this kind of cable driven analog speedometer setup? Any insight would be much appreciated...
I'm trying to figure out a way to get a speedometer on my bike (mostly to satisfy my curiosity regarding how fast I'm going when it feels like I'm going really fast). I ordered an analog speedometer off ebay for pretty cheap, but it didn't come with any directions, so I just tried to figure it out on my own. It wasn't a very complicated unit - it's got a piece that mounts on the front axle and has a metal rod that sticks into the spokes to turn the reader, and cable turns with the reader and attaches to the speedometer itself to turn the needle over the gauge face. I think I hooked it all up right, but I'm getting obviously inaccurate readings. Here's some pics:
The speedometer seems to think I'm going about twice as fast as I actually, am, but that's just an eyeballed estimate. Then, once the needle approaches 25mph, it jumps around all over the place and quickly pegs itself all the way around to the underside of 0, as if I'm going 70mph or something. When I stop the bike, the needle slowly works its way back down to zero, but it still indicates that I'm moving after I've stopped.
I'm wondering if I have the reader piece that sits on the front axle clamped too tight between the forks... my front axle isn't very long, so it doesn't leave much room for the reader. Would I be better off with the reader outside of the forks? If that's the case, it would be problematic, because I wouldn't have enough thread left on the axle to put the nut on to hold the wheel in place.
Has anybody else dealt with this kind of cable driven analog speedometer setup? Any insight would be much appreciated...