VFR dash disappointing...

Call me a bit old school, but this digital dash is disappointing... Am I the only one that thinks this?
The speedo is off , the odometer is off, the ambient temp is way off. I try to ignore the coolant temp, so I'm not concerned if it's off or not!  
The gas gauge however works!!! (thank God),  I would trade the entire dash for a good old set of analog gauges in a minute.  (and If I had more electrical knowledge) I would be building one....

So,  now that my ranting is over, my real question is: Where is the ambient temp sensor located?  Is it normal for it to read wrong, or is possible that it just needs replaced/cleaned?

IIRC it's under the dash area and kind of hard to get to the actual sensor.Clean and or replace......... I've got 44k and mines doing ok..........

The amb. temp sensor is in inside the tip of the front fairing between the headlights.  It will be influenced by engine heat when sitting such as at stop lights so I generally don't pay much attention to it unless I've been moving a while.   Generally 6th gen speedo's tell you you're going faster than actual, though the odometer is pretty much accurate.  If you want full analog, you'll have to go 4th gen - 1997 or older.

It is located in the fairing under the front,  Look at the oil cooler, then at the underside of the fairing.  The sensor is the odd looking thing sticking out of the fairing.

Thanks for everyone's input, my temp reading is always a lot lower than actual, unless of course the bike is sitting in the sun... I had the bike in my 75* house, and it was reading low 60's.  I'll see if I can straighten it out.

Just put duct tape all over the dash, problem solved, no more false readings.....     :laugh:


PS the "real" fuel and temp dials on my 4th gen are inaccurate too, but at least they look "cool"..

[image: View Post]ReefDiver, on 13 September 2012 - 10:58 PM, said:

Call me a bit old school, but this digital dash is disappointing... Am I the only one that thinks this?
The speedo is off , the odometer is off, the ambient temp is way off. I try to ignore the coolant temp, so I'm not concerned if it's off or not!  
The gas gauge however works!!! (thank God),  I would trade the entire dash for a good old set of analog gauges in a minute.  (and If I had more electrical knowledge) I would be building one....

So,  now that my ranting is over, my real question is: Where is the ambient temp sensor located?  Is it normal for it to read wrong, or is possible that it just needs replaced/cleaned?


ambiant sensor is under the headlights, mine works great and accurate. the dash overall sets the standard IMO, it gets far worse or less with other bike selections.

The worst thing about the dash is that it doesn't include a volt meter, considering electrical problems are the only problems these bikes have (more or less).

[image: 20120914_123411.jpg] I stuck one on. About 5 quid off fleabay

If your speedo is off more than 7-8% and your odometer is off you likely have non-stock gearing.  So what bike without some modification has an accurate speedometer that is not optimistic?

My temp sensor generally reads a couple of degrees low, but not enough to worry about.

[image: View Post]richbike, on 14 September 2012 - 06:38 AM, said:

[image: Attachment] 20120914_123411.jpgI stuck one on. About 5 quid off fleabay

I did, too- but they should be stock.

[image: View Post]Rich, on 14 September 2012 - 08:50 AM, said:

[image: View Post]richbike, on 14 September 2012 - 06:38 AM, said:

[image: Attachment] 20120914_123411.jpgI stuck one on. About 5 quid off fleabay

I did, too- but they should be stock.

so should a decent reg/rec ;-)

I have yet to own a motorcycle where the speedometer (analog or digital) is correct.  They are always optimistic in my experience by about 8-10% and I have had Kawasaki's, a Yamaha, Honda's, and a Suzuki.  Odometer has always been correct though and those that did have fuel gauges were no more accurate than any cage I have ever owned.

If your biggest concern is the ambient temperature then buy a GPS with a temp sensor.  Then everything would be accurate and you won't get lost accidentally any more.   :491:

That doesn't mean digital is better than analog but it's just the way marketing goes.  At least they left the RPM meter analog.  As for aesthetics, I spend my time focussing on where I am riding and only look at the gauges when necessary.  For that they work just fine.   :fing02:

[image: View Post]vanion2, on 14 September 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

If your biggest concern is the ambient temperature then buy a GPS with a temp sensor.  Then everything would be accurate and you won't get lost accidentally any more.   :491:



:tongue: LOL, no the temp is not a big concern, It just seems that whenever I look at on the dash I have to stop for a second and try and figure out with what the actual reading really is. IE...speedometer - 15%, odometer - 8%, temp gauge + 10% etc... It's a little frustrating when I should be paying attention to the cars around me, not doing calculations in my head.  After all I did graduate from a public school, & math was not my best subject :laugh:

I do Have a Tomtom, maybe I'll see if I can mount it semi-permanent, and quit my whining. ... :tour: I just wanna enjoy the ride

I know that section of road is limitted to 80
I know that there are average speed camera's
So either my speedo is way off (average measured 106, coreeced to 102) or it is a case of "while I was sleeping"......
Neither will give me a chance to fight the ticket and not pay Euro 183....





[image: Posted Image]
:owned:

[image: View Post]Dutchy, on 14 September 2012 - 10:48 AM, said:

I know that section of road is limitted to 80
I know that there are average speed camera's
So either my speedo is way off (average measured 106, coreeced to 102) or it is a case of "while I was sleeping"......
Neither will give me a chance to fight the ticket and not pay Euro 183....





[image: Posted Image]
:owned:

Be careful posting such ipics on the web Dutchy!
Especially if the pics were taken when you were maybe on your way back from the red light district in Amsterdam!. :rolleyes: . :laugh: ...

I only have one complaint, no gear position indicator.  Other than that my gauges are accurate enough, speedo is off by about 5 mph on the highway but don't really care that much.  Everything else is fine.

No worries Beck

Never pay for things that can be had for free.....

I just picked up a ST1300, and it's got a pretty cool dash.
Clock (Hated not having one when I had the PC800)
Analog dial Tacho and Speedo.
Ambient and Water temp, not either/or. Plus the water is a digital bar graph instead of numerical.
Same 8 block Fuel Gauge as 5/6G.
Dual selectable Trip Meters.
Choice of tank average MPG, or Real Time MPG. When you get to the flashing bar on fuel, you get further options of Miles Remaining or Fuel Volume Remaing.
All pretty cool, IMO!
Ambient usually reads within 2-3 of any bank sign or other temp displays I see on the road. ST and 5G both.
No gear position. Hard to miss what I never had.

[image: View Post]KPerham, on 14 September 2012 - 03:55 PM, said:

I just picked up a ST1300, and it's got a pretty cool dash.
Clock (Hated not having one when I had the PC800)
Analog dial Tacho and Speedo.
Ambient and Water temp, not either/or. Plus the water is a digital bar graph instead of numerical.
Same 8 block Fuel Gauge as 5/6G.
Dual selectable Trip Meters.
Choice of tank average MPG, or Real Time MPG. When you get to the flashing bar on fuel, you get further options of Miles Remaining or Fuel Volume Remaing.
All pretty cool, IMO!
Ambient usually reads within 2-3 of any bank sign or other temp displays I see on the road. ST and 5G both.
No gear position. Hard to miss what I never had.

The only gripe I have about my ST1300 readout is that I would like it to have a brighter setting for direct sunlight.  The brightest setting is usually fine, but sometimes not.  The difference between the ST and the VFR is pretty normal diff between an older sportbike and a full on sport tourer.

[image: View Post]2thdr, on 14 September 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

[image: View Post]KPerham, on 14 September 2012 - 03:55 PM, said:

I just picked up a ST1300, and it's got a pretty cool dash.
Clock (Hated not having one when I had the PC800)
Analog dial Tacho and Speedo.
Ambient and Water temp, not either/or. Plus the water is a digital bar graph instead of numerical.
Same 8 block Fuel Gauge as 5/6G.
Dual selectable Trip Meters.
Choice of tank average MPG, or Real Time MPG. When you get to the flashing bar on fuel, you get further options of Miles Remaining or Fuel Volume Remaing.
All pretty cool, IMO!
Ambient usually reads within 2-3 of any bank sign or other temp displays I see on the road. ST and 5G both.
No gear position. Hard to miss what I never had.

The only gripe I have about my ST1300 readout is that I would like it to have a brighter setting for direct sunlight.  The brightest setting is usually fine, but sometimes not.  The difference between the ST and the VFR is pretty normal diff between an older sportbike and a full on sport tourer.

Have you looked at this? ---->http://www.bluegauge...ycle/st1300.htm
The all white may brighten things up for ya.

I kinda like this one but then again I'm partial....
[image: Multistrada]Multistrada

[image: View Post]ReefDiver, on 14 September 2012 - 04:27 PM, said:

[image: View Post]2thdr, on 14 September 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

[image: View Post]KPerham, on 14 September 2012 - 03:55 PM, said:

I just picked up a ST1300, and it's got a pretty cool dash.
Clock (Hated not having one when I had the PC800)
Analog dial Tacho and Speedo.
Ambient and Water temp, not either/or. Plus the water is a digital bar graph instead of numerical.
Same 8 block Fuel Gauge as 5/6G.
Dual selectable Trip Meters.
Choice of tank average MPG, or Real Time MPG. When you get to the flashing bar on fuel, you get further options of Miles Remaining or Fuel Volume Remaing.
All pretty cool, IMO!
Ambient usually reads within 2-3 of any bank sign or other temp displays I see on the road. ST and 5G both.
No gear position. Hard to miss what I never had.

The only gripe I have about my ST1300 readout is that I would like it to have a brighter setting for direct sunlight.  The brightest setting is usually fine, but sometimes not.  The difference between the ST and the VFR is pretty normal diff between an older sportbike and a full on sport tourer.

Have you looked at this? ---->http://www.bluegauge...ycle/st1300.htm
The all white may brighten things up for ya.
I have seen that, but it requires pulling the gauges and sending them in to have that done.  I am not that keen on messing with the electronics if everything is working perfectly.

[image: View Post]00Yeller, on 14 September 2012 - 05:59 PM, said:

I kinda like this one but then again I'm partial....
You would have to bring up the sexy Italian...

Such a cool bike!

Gee I was well chuffed with my 6th gens instruments until I read this.  Nah, I love the vfr's layout.

Multistrada dash, too busy for me but Ducs are nice ... VFR speedo off, SpeadoHealer does the trick ... I felt the need to go for one after going down a tooth in front :smile: ...  ambient temps, well it's hot, or it's cold, or it's just right, not much more to worry about there :laugh: ...

ACE

Thing about digital dashboards is, they get old pretty quick as they usually date the bike as the style of digital displays constantly change so much per the manufacturer's styling whims and industry trends.
That's why analog dialed dashes seems to be timeless and don't look so bad even after many years.
As in the 4th and earlier gen VFRs and many other older bikes the classic analog dashboard designs just keep looking and feeling good!
[image: Posted Image]
Still like looking at swinging dial arms on my 4th gen more than looking at digital numbers or bars.....Dials with swinging needles just seem to be more natural to "connecting" with the bike. At least to me it is!

Beck
95 VFR