New Buddy owner getting passed by cars. Actual speed?

[MtnHippy]

Greetings. I'm a first time poster and new Buddy owner. I picked up my Series Italia last weekend and am absolutely in love with it.

I use my scoot for commuting three miles each way to work...it's a nice little ride. The highest posted speed limit I travel on is 45 mph. People usually do between 45-50 mph on this stretch, but they seem to be coming up on my tail fairly quickly when I have the speedometer right at 45. I don't know...maybe I've just come across a few folks that are really in a hurry, but it's made me curious as to what the actual speed is.

If anyone could tell me roughly where you keep your speedometer to stay with the flow of traffic in a 45 mph zone that would be awesome. I read somewhere that the difference between the actual speed and the speedometer reading is something like 12% slower. Is that true, and if so, is there any way to calibrate this to show a proper reading? I really don't want to inconvenience cars "moped style" but I'm also not too keen on breaking the speed limit. Any thoughts?

[pcbikedude]

If you read some of the threads in this forum you'll find the speedometer is generally off by 5-7mph. I speed up to keep with traffic.

[MtnHippy]

If you read some of the threads in this forum you'll find the speedometer is generally off by 5-7mph. I speed up to keep with traffic.

Just what I was looking for. Thanks for the reply.

[lobsterman]

For 45 posted I'd ride indicated between 50-55.

My normal procedure is to keep pace with the traffic in my lane.

I ride every day on a 55 posted road, and I am riding WOT most of the time, indicated betwen 65 and 75 depending on wind and the downhill angles.

[hcstrider]

I have read several threads on this forum which discuss the inaccuracy of the Buddy speedometer. According to the discussions, the speedometer on just about any brand of scooter is inaccurate so the problem is not unique to the Buddy.

People who have tested the speedometer indicate that it is optimistic in that the speedometer indicates that you are traveling faster than your actual speed. A few weeks while scootering in Gettysburg I empirically proved the inaccuracy of the speedometer. My Buddy speedometer indicated that I was traveling for about 2 miles at the posted speed limit of 45 MPH but the car behind me vehemently disagreed and they expressed their displeasure both verbally and in sign language as they blew past me.

As a rule I try to travel at the same speed as the cars in front of me but even this is not a good indicator. For example the posted speed limit in my neighborhood is 25 MPH but the generally accepted speed limit is about 40 MPH. I once tried to travel in my car at the posted speed limit of 25 MPH and it was very disheartening to receive a verbal tirade and the middle finger salute – from my 70 year old mother in the car behind me.

On a more serious note, a lot of people use a GPS to get a more accurate indication of their speed.

[ryder1]

We have those electronic check your speed machines that display how fast you are going. They are inoperable right now but once school starts the machines will be on again.

Will this display the correct speed for my Buddy 125 or is it only accurate for cars?

I am not mechanical and have no idea how these machines work, but I do know in my car it is accurate and checking the speed even if you slow down from 45mph to 43mph it will display the minor slow down on the electronic board.

[BuddyRaton]

Inacurate spedometer reading always cause a ruckus on every scooter or cycle forum. It's just the way it is..If you need it I'll find the best explanation I have read

[pugbuddy]

Buddy Speed = BS (your speed may vary)

I pretty much ignore the speedometer and drive at "traffic speed", which is safer in most cases anyway. If I feel I'm going too fast then I drive in the right lane and slow down. The left lane is for passing and anyone who wants to can go right around me if they like!

[Buddy_wannabe]

95% of my driving is right in town. Speed limit 30. If I do 30 on the speedometer cars in front of me will be pulling away ... cars behind me will be on my a$$ ... seems if I do about 35 on speedo it is about right.
I have also checked distence from my driveway to parking lot at work in a couple of different cars that I had and it was exactly 1 mile. On Buddy it shows it about 1.15 miles ....... but most of the time going to work it ends up being 3-5 miles because I usualy end up taking the long way

This might be a totaly messed up thought but would tire pressure make any difference in those little tires? Sometimes this makes sense in my head ... other times it doesnt.....

Any thoughts?

[AxeYrCat]

The Buddy's speedo seems to be about 10% optimistic, based on what those who've gauged it on a GPS system have found.


That seems about right to me as far as my personal experience as well.

[MtnHippy]

Yeah I went between 50-55 (in a 45) this morning and things went much better. The perfectionist in me wishes that the speedometer was dead on, but I'm having so much fun riding my Buddy to and from work that it's not difficult to overlook the issue. Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[ScooterDave]

We have those electronic check your speed machines that display how fast you are going. They are inoperable right now but once school starts the machines will be on again.

I love those things. I am still trying to get the high score.

Dave

[pcbikedude]

This might be a totaly messed up thought but would tire pressure make any difference in those little tires? Sometimes this makes sense in my head ... other times it doesnt.....

Any thoughts?

Tire pressure won't make a significant difference with the speedometer.

[pugbuddy]

Wasn't there mention of a similar issue with the odometer?

[AgentKestrel]

I think that when people see you on a scooter they assume you are going slow, or that they should be going faster. I've checked the speedometer on my Mojito with a GPS and my car. When I travel the same streets with both at the same speeds, it seems that people will pass me more on my scooter. But most scooters as well as my Mojito are usually very "optimistic" in their reading.

[Buddy_wannabe]

Wasn't there mention of a similar issue with the odometer?

It would make sense.... if one is off the other would too.....

[Kevin Drews]

I would still like to know if the speedometer can be calibrated for accuracy. I assume not since nobody has answered that question. I'm extremely surprised that everyone is just living with this inaccuracy. I drive a 35 MPH road every day and realized everyone was passing me. Finally I checked my speed against a GPS and found my Buddy to be around 7 to 8 MPH slower than the speedometer reads. That's a big discrepancy in my book. The dealer was not help and so far neither has The Genuine Scooter Co. Now I have to register 42 or 43 on the speedometer in order to actually be moving at 35 MPH. That's crazy. Motorcycles don't have this problem nor do other scooters according to other dealers I've contacted. They may vary a little 1 to 3 % but not this bad. This is 17 to 18 %.

[ellen]

Motorcycles don't have this problem nor do other scooters according to other dealers I've contacted.

Those dealers you contacted are lying to you (Or clueless). I've never been an a scooter where the speedo wasn't optimistic. I think they do it on purpose.

[ericalm]

I would still like to know if the speedometer can be calibrated for accuracy. I assume not since nobody has answered that question. I'm extremely surprised that everyone is just living with this inaccuracy. I drive a 35 MPH road every day and realized everyone was passing me. Finally I checked my speed against a GPS and found my Buddy to be around 7 to 8 MPH slower than the speedometer reads. That's a big discrepancy in my book. The dealer was not help and so far neither has The Genuine Scooter Co. Now I have to register 42 or 43 on the speedometer in order to actually be moving at 35 MPH. That's crazy. Motorcycles don't have this problem nor do other scooters according to other dealers I've contacted. They may vary a little 1 to 3 % but not this bad. This is 17 to 18 %.

A lot scooters and motorcycles do have this problem, though I'm not sure dealers of either would own up to it. From what I've read on other forums (meaning it could be apocryphal), US DOT has regulations on the amount of variation allowed. The variation for most is under 15%... I know for my Vespa, it's about 12%. Most and riders of various makes of motorcycles have reported around the same when compared with GPS.

Check out this chart done by a ModernVespa member on a LX150:


Could it be calibrated? Maybe, but it's not a matter of the speedo being a discrete number of MPH off, so you'd have to adjust it to read xy% slower. Seems like a much bigger pain than it's worth.

[Roose Hurro]

This is one of the things bothering me about the Buddy... I'm very accuracy oriented. I hate the idea of having to put more money into a scoot I just bought, in order to correct a defect deliberately put into a product by the manufacturer. It isn't difficult to make an accurate speedo, so there is no excuse for this. However, Mr. Drews, to your question...

... Yes, it is possible to calibrate a speedo, but I've heard there are very few places that repair/calibrate speedos. This site has some interesting info, which shows a manufacturer has no excuse for poor guage calibration... hey, if automakers can put out the time and trouble to do it right, so too can all other vehicle manufacturers!

Hope this helps. If you want to do your own research, just plug "speedometer calibration" into your web browser....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[vitaminC]

We have those electronic check your speed machines that display how fast you are going. They are inoperable right now but once school starts the machines will be on again.

Will this display the correct speed for my Buddy 125 or is it only accurate for cars?

They will pick up the Buddy just fine. One near me indicates 30mph when the speedo says ~36mph. I pretty much just go with traffic- unless they're too slow, then I go around!

[ericalm]

We have those electronic check your speed machines that display how fast you are going. They are inoperable right now but once school starts the machines will be on again.

Will this display the correct speed for my Buddy 125 or is it only accurate for cars?

They will pick up the Buddy just fine. One near me indicates 30mph when the speedo says ~36mph. I pretty much just go with traffic- unless they're too slow, then I go around!

One near me said I was going 20mph while I was stopped.

I am that fast!

[JNV]

Iused to look at the speedo during the break-in period so that I would not over rev the enigine until it was broken in good. Now I just tend to pick a car I am comfortable behind and stick with it; that is only is traffic is too fast. When traffic is slow then I just go along at my own comfortable speed. That being said, I feel my speedo is not very far off its mark. maybe 2-3 miles per hour but I think that is pretty normal for any vehicle. My buddy is an '07 model.

[StL_Stadtroller]

Wasn't there mention of a similar issue with the odometer?

It would make sense.... if one is off the other would too.....

nope, the speedometer and odometer work in completely different ways.

the ODOMETER is run by a physical cable/gear connection to the numbers in the housing. For the odometer to be innacurate, you would have to have changed the rolling diameter of your wheels - such as when using larger rims or going to a non-OEM tire with a different rolling diameter.

The SPEEDOMETER, OTOH, has no physical connection. The cable spins a magnet, which is inside a metal "cup" like thingy. (to be technical ). The action of the spinning magnet "pulls" on the metal cup, which moves the speedo needle. The movement is coutner-acted by a wound spring, much like in clockworks.

The "calibration" of mechanical speedometers is done by adjusting this spring tension. no 2 springs are ever exactly alike, hence the varying degree of discrepancy between speedos.

Federal law has some pretty harsh regulations about having a speedometer UNDER-reporting speed, so manufacturers are sure to err on the side of over-reporting.

DIGITAL speedometers however, have no excuse for beeing innacurate, yet I've measured the same error (though much less% error) on cars with those as well. Perhaps because if all things being equall - ie everyone actually driving/riding at an indicated 55mph on a 55mph road, and you had the only *really* accuruate speedo you would be travelling much faster than everyone else, a perception of speeding!