bicycle speedometer for a mtoorcycle ???

Hey guys, so my zs250gs doesn't have gages and I came across a video on youtube of a bike with a bicycle computer adapted on a motorcycle. Excited I went to wallmart bought a 20$ BELL computer and put it on my bike. Well aparently it doesn't work quite well. Works fine up until about 15 mph, then I guess that the wheel spins so fast that the sensor does not recognize the pasage of the magnet that I place on the spokes.
I'm wondering if getting a stronger magnet from radio shak would solve the problem ???
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee457/cyrilghislain/020811165150.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee457/cyrilghislain/020811165139.jpg

[MICRider]

Is the gap the recommended distance? If it's too far away it will lose the signal.

[Weldangrind]

The speedometer should work well beyond any China bike speed. As Stew says, the distance from the magnet to the pickup might be the issue.

[FastDoc]

I've seen people use bike speedo's with good success. ONE caveat is that you may be getting electrical interference from the ignition system. I've seen this be a problem with motorized bicycles. Make sure the magnet gap is tight, and that the wires are not too close to the ignition system, and that you are running a resistor plug.

A way to check would be to run the bike to speed, kill the motor and pull in the clutch. If the speedo works correctly that's your problem. :D

[Cal25]

The bike speedos work great. They need a back light to be usable at night. I have a computer on my bike and I installed the magnet on the brake rotor. The pick-up is on the fork leg. It does have to be very close to the magnet to work.

[Barnone]

Cal25,
A photo showing how you attached the magnet to the rotor and pickup to the fork leg would be nice.
Thanks

[Cal25]

I will see what I can do for ya.

Well Speedometer works perfect until 19mph, as soon as I go faster it actually shows that im slowing down... Thought it might be because the magnet is spining too fast so maybe with a stronger magnet the sensor would be capable to pick it up. Went to Radioshack and got 2 rare earth magnet for 1.99$ . put one on the magnet and no problem until 60 mph, faster the same problem happens. Now I put a third one on the wheel see if that changes something.
Anyway here are a couple pics of my setting : ( and by the way no prob with cables cus I got a Wireless Computer jejeje fancyyyy 14$ at walmart )
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee457/cyrilghislain/020911155542.jpg

Here is the SENSOR that I put on the brake caliper :

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee457/cyrilghislain/020911155448.jpg

And here are the magnet on one of the spokes of the wheel :

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee457/cyrilghislain/020911155502.jpg

[bigheavy150]

Nice, but dont they have to be calibrated based on magnet position and wheel size?

[Cal25]

It is set by the circumfrence of the wheel.

[JTCAndrew]

Intresting Subject - Keepup the info - I saw one of these just last night at wally world and was wondering if they would work? I saw someone on utube having done this successfully. NEED MORE INPUT! LMAO

Andrew :lol:

[Barnone]

Mine works great on my bicycle but I never been able to get the pickup close enough to the magnet to work on one of my motorcycles. I'll try the ideas suggested in this thread because they are super accurate when calibrated.have many functions, and are very inexpensive.

[Weldangrind]

I'm using one on an ATV, and it certainly reads up to the point where I'm not prepared to go any faster. :lol:

[JTCAndrew]

Any secrets you want to share weldandgrind?

[FastDoc]

He only rides at 11MPH. When an 8 year old girl outruns him he slows down. :lol:

Just kidding! 8)

[Weldangrind]

Have you been watching me Doc? I'm not called Mr. Safety for nothing. :lol:

Andrew, I had to get crestive with my installation, because the magnet is designed to be used with spokes, not the wheel of an ATV. The magnet on my particular setup was screwed onto an apparatus that would normally be clamped to the spokes, so I unscrewed it and measured the thread. I then drilled and tapped a hole in the rear sprocket and screwed the magnet in with some Loctite.

I placed the pickup on the swingarm and secured it with zip ties. I didn't use any kind of measurement, I just placed the pickup as close to the magnet as possible. The instructions indicated that I could either measure the circumference of the wheel or roll it forward for one full revolution. Since the tires have big lugs on them, I chose to roll it forward. The cycle computer will accept a huge range of wheel diameters, so mine was no problem.

I wish I would have purchased a backlit version.

[JTCAndrew]

So they have a Backlit version?

[Weldangrind]

Yeah, I think it is closer to $20, rather than the $13 I paid. :lol:

Well mine is more than what I need. Althought I would like it to go more than just 60 mph, whenever I go faster the speedometer seems to think that I'm slowing down and starts to indicate in between 30 and 40 mph when I'm actually doing close to 70mph. And for the backlit option, it doesn't really bother me cus I kindda got used to know what speed I'm going by the sound of the engine and exhaust. But my version has a botton to activate the backlight, of curse it would only stay on for a couple seconds, but more than enought just to double check my speed :) I'll make some more research and see if I can find a computer that has a higher top speed and a backlight. But for now I'm good :D

[Cal25]

Here is what I used with my Trail Tech Vapor.

http://www.amazon.com/Trail-Tech-Magnetic-Retainer-Kawasaki/dp/B000WJVGDE/ref=sr_1_24?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1297778208&sr=1-24

Except i think mine was 6mm. I drilled and tapped a hole inside of the braking surface of the front brake rotor. I used locktite and a nut to make sure it stayed put.

Very once and a while, the speedo stops working. When it does, I stop and move the ty-wraped pick-up closer to the magnet.

You just have to get creative find what will work. Those little rare earth magnets can be epoxied to almost anything.

I found one bycicle computer that aparantly is accurate until 170 mph. It's the SIGMA BC series.

[JTCAndrew]

Could't pass it up for $12 - If it works great if NOT oh well no big deal I'll mount it on my Daughters TriCycle! LMAO

Anyone tried This one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/HD-LCD-Bicycle-Cycle-Bike-Computer-Odometer-Speedometer_W0QQitemZ140512840486QQcategoryZ163866 QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo %3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%2 52BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D15%26pmod%3D150563510668%2 6ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7111117000054187735

Andrew

[Cal25]

Looks alot like this one

http://trailtech.net/endurance.html

Dont see how you could go wrong like you said. Keep us posted.

[JTCAndrew]

yeah I will - When I searched ebay I found alot of these in Hong Kong then found this one in California, so I'll try it and report back. Yeah it does look alot like a trailtech don't it? LOL

Well If anyone tryes it please let us know, That one is so better looking and if it's more accurate than mine I'll change it. Althought do they have the opcion of backlight that stays on ?
difficult decision between both of them, althought the fact that one of them is 6 bucks on ebay and the other one is 80 bucks would settle doubts :P

[JTCAndrew]

I ordered one yesterday should be here in about 5 days I'll keep you all posted on what I get and options etc.....For $12 can't go wrong. I hope. Worste case Like I stated I'll mount it on my Daughters tricycle! :)

[JTCAndrew]

I Just wanted to update this that I got the Little speedo computer but haven't had much time to play lately......Will update soon......Andrew