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Speedometer gone wild

ultraj

Member
Hello all and Merry Christmas,
I need a little help, I have a 2001 Ultra Classic and the speedo decided to go a little crazy yesterday. Was working just fine until after a startup I noticed the speedo went to 70 and I was doing about 30, I looked in the book and just wondering if the speed sencor is the problem. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Its easy to pull the sensor and clean it. sometime they get a little metal buildup on them and stop working correctly. If cleaning doesn't work, you mig have a bad electrical ground
 
The speed sensor is usually the culprit but a faulty voltage regulator cause this too. If the regulator is letting too many volts through it overloads the electrical system. It should not be getting more than 14.6 volts at any time.
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I also have an 01 Ultra. When my speedometer started to mess up, so did the signal light self/cancel feature. I was told it was, most likely, the speed sensor. Also, that taking the sensor out and cleaning it would probably be a very temporary fix.. After 20 or so miles, the speedometer started to mess up again. Replacing the sensor did the trick for me.
 
Dont know how new you are to this bike but, on my 03RK if you turn on the ignition switch and then the kill switch and you dont wait for the lights on the speedo to go out before you start it. The speedo will be off considerably as you mention. It seems the speedo calibrates to the speed sensor kinda like booting your computer. If you start it before this is complete it don't do good.

Ask me how I know!:tounge

Bodeen
 
Seems to be lots of possibilities. If that is the electric speedo, in reality it is a tach which is marked in MPH instead of RPM. As such, it counts pulses and a weak connection can cause an increase in the number of pulses with vibration. Had anything apart lately that might either provide a feed to, or a ground for the speedo? Recheck the connections.
 
Thanks for all the input, I pulled the speed sensor and there was some fine shavings on it, cleaned it real well and it seems to have taken care of the problem. I don't know how long it will last but for know its good.
I haven't had the bike long (1 year) but have put quite a few miles on it. It now has 98,000 and still going strong just small things starting to show their age.
Thanks again for all your help
 
I hope your cleaning takes care of the problem. But I'll have to give Jack's, Bad Battery, a second vote having had the same problem.

Steve E.
 
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