Odometer Reading : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

JOKERS IMPALA · 06-15-2009, 01:46 AM

I bought a new Night Train part of the deal was a spun aluminum dual speedo/tach. the dealer ordered the wrong one I got the black one instead so they have to replace it again. Why is the odometer readings stored in the individual speedos why is the reading not stored by the ECM so that no matter what speedo you put in the milage is correct, I know I put a couple hundred on the original and when I got the new it was at 3, Ive put a couple hundred on this one and Im not sure what they ordered the new one with. Dealer says they have an allowance of 500 miles. that in itself seems like a shady deal but like I said why wouldnt they use the ECM to contro the odometer readout also.

mechanicjesus · 06-15-2009, 05:27 AM

I'm surprised to hear that they don't, every car and even heavy duty trucks all use the ecm. I thought that was an industry standard.

sporty952 · 06-15-2009, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mechanicjesus

I'm surprised to hear that they don't, every car and even heavy duty trucks all use the ecm. I thought that was an industry standard.

That phrase utterted about something electronic. An
oxymoron if there ever was one... (we're fortunate that
cars are still using 12V batteries or a radio upgrade would
be a nightmare... Oh wait a minute...)

-W

tomv · 06-15-2009, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mechanicjesus

I'm surprised to hear that they don't, every car and even heavy duty trucks all use the ecm. I thought that was an industry standard.

sorry...thats incorrect...

many cars do not use the ecm and require the speedometer to be ordered with the correct mileage on the odometer...it is usually an overnight delivery and the vehicle is held overnight to prevent unwanted mileage on the odometer...

if it were in the ecm it would have to be programmed into a new ecm in the event it had to be replaced anyway...regardless of where it is stored it would require transfer at one time or another during certain repairs...

some vehicles have the mileage programmed into the new odometer by the technician at the time of installation...

Vidgomd · 06-15-2009, 11:35 PM

thats interesting Do not like it, they should do something to fix it i would hate for someone to be had because of this

NW Fatboy · 06-21-2009, 10:37 PM

Vidgomd - I think I may be that someone. Just bought a used 03 Fatboy, best bike I've ever owned and rides great. It's my first EFI and it's stage one. Rode it home from the dealer, about 75 miles, and the tripmeter said I had gone 17.7 miles. I wrote down the odometer reading and rode close to a hundred yesterday. According to the odo I haven't moved the bike. The tripmeter says I went 17.7 miles again though. Otherwise the speedo seems about right on while riding.

I'm new to this forum and so I'm still searching the threads before I dare to start one. Has anybody else has had this problem? I'll check back later and hope for some answers.

Vidgomd · 06-28-2009, 02:56 AM

Any luck??? that sound pretty strange considering it is reading something but the same mileage every time thats even weirder maybe you should talk to the people you got it from.

route66paul · 06-28-2009, 03:19 AM

Because the ECM controls the ENGINE. The engine does not say how many miles have been driven, that has to come after the trans is involved

JOKERS IMPALA · 06-28-2009, 08:34 AM

The ECM is an electronic control module it could still read a speed sensor or even the abs sensors to collect milage information. All in all there should be a module that collects and holds milage for the bike no matter what odometer you install.

ZRX1040 · 07-04-2009, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW Fatboy

Vidgomd - I think I may be that someone. Just bought a used 03 Fatboy, best bike I've ever owned and rides great. It's my first EFI and it's stage one. Rode it home from the dealer, about 75 miles, and the tripmeter said I had gone 17.7 miles. I wrote down the odometer reading and rode close to a hundred yesterday. According to the odo I haven't moved the bike. The tripmeter says I went 17.7 miles again though. Otherwise the speedo seems about right on while riding.

I'm new to this forum and so I'm still searching the threads before I dare to start one. Has anybody else has had this problem? I'll check back later and hope for some answers.

My speedo/tach combo unit (genuine HD accessory) just started doing the same thing as well. Odo/trip will accumulate miles as normal, however, 2 out of 3 times it will reset to the previous readings after the ignition switch is cycled. Doesn't matter if I use the kill switch or not. It doesn't reset to zero, just wherever it was before I left. It's not a power thing either. I have removed it from the bike and reinstalled the stock speedo and all works fine. Swap back and the problem returns with the combo unit. I had swapped out the speedo pickup sensor in the tranny with a known good unit as well so that wasn't the problem. I really don't want to spend another $450 on a replacement.

springer 03 · 07-04-2009, 12:24 PM

Anybody want to buy a low mileage bike with lots of miles?

sporty952 · 07-05-2009, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOKERS IMPALA

The ECM is an electronic control module it could still read a speed sensor or even the abs sensors to collect milage information. All in all there should be a module that collects and holds milage for the bike no matter what odometer you install.

The ECM is the nexus of all the sensors on the bike...
It DOES read the transmission pickup and sends the
information on to the speedometer, tachometer, and
bank angle/turn signal controller via the J1850 bus.
Storing anything in the ECM would require additional
traffic on the bus to handle. Consider that the tach has
additional features, like trip meters and fuel reserve.
Having that in the ECM would require additional traffic
on the J1850 bus that only runs at around 10,000 bits/sec.
As it is, there is constant traffic between the 4 boxes to
keep the bike running (disconnect your speedometer and
see how long the bike runs).

-W

Shockwave · 07-05-2009, 09:08 AM

Give it some time and we will have CAN-bus on bikes.

NW Fatboy · 07-05-2009, 11:58 PM

Good info, thanks all.

The dealer gave me a new sensor and that didn't change anything (at least I have a spare sensor).

Now I'm getting, or so they say, a new speedo with agreed upon millage (a guess). It's one of the speedo/tach combos and therefore expensive. We'll see.

The problem is, it works fine while riding, miles just roll up and even the trip works, until I turn off the ignition switch. Then it goes back to where it started and shows 17.7 on the trip. Lucky for me the millage is still the same as on the application for the title so it's a legal thing here in Washington state. I will camp on their doorstep until it's fixed and (God forbid) lawyers could even become involved.

Still gotta wonder how many miles it really has.

tomv · 07-06-2009, 11:40 AM

why would lawyers have to get involved?...do you think it isnt going to get fixed?...

and wouldnt it be advantageous to you to have less miles show on the odometer than actually driven?...i'm not saying you should continue to ride it like this and not rack up any miles...i'm saying its not a disadvantage to you to have a few less miles on the bike than you have ridden...unless youre looking for bragging rights...