BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

I pretty much ride by the tach while cruising Its easy to read.

Naturally I can do w/o either the speedo or tach but analog stuff is my Fav, as I like "relative position" of the needle. (everything these days runs digital it seems...lots of 0s and 1s running around in everything.

Old school.(Moi)

+1 on the tach.....which seems to be omitted on a lot of todays bikes. I want to know when I'm getting close to redline!

Switching between various Motorcycles can be humorous. The Sertao, 5 gears, The Norton 4 gears, The Kawasaki H1 5 gears...all "up".
The BMW is easy to tell by feel and sound for 6th, a true overdrive. The Bandit not so much.

sweatmark wrote:

kirby wrote:Its the "information age" you have to know where you are and exactly where your going('cause a faceless voice is telling you) and have a phone in your pocket(if it fits).
We now add what gear your in..(sort of useless to me like the rest.....)

So - particularly for the BMW boxer - how do we all feel about the tachometer? Necessary?

How else are you going to get your tickover to exactly 1150 rpm?

On my Austin Healey BJ8 I just turn the distributor!

Tundra Dweller wrote:Switching between various Motorcycles can be humorous. The Sertao, 5 gears, The Norton 4 gears, The Kawasaki H1 5 gears...all "up".
The BMW is easy to tell by feel and sound for 6th, a true overdrive. The Bandit not so much.

The worst thing about my old Norton (was) it shifted from the wrong side, but I liked the kick start!

Tundra Dweller wrote:Switching between various Motorcycles can be humorous. The Sertao, 5 gears, The Norton 4 gears, The Kawasaki H1 5 gears...all "up".
The BMW is easy to tell by feel and sound for 6th, a true overdrive. The Bandit not so much.

Yup - I used to jump from a Kawasaki ZXR400* to a Vincent Comet/Matchless G3/Norton Commando**, to a BSA D1 Bantam**, with the occasional spin on a 1922 Douglas flat tanker****, and back in the same day. Not sure I could do it now without a LOT of practise!


* Current standard - clutch on left, gears on left 1 down, 5 up, brakes on right.

** older Brit-Bike standard - clutch on left, gears on right 1 down, 3 up, front brakes on right, rear brake on left

*** rotated euro-standard - clutch on left, gears on right 1 UP, 2 DOWN, front brake on right, rear brake on left.

**** no gears (direct drive from crank-shaft to rear wheel via belt), run and push to start, bicycle brakes on front, lever-to-rim brake on rear, both highly ineffective, no advance/retard and a dual action throttle levers.

sweatmark wrote:

kirby wrote:...how do we all feel about the tachometer? Necessary?

Truth be told, we don't need any of the instruments but do have reasons for each and everyone of them like the speedo, tach, idiot lights and even gear position, just most of us don't feel the desire to know so much...dumbest bike I ever owned was a Harley with almost no instrumentation and it was the bike I worried the least about riding, not because it was reliable (if there was no oil under it, there was no oil in it) but because the absence of that info meant I didn't wonder...it's a personal preference I know...

BadToTheBown wrote:

sweatmark wrote:

kirby wrote:...how do we all feel about the tachometer? Necessary?

Truth be told, we don't need any of the instruments but do have reasons for each and everyone of them like the speedo, tach, idiot lights and even gear position, just most of us don't feel the desire to know so much...dumbest bike I ever owned was a Harley with almost no instrumentation and it was the bike I worried the least about riding, not because it was reliable (if there was no oil under it, there was no oil in it) but because the absence of that info meant I didn't wonder...it's a personal preference I know...

How true, my first liquid cooled ride was a Suzuki SV-1000S. The forum had lengthy threads regarding engine temp since it had a temp gauge.
I could actually see the temp fluctuate when the thermostat opened and closed in cold weather....i.e. completely useless!
The Concours 1400 had TPS sensors in the rims. A total PITA, batteries get cold, dash flashes warnings. Batteries go dead, remove the tire to replace the entire sensor....
I must admit as my eyes slowly fail I DO like digital speedometers. The BMW Sertao has a Digital bar Tach and analog speedometer....I cant read either one!

Installing a gear indicator was one of the first things I did after I bought my 2001 R1150R about 8 years ago. I installed a GI Pro, see this article for some ideas. They are very easy to install. I do a lot driving in heavy traffic and I find it very useful for that.
https://lifeatlean.com/top-3-motorcycle ... ndicators/

The 2nd thing I did was install a self cancelling turn signal relay. Best purchase ever.