- Speed readout up to 183 mph / 300 kmh
- Trip Distance
- Clock - 12hr (mph) / 24 hr (kmh)
- Odometer
- Stopwatch - auto start/stop (excellent for those timed enduro races!!!)
- Maximum speed
- Average speed
- Comparison - actual / average speed
The karting speedometer! I believe this to be my one best accomplishment yet! As you can tell I am very exited about this one. The reason... INSTANT feedback on whether that change you made to jet, gear, plug, kart.....etc made a difference on the track. I think all of you will be suprised to find out just how much of a change can be made just by adjusting the handling. You get instant feedback on whether you are coming out of the corner faster or whether changing that gear made you faster or slower at the end of the straight! The best part is you do NOT have to buy a $400 digitron with the MPH readout! I was over scanning through some sportbike forums when I ran across some of the guys talking about a super accurate speedometer. The best part was it was less than $35.00 shipping included. There was everything from policemen to highway patrolmen that had tested it against radar guns and said that it was more accurate than any factory installed speedometer (this was on sportbikes). Well, this got my curiosity up!! Sounds like I have another "NEW" project!! :-) Well, I installed it and it worked wonders!! There are some modifications you have to make to fit a kart but nothing major. I would have to say anyone could install this! The display is about a 2"x2" square and comes with a steering wheel mount kit. Here's what I've done...
Here is the a few pictures of the steering wheel display. It's about 2"x2"
square. It's held on by the rubber band supplied with the unit.
Here is the axle speed sensor. It is a magnet taped to the axle (I put
mine down in the keyway recess), and the pickup sensor. As you can see in the
first picture I used the sheetmetal head cover off of a Briggs 5hp and
cut one end off and notched out the bolt hole to adjust distance between
the axle and sensor. In the other picture I just used a piece of flatbar
and bent it and drilled the holes to fit. The zip tie you see is to keep
the sensor from sliding out of it's mount. It
may never happen but I don't want it wrapped around my axle.
You will also have to lengthen the cable about 2'-3'. You do this with
18ga. car speaker wire. It just so happened that I had a roll of about
500' of the same wire at the time I did mine so I didn't have to buy any.
You can buy a roll of 50' at WAL-MART for about $2.00. Make sure to get
the same size as the cable that comes with the kit. Also, mark the wires
before you cut into them so you get the right wires tied back into each
other. I don't know if it matters or not but I made sure to get them connected
back right. You can insert your added piece at either end. Which ever is
most convenient for you.
You will have to input your tire size into the computer. They want you
to input the tire diameter in "mm". Well, first I had to convert our tire
circumference from inches to mm. Then convert circumference to diameter.
To save all of you guys the headaches and conversions I did the correct
chart is just below. I didn't read the instructions correct the first time
out and I was running 105mph my first time out!! Well, that's what it said...
so, if you use this chart you will get the correct readout.
| Tire Circ. | Input Value | Tire Circ. | Input Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31" | 489 | 33-1/2" | 529 |
| 31-1/8" | 491 | 33-5/8" | 531 |
| 31-1/4" | 493 | 33-3/4" | 533 |
| 31-3/8" | 495 | 33-7/8" | 535 |
| 31-1/2" | 497 | 34" | 537 |
| 31-5/8" | 499 | 34-1/8" | 539 |
| 31-3/4" | 501 | 34-1/4" | 541 |
| 31-7/8" | 503 | 34-3/8" | 543 |
| 32" | 505 | 34-1/2" | 545 |
| 32-1/8" | 507 | 34-5/8" | 547 |
| 32-1/4" | 509 | 34-3/4" | 549 |
| 32-3/8" | 511 | 34-7/8" | 551 |
| 32-1/2" | 513 | 35" | 553 |
| 32-5/8" | 515 | 35-1/8" | 555 |
| 32-3/4" | 517 | 35-1/4" | 557 |
| 32-7/8" | 519 | 35-3/8" | 559 |
| 33" | 521 | 35-1/2" | 561 |
| 33-1/8" | 523 | 35-5/8" | 563 |
| 33-1/4" | 525 | 35-3/4" | 565 |
| 33-3/8" | 527 | 35-7/8" | 567 |
Now I know you saying, "Tell Me! Tell Me! Where did you get this magic gizmo..." Well, I bought mine at Branford Bikes over the phone. They are in Branford, CT. They were very friendly and helped me out so I highly recommend them. They have a very good web page that explains all the options you can get with each one and the different models available. The webpage is: BranfordBike.com to go directly to the Bicycle Computer page go to: Sigma Computers . Their phone number is: 1-800-272-6367. I paid $31.38. This included shipping and all. Now, I bought the BC-800 but the BC-600 works just fine. The only difference is the BC-800 will give you an indication if you are running faster or slower than your average MPH, for a couple extra bucks I went with the BC-800. You should also be able to find this item at any local bike store (although I couldn't that's why I bought mine from Branford). Make sure that you tell Tim that Jamie said to call!
If you need any help with any of this you can get in touch with me below.... HAVE FUN!!! Jamie :-)
You can reach me at phinishline@yahoo.com for comments, questions, and suggestions.