[Retom7]

Hey everyone. New to the forum, new to Triumph. Just picked up an '03 Speed Triple 955i. Been after one for quite some time, but finally found the right one to take me away from my 2000 CBR 600. Anyway, JUST got it on the road, and though it was 28 degrees out the other day, still had to go for a ride. Happy to report that the bike was beautiful, EXCEPT for one thing...

The speedometer is not working. The odometer and trip odom. are also both not registering. I'm fairly certain it was working at the dealership when I took it for a test ride. Thanks to a faulty Uhaul railing, the bike tipped over when a ratchet strap came loose. Luckily I was on a side road doing about 5 miles and hour with a nice smooth pulloff, the only visible damage was breaking a stock mirror at the pivot joint, which was fine because I have bar ends going on anyway. SO, it might be from the tip over that the speedo isn't working. Its going in to be checked on Tuesday from Ed's Triumph in Hyde Park, NY as it's right next to my house basically. I was hoping someone might be able to assist me with a few questions...

Hopefully my pictures work here too, so we'll see.
1) There are two wires hanging loose on the right side wrapped in tubing like all the other wires, a red and a gray. Does anyone know what they could be from? Speedometer or other?
2) The tach works, and there is power to the rest of the cluster. The Speedometer shows mileage and everything else, reset the trip fine, but the MPH stay at 0 except for the occasional 1-2mph reading. Any ideas?
3) There appears to be a little LED under the ignition on the triple tree. No wires are coming out of it. Possibly where the red/grey wires belong? What is that? Alarm? Aftermarket?
4) Does anyone know where I can find a PDF of the owners/repair manual for my bike? I'm sure the forum doesn't "support" sharing things like this, but any PMs or emails would be greatly appreciated.

That's it, along with a picture of my bike for you all to see (if I can get pics to work). Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful friendship!

 

[champy76]

Retom,

I had this problem about a year or two ago in Mississippi. My speedometer would work about a third of the time (the other times it would just read zero). At first I would just turn off the bike and restart until I got a positive reading. Eventually, I took it to the dealer (90 miles away) to get an unassociated part replaced. While there, he took a look and updated the computer software on the chip. It was a known problem that had a software fix available and he did it without charge. Should be an easy fix. Hopefully you don't need to haul it 90 miles to do so...

 

[Retom7]

Interesting. I had a couple other suggestions along the way, nobody mentioned this. Luckily I like about 2 minutes from a Triumph dealer, so I don't have to do much hauling at all. I will have to ask about this one. I didn't think to restart the bike to see if it fixed it, or worked periodically. I did restart twice along my last trip after getting gas and stopping for a smoke, and got the same issue, but we'll see. Thanks!

 

[Squeek]

The occasional 1-2mph reading can also indicate a battery that is on the way out/has loose connections or broken magnets in the sender.

The LED is for use when fitting an alarm, the wires should be orange and grey so mabey they are your loose wires.

 

[DrPat]

yeah, look Retom, I've had the same problem on my 02, soon as I got it out of the dealer's too. Sometimes a battery charge helps, sometimes stopping, turning off the motor, waiting and starting again. My mechanic looked at it and sorted some interim weirdness with the odo and clock (which was racing) by disconnecting the battery. I think the battery situation is part of it, but I've not heard of any software upload that fixes things - not here anyway.

 

[03Speed3]

speedo drive sensor

Hey guys,
I was riding this winter and my speedo started acting up. Reads 1, 2 or 3 mph while riding at highway speeds. Since the initial problem, I replaced the front tire and took a look at the inside of the sensor. Is that a ring magnet that is driven when the wheel spins? Is it supposed to be 2 pieces (two 1/2 circles) or is it supposed to be a solid ring? For $175 on bike bandit, I'd like to make sure this is actually the issue before I replace it.
Tach is working fine, ODO is reading way lower than I actually travel.
If the magnet is broken, is there any way to fix it? Any less expensive place to find a replacement?
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[ihatespeed]

spedo sending unit

I wish two pieces was good, if so I would have a unit to sell you
The ring is supposed to be in one piece, sloppy work when replacing the front wheel can damage the sending unit, although mine failed several thousand miles after I had the front wheel off. may have been wheelies or potholes..
the sensor has 3 wires, don't recall the colors though, manual not with me.

on another note, a failed sensor will show up as a check engine light, but only short or opens will do it (ie broken wires). the broken magnet just gives erroneous readings. mine ran about 1-10 mph regardless of actual speed (always 0 when stopped) with no check engine light. it also made a light squealing sound when it initially failed. I think I payed 160 at bike bandit for a new one, took a while to get it. grease well when installing and be sure to line up the drive ring tabs perfectly.

 

[PhilM]

Had the same issues.
The ring magnet can be glued with JB Weld but be sure to glue just the mating surfaces so it will spin free in its housing. Sand off any excess glue. Mine's been running a couple of years with this repair. Don't pack it with heavy grease or it can break in cold weather as the grease inhibits its rotation.
There is also a software problem that can be easily fixed by having the ECM reflashed. Had mine redone a year ago and no further issues.
One other thing you might want to consider with this bike is installing dual front brake lines.(MC to calipers). It cures the soft brake lever.

 

[03Speed3]

Thanks guys.
One the day my speedo went haywire this winter, it was a nice 55 deg F day outside in December. Took off and got about 80 miles from home when an unforecasted cold front moved in. The temp dropped to 35 deg F in about 20 minutes, and the wind really picked up. Speedo suddenly quit working, as did my fingers, lips, knees and elbows.

How do you get the magnet in and out to get it glued?
So what type of grease should I use in the speedo housing to avoid cold-weather breakage?

Electrically, it must be fine. If I shut off the bike or stop for a while, it tends to work up to about 51 mph, then when I exceed that speed it goes down to like 3 mph and bounces around there. I can cruise around all day with a working speedo if I stay under 51.

I just went with h-e-l USA dual front break lines this winter, and eliminated the over-fender loop. The difference in the brake feel is absolutely amazing. Also added the Rizoma reservoir, and despite some of the negative reviews I've read, it doesn't leak and looks pretty good.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Squeek]

The magnet often falls out, if not push the wireing through the housing and fish any other loose bits out with a pair of needle nose pliers.

I just used a small amount of a general teflon grease, been OK so far.

If you suffer regular breakages and dont want to cough up 100+ bucks each time there are always cycle computers available for the equivalent of £20-30

 

[03Speed3]

Do you have a website with a cycle computer compatible with an '03 Triple you could send me?

 

[Squeek]

Just about any computer from your local cycle shop will do. Typical fitting instructions.

http://koczarski.com/ST1100/ManualsAndDocs/computer.pdf

http://www.strangely.org/owned/bikecomp/index.html

 

[Windowlicker]

Just took mine out for the first long ride yesterday and when I first started the Bike the speedo was not working. I got gas and when I left it started to work just fine.

Is this going to get worse and start having issues or is it normal for it to just happen when cold or what have ya

mines an 02

I also have had sprocket changed front and back and I assume its off a little bit

 

[DEcosse]

If it works sometimes (normal speed indication) and other times is just 'Zero' then the problem is in the ECM 'tune' - it originally had a 'speedo sensor error check function' which would disable the speedo if it saw a low battery voltage at start-up. This is extremely problematic and arises even with a decent battery. Sometimes simply re-starting after a mile or so down the road (or a gas stop such as Windowlicker found) will 'cure' it (temporarily)

In later editions of the tune, Triumph disabled this 'feature' so it is no longer active.
Any dealer should be able to load the most recent tune for your model to eliminate this problem.

If the speedo is reading erratically and/or low numbers against actual speed, the problem is more likely to be the magnet is broken. (on some rare occasions the wires inside the cable could be broken)

 

[Windowlicker]

thanks for the reply. Would you assume I will continue to see this? Or will it just be a rare occurrence ?

The ECM tune ? Meaning it needs a firmware update?




Also because of how the speed is taken IE (magnet off front wheel) it should not be affected by sprocket changes correct?

 

[DEcosse]

... Would you assume I will continue to see this? ...

Yes

The ECM tune ? Meaning it needs a firmware update?

This just requires the dealer to upload new code into the ECM.
Explain the problem - if he's a decent dealer, he should not charge you for this (or at least minimal fee); this is a well-known issue & should be documented by Triumph.
I dont know that they ever issued a recall notice however but a lot of dealers have done this under goodwill. (it really depends if they are familiar with the issue - if they are, they probably will goodwill the tune upload; if not, they're more likely to charge you for it.

Also because of how the speed is taken IE (magnet off front wheel) it should not be affected by sprocket changes correct?

That is correct.

 

[03Speed3]

Mine was acting really weird and it ended up being a broken magnet. It worked at low speeds but read single digits at highway speeds. I took the magnet out (p.s. you don't need to remove ANY wiring for this), it was broken in 2 pieces. I "rebuilt" it with JB weld -- essentially glued it back together and built up any places that looked like they had worn down. Cleaned it up, relubed it and put it back and I have a working speedo for $6 vs. $175 for buying a replacement speedo sending unit off bike bandit.
P.S. the "computer" discussed in a couple previous posts is a stupid alternative to the factory setup. I'd rather take my chances by guessing at my speed based on rev's in a particular gear than have $3 piece of crap wired up to my front fork.

 

[03Speed3]

Retom7, from the conditions and symptoms you describe, I'm pretty sure you are looking at a broken magnet in the sending unit.
As for the 2 loose wires, have there been any modifications to the turn signals/turn signal switch? Signals still work??