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Speedo sticking

17K views 91 replies 30 participants last post by  Michael-G 
#1 ·
Hi have anyone else had problems with speedo sticking intermittently my bike is 2 weeks old and it has happened 3 times so far, bike is booked in for coolant leak Tuesday and to check speedo.
If anyone has had a problem what was the cause
Rabbit Aust
 
#7 ·
mine is doing the same thing (stuck at 120 right now) it stopped at 60 and then added to it. I took it to the dealer of Saturday, they looked at all the connections and unplugged the pickup, plugged it back in and the speedo reset, okay. I rode about 10 miles and back to 60 it went. Called back to the dealer and let them know, they are working on plan B.

Tjohn - the t-bird speedometer is not cable driven of the front wheel like the america, they are digital and pick up off the transmission. different animal.
 
#6 ·
My 06 america started doing it around 10000 kms, except it was acting exactly like a tacho. After advice from Catenaccio, I pulled it out and lubed both ends, put it back in and it worked a treat for another 100 kms or so, then it started again. It was pretty rusty anyway, and i broke it with my 10 thumbs the second time i pulled it out. So off to the dealer for another one. 50 or so kms later, it's started again. Warranty has runout, so looks like I'm up for a speedo now. What's frustrating is it only does it intermittently.
 
#9 ·
I noticed my speedo has been shaking at times. tried different things to see exactly when this happens but it is too intermitent. When it shakes it moves about 2-3 mph back and fourth during steady throttle.
 
#10 ·
Mine was doing it on the ride home from the dealer but kept coming right by its self or by turning the key on and off a coupple of times it would zero.
Buy the time I had the 1st service it was fine but I mentioned it anyway to the dealer and they had only replaced one at that stage.
2 Months and 2000km and still fine so some might just wear in and some might need replacing.
 
#15 ·
Had mine do it today. I have about 2500 miles on the bike so far, and it first stuck at around the 60 mark, then dropped down to 40, then back up to 60.

After a while (about 50 miles) it finally started drooping back down to zero, and after a full stop with key out, it was back to normal.

One thing I noticed (how could I not?) was that when it started doing this, I was in stop-and-go traffic in the middle of Orlando with the temperature hitting 100F!

I am seriously wondering if the problem is being caused by some overheated electronics. Once I was able to get out of Orlando and onto the open road, then run it for a while in some air, it finally came around and started acting properly.

I will be reporting this problem to my dealer, however.
 
#16 ·
the dealer replaced my speedometer last week, rode about 30 miles and it stuck at 60 again, I call a let them know, they are working on plan C. got about 500 miles on since the replacement and some times it sticks and some times it works normaly. I think the next move is to replace the ECU.
 
#17 ·
Took the bike into the shop today for them to fix the speedometer. Not sure what they are going to do, since this is the first time they have ever heard of the problem.

I was able to physically show them the problem last Saturday, so they know for a fact that there is a problem with it.

In my experience, it seems to only happen after the gauge has been sitting out in the sun on a hot day (this if Florida and getting towards summertime), so I figure it is an overheating problem of the gauge itself.
 
#19 ·
First response from the dealer yesterday was that the problem (according to Triumph USA in Georgia) is possibly being caused by loose connections/pins.

Fine... they can try that. I am not going to hold my breath on it though. I will keep the idea of the gear position and road speed sensors in mind, however.

My guess on that, if it were either of those sensors, is that it would be the road speed sensor, as it didn't seem to matter which gear I was in, or if the bike was even completely stopped and kill switch applied... the speedometer would be stuck at some value other than zero.
 
#54 ·
sticky speedo



I agree - mine screws up in any gear when it takes the notion to get wacky or sticky which is currently often - It also screwed up when I got snowed on at MT Evans CO at 38degrees F so it isn't the heat, at least in my case. My dealer says he isn't getting any help with this and I reported my first experience with this three months ago. I currently have about 6K mi and now the speedo seldom works correctly.
 
#20 ·
I am headed back to the dealer today to take the next step on the speedometer issue, which will be to look at the previously mentioned gear and road sensors.

It has been approx 800 miles since they swapped out the original speedometer, sometimes it works normally, other times it sticks at various speeds (mostly 60 and 10), sometimes it will reset when the bike is turned off and on, sometimes not. It is fairly annoying as it seems to fail only when I am in an area of 'high traffic enforcement' and have no idea how fast I am going. I am not so sure that a cop will accept my speedometer warrantee issue story. probably write me up extra for the BS story!
 
#21 ·
Got the bike back from the dealer last night.

Their story is that Triumph has never heard of this problem before, which is obviously a complete load of BS. I don't know whether I should believe these guys and that Triumph is lying through their teeth, or think that the dealership is full of it. I am 50-50 at this point on which of these is true. Heck, this is the dealership that, when going over the bike with me, told me that it doesn't have auto-canceling turn signals.

Anyway, the kid that worked on my bike is actually a good guy, and knows his stuff. He pulled the unit apart, completely disassembled as far as he could what was there, noted that there was a ton of dielectric grease in the connections between the speedo and the cabling, and that a couple of the connections appeared to not be fully connected... sort of half-way into their sockets. This is a good thing, I figure, as it may actually have been the problem.

I guess I will just have to wait and see.
 
#22 ·
Got the bike back from the dealer last night.

Their story is that Triumph has never heard of this problem before, which is obviously a complete load of BS. I don't know whether I should believe these guys and that Triumph is lying through their teeth, or think that the dealership is full of it.
when I first told my dealer about the speedo problem they on the phone with triumph in the UK straight away, and apparently got sugestions about what to try.

as a side note: a co-worker when on a factory demo t-bird (from the factory demo truck) and mentioned the speedometer was stuck, Triumph must be aware of this problem by now. The demo bird was also turning the right header bright blue at the top bend, not so good.
 
#24 ·
Well just turned 1500 miles and a trip to the dealer due to an oil leak on the right side of the crush washer and notice when I got home that the speedo was stuck at 90mph stopped the bike and went down to 60mph turn bike off and down to 30mph. Power cycle the bike and speedo reset to 0mph. Went for a quick ride around the block and speedo stuck back on 60mph even tho I never went pass 25mph. Call the dealer and they need to run diag to verify issue. One thing that I notice is that it hit 100 degrees here in Phoenix today so temp may be a factor.
I have to wait until Tuesday 6/1 to take it back to the dealer in the hopes that it get's stuck on the way there so they can see it with their eyes as I don't know what kind of diag they will be running on the bike. - my guess is if they have enough of issues with the speedo sticking Triumph may put out a service bulletin other wise is cheaper for them to replace a few parts to those of us that is happening to.
 
#26 ·
One thing that I notice is that it hit 100 degrees here in Phoenix today so temp may be a factor.
my speedometer got stuck the first time while there was still snow on the ground here. So I am not inclined to go with a temperature related cause. (if we didn't ride in a little snow we'd only have 3 months of riding season!)
 
#25 ·
dagamed: Take pictures when it is doing it, even if it is stopped at the time. This will help with what you are complaining about. My dealer has asked that I take pictures the next time it happens (if it happens) so that I have something to send directly to Triumph.
 
#27 ·
At 106 miles my speedo stuck while riding. I finally got it unstuck but as soon as I went down the road it stuck again. Took it to the dealer and they took a new speedo off their bike. I've rode it about 400 miles since then with no problems.

P.S. also developed a coolant leak at 173 miles when one of the coolant clamps became loose. I tightened it and no problems since.

JustDad
 
#28 ·
Sticking speedo has hit my T-Bird!

So, I'm a new T-Bird owner and yesterday it seems my T-Bird also started experiencing the sticky speedo issues. I have 241 miles on my bike and on my way to work I noticed the speedo stuck at 65 mph. When I left work last night and put the key in, it seemed to reset the speedo. However, after riding down the street, it started sticking again. On my way home it seemed to work on and off finally working for the last few miles. This is very frustrating reading many other bird owners experiencing the same problem with really no idea from Triumph the problem or fix! When I called my local dealer, they had only seen this issue on one of the Demo bikes a few weeks ago. What's even more frustrating is I reviewed so many bikes and ultimately went with the T-Bird which I love, but this is definitely a buzz kill....

Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
#33 ·
So, I'm a new T-Bird owner and yesterday it seems my T-Bird also started experiencing the sticky speedo issues. I have 241 miles on my bike and on my way to work I noticed the speedo stuck at 65 mph. When I left work last night and put the key in, it seemed to reset the speedo. However, after riding down the street, it started sticking again. On my way home it seemed to work on and off finally working for the last few miles. This is very frustrating reading many other bird owners experiencing the same problem with really no idea from Triumph the problem or fix! When I called my local dealer, they had only seen this issue on one of the Demo bikes a few weeks ago. What's even more frustrating is I reviewed so many bikes and ultimately went with the T-Bird which I love, but this is definitely a buzz kill....

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Don't get discouraged, you've got a great bike with some new model teething problem. My dealer replaced mine at 106 miles, it has been working fine since. However, in 1996 Triumph had to replace three sets of speedo & tachs before the problem was finally fixed. But it was fixed under warranty. That was my first T-Bird (885) - I kept the bike for 10 years and 36,000 miles with no other problems.

JustDad
 
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