Electronic Smiths instruments

Hello you all,

A friend of mine, tired about flickering needles, cables or speedo drive breakage is wondering about new Smiths from Andover. I had a look at their web site and the instructions sheet generously provided by a Access Norton member, (Sorry I forgot his name)
Frankly it is not a piece of cake, not a plug and play thing.
I have few questions:
1-In my understanding, with the new speedometer, we don't get rid of the unreliable speedo gearbox at the rear wheel?
2-The tachometer installation looks a lot simplier...Am I right?
3- I Would like to have some reliability feed back from those who have those please?
4- I would have thought that a GPS thing is feeding the speedometer instead of the proposed set up.. Am I dreaming or having a nigthmare ahead?

Thank you for all your feedback

Fitting them is a nightmare. There are so many wires !! And the programming is a faff.

You can use the stock shit gearbox drive if yer like, or there are other trigger methods available. Matt at cNw may offer something now I think, otherwise some work will be needed to make things fit.

Personally, mine have been totally reliable in over 10 years, but others have been less fortunate.

If I was doing it again I’m not sure whether or not I’d bother.

RGM used to do a satellite triggered speedo but it doesn’t seem to be listed anymore ?

I have the Chronometric lookalike version on my ES2, has been there for a number of years and (tempting fate) has been faultless to date.
As FE says calibrating was a bit of a pain, the instructions are easy to get wrong.
When i bought from Tum Kullen (RIP) he was offerling a magnetic pick up, the original speedo drive was gutted it went in there. Great system.

jimbo said:

Motorcycles Norton - Caerbont Automotive Instruments | Manufacturers of Smiths Instruments

www.smiths-instruments.co.uk

Click to expand...

Thank you for the link. Are they the same sold by Andover?

I have a smiths electronic rev counter on my bike but after looking at the teeny tiny wires to it, I thought a trip to the auto electrican was the better part of valour.

I agree with Eddie, the factory speedo drive gearbox is a potentially dangerous Achilles heel, and the primary reason why I was drawn to this Thread. I'd love to jettison the dreadful thing, and is the only reason I'd go for an electronic version.

That useful Smiths link provides information on calibration, but I couldn't find anything on retaining the feeble gearbox as a driver.

It needs replacing with something far more substantial, so if the gearbox has to be kept and cannot be beefed-up at the same time, I'll pass. Alternatively, can TTI be encouraged to come out with an improved design?