Electronic Smiths instruments

Sergio

Sergio

Joined
Jan 17, 2020
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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:rolleyes:)
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.
 
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?
 
Matt at cNw does a cool stainless mount and replacement hub nut.

The mount takes a pick up and hub nut has magnets in it (I asked for one sans magnets so I could fit my own to it).

When I did this he only offered neg earth pick ups, but back then PUCA were still the U.K. dealers for Smiths and sold a lot of options for magnets and pick ups etc. But sadly Smiths don’t seem to offer such things anymore, which is a huge failure IMO.

I’d suggest an email to Matt as his hardware makes for a super clean and maintenance free set up. He may well offer pos earth pick ups etc now too?

Here’s mine:

IMG_0130.jpeg


IMG_0129.jpeg
 
Fast Eddie said:
Matt at cNw does a cool stainless mount and replacement hub nut.

The mount takes a pick up and hub nut has magnets in it (I asked for one sans magnets so I could fit my own to it).

When I did this he only offered neg earth pick ups, but back then PUCA were still the U.K. dealers for Smiths and sold a lot of options for magnets and pick ups etc. But sadly Smiths don’t seem to offer such things anymore, which is a huge failure IMO.

I’d suggest an email to Matt as his hardware makes for a super clean and maintenance free set up. He may well offer pos earth pick ups etc now too?

Here’s mine:

View attachment 118770

View attachment 118771
Click to expand...
Good morning FE,
What a nice set up you got!
This is the thing to get rid of the unfamous speedo gearbox.
I'll pass along this information to my Norton friend.
He should ask Matt for a positive/ + /ground etc.
Otherwise, by your testimony the speedometer calibration is a bit of a pain, but instrument is doing his job for many thousand miles ( I mean more reliable and more durable than the stock magnetic ones). Am-I right?
By the way your pictures show a nice and impressive back wheel set up.👍
Congratulations!
What is your rim brand? What is your rim and tire size?
Do you have a CNW chain guard? I think it provides more room for wider tires?
Thank you so much for your advices
Sergio:)
 
Sergio said:
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:rolleyes:)
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:)
Click to expand...
Sergio,
Like your friend I also dislike the bouncing needles especially after installing the Smith electrical tach and speedo on my motorcycle.Given the setup on the speedo is a real pain,once done you will like the results.Tach is straightforward.My bike is positive earth.If you decide to go with these instruments,don’t hesitate to ask me for any questions.Myself I really like the way they work.
Mike
 
Sergio said:
Good morning FE,
What a nice set up you got!
This is the thing to get rid of the unfamous speedo gearbox.
I'll pass along this information to my Norton friend.
He should ask Matt for a positive/ + /ground etc.
Otherwise, by your testimony the speedometer calibration is a bit of a pain, but instrument is doing his job for many thousand miles ( I mean more reliable and more durable than the stock magnetic ones). Am-I right?
By the way your pictures show a nice and impressive back wheel set up.👍
Congratulations!
What is your rim brand? What is your rim and tire size?
Do you have a CNW chain guard? I think it provides more room for wider tires?
Thank you so much for your advices
Sergio:)
Click to expand...
Yessir I have found the clocks to be reliable. Despite my questioning in my previous post, I actually have 3 bikes with Smiths electronic gauges fitted, so I do like them really!
My rim is a 2.5” wide 18” rim which is correct for an 4.00 18 Avon RR. Can’t recall the brand of rim though.
Yes, cNw chain guard. I fitted it simply because I prefer it over the original, so can’t comment regarding tyre clearance.
 
Last edited:
The sensor that pics up the magnet as it turns on the wheel is run on 5V DC, there is no need to have a 12v + or _ve version as the 5V is entirely within the wiring for the speedo, its not earthed. The speedo has a 12V feed and then internal electronics to drop this to 5V and power the sensor, its this 12v feed that needs to match the bikes wiring.
 
Is it really necessary to have the sensor on the rear wheel? Surely it would be simpler to mount it somewhere on the front. It’s just a hall sensor and a passing magnet isn’t it?
 
cliffa said:
Is it really necessary to have the sensor on the rear wheel? Surely it would be simpler to mount it somewhere on the front. It’s just a hall sensor and a passing magnet isn’t it?
Click to expand...
No problem mounting on the front, apart from you won’t be able to see how fast you’re wheelying !

It’s just finding a way to fabricate the necessary neatly.

As there’s no hefty drive cable, there’s no issue having in the rear though when you think about it.

It all comes down to where it’s easiest to do a neat job I guess.
 
kommando said:
The sensor that pics up the magnet as it turns on the wheel is run on 5V DC, there is no need to have a 12v + or _ve version as the 5V is entirely within the wiring for the speedo, its not earthed. The speedo has a 12V feed and then internal electronics to drop this to 5V and power the sensor, it’s this 12v feed that needs to match the bikes wiring.
Click to expand...
Do you have any links for suitable senders? It’d certainly help the OP…
 
Fast Eddie said:
Do you have any links for suitable senders? It’d certainly help the OP…
Click to expand...
Have to know more which is hidden inside the housing. I went a different route and instead got a GPS sender which had its own calibration routine. Give it the right press on a button to enter calibration mode and then click +/- buttons until the speedo needle points at 60 kmph.
 
YING said:
Sergio,
Like your friend I also dislike the bouncing needles especially after installing the Smith electrical tach and speedo on my motorcycle.Given the setup on the speedo is a real pain,once done you will like the results.Tach is straightforward.My bike is positive earth.If you decide to go with these instruments,don’t hesitate to ask me for any questions.Myself I really like the way they work.
Mike
Click to expand...
Thank you for your generous help offer, I appreciate.:)
 
For a while I found intermittent problems with inaccurate tach readings, up to 500rpm out - Smiths couldn't/wouldnt help - blamed the Trispark ignition. Trispark behaved similarly - blaming Smiths.
What fixed it was using shielded speaker wire from the coils to the tacho. I earthed the shield to frame.

Also - calibrating the speedo - I did this https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/smith-electric-speedometers.29001/post-469807

Cheers
 
kommando said:
The sensor that pics up the magnet as it turns on the wheel is run on 5V DC, there is no need to have a 12v + or _ve version as the 5V is entirely within the wiring for the speedo, its not earthed. The speedo has a 12V feed and then internal electronics to drop this to 5V and power the sensor, its this 12v feed that needs to match the bikes wiring.
Click to expand...
Good morning Kommando,
Are you referring to FE speedo pick up he got from CNW?
+ or - don't make any impact on speedo reading?
Thank you to clarify that point.
Sergio:)
 

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