I was out for a ride today and after a 20 minute stretch at 60 mph, I stopped to make a right turn and the speedometer needle was stuck at 20 mph. I started riding again and the speedo was reading about 20 mph faster than I thought I was going. I stopped, shut it off, and nothing changed. Showed 20 mph while parked. Then I switched it to ACC and the speedo clicked back down to zero. I continued my ride and everything was normal.

I'm new to HD (and riding), but my friends who ride Harley's have never seen this before. I'm not sure if this is a common thing, but any input on what might cause this would be appreciated.

Thanks -

 

Well, it just happened again, except it stuck at 30 mph this time. I went on a 100 mile ride today and when I was close to home, I noticed my speedometer showed 70 mph. I was doing about 40. I pulled over, turned the bike off, let it sit for a minute or two, then turned it to ACC and watched the needle click down to zero. This is pretty darn weird.

 

I added a speedo/tach combo gauge to my 2003 Night Train shortly after purchase. At times if the top speed was 70, would come to a stop the speedo would still be on 70. Take off and if doing 70 again the speedo needle would be indicating 140! Needle past the 120 mark. Shut the bike off for awhile, gauges would sweep and needle back to 0. Started keeping track and it happened more in higher temperatures and also noticed the speedo gauge face appeared to be heat warped when the needle acted up. I'm thinking the needle was dragging on the gauge face and after the bike sat would flatten out and work normally again.

When I sold the bike told the new owner don't be surprised if the speedo shows 120+ just sitting. The odometer worked fine even when the indicated speed was going goofy.

Don't know if your issue is heat related, just throwing out there what happened to my bike.

 

Thanks for the response. It's been in the 70's here, so I'm not sure if it's heat related, but I'll check the face to see if it's warped. The way the needle clicks back down to zero is really odd, like it's mechanically indexing down for some reason.

 

My needle never clicked back to zero so you may have a different issue. Mine acted up more when temps were in the 80's and above. When you first turn on your key before starting does the speedo needle do a sweep before zeroing out?

 

It doesn't do a sweep. It just moves from below zero to zero.

It's only happened twice, and I've put almost 700 miles on the bike since I bought it 3 weeks ago. Seems pretty random.

 

Try unplugging the connection at the bottom side. Make sure the pins and openings look good. If that does not fix it, it's probably junk. My Harley tac does it. What is odd is it usual only does it in cool weather.
Mine gets up to about 2800 or so and then bounces from there to 5000 or so in jumping bounces all on its own.
It like your speedometer has a little motor driving it.

 

i have an 01 sport and the speedo acts up at high rev's but will usually go normal when i either stop or key cycle.
hd was used diff methods but i believe it to be a stepper type motor
the needle is attached to a motor armature of sorts that is magnetic. there is a anvil on each side of the armature that forms pole shoes. each anvil is connected to a coil. when the coils are powered, they induce magnetic fields that move the armature and thus the needle. there are some bearing surfaces and gears, mostly plastic so wear and lube can be an issue. then there is loss of magnetic fields of the armature or a pole piece holding a field. when the machine is not moving, the pole pieces and armature pole align and mark zero.
the speed sensor sends two data pieces
1. pulse count
2. frequency
the speedo uses a frequency to voltage chip that drives the pole coils.
there are youtube vids that show how to open an hd speedo so you may inspect it although no parts are available as hd sees it as throw away but if it needs cleaning and lube, maybe a salvageable unit

 

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the information.