TOPIC: Great Speedometer Repair place

As some of our North B-Ride riders are aware, my delightful '89 R100RT's speedometer went up the spout, with the mile odometer figure counting tenths of a mile and the trip meter having lunched out completely. The airheads site members' advice was the thing was too complicated for me to tackle unless I really knew what I was doing (I didn't/don't) and having checked with my buddy, Lee Marks, at European, he said there was a place in California that did repairs but after calling them, told me the price would be around $300 to fix it. Yeesh! (like the say, the cheapest part on a Beemer is the rider--thus the 'Yeesh!') Anyway, poking around Google and the Airheads club site I came up with another spot--in Austin, Texas that does speedo repairs...and contacted them. I was quoted, not a flat $300 rate, but a rate of $125 to $250, depending on what was required to fix the speedo... and not a month turnaround like the California place said, but a couple of weeks. So, off the speedo went to the Great State of Texas.

Sure enough, back it came in 2 weeks, for a repair cost of $150 (which included the cost of shipping the thing back to me via UssPuss....) Not bad at all! I got it back on the bike (which sat there in the garage smiling at me again as all was back aboard and copesetic). And sure enough, on the next run, the Speedo was behaving as it should and always had before. Great job on the part of Rick Borth and his folks at Overseas Speedometer!!!

Anyway, they not only fix bike Speedos, but car, truck, and you-name-it. Should you need some work on a speedometer, here's the information on the owner, phone numbers, URL, etc. They even have on their web-site a form to fill out and e-mail to them requesting either service or a quote.

Rick Borth
Overseas Speedometer
100 Wallis Drive
Austin, TX 78746
800-444-0292 / 512-329-8200
www.speedometer.com / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If anyone out there has a misbehaving speedometer, for my money, this place does a great job.

That's awesome news Ralph!! I'm glad your back up and running now. Now you have no reason or excuse for "our finest" should they decide to pull you over and give you a performance award!!

All kidding aside I am glad your bike is now complete and what a find for speedo repair shop!! I will file that info away for the day I may need it or somebody else may need it!!

Thanks for the kind words, Don! So far PA's finest hasn't nicked me on the RT...I already paid my dues that-a-way a couple of years ago on my then K1200GT---coming back Rte 22 from the RR Museum in Altoona...Dave and I got nicked for doing a wee large bit over in a 45 umph zone...Blew by a delightful trooper and some Harleys chugging along. The GT was so smooth you couldn't tell how fast you were going, and the trooper was most kind to both of us, as he cited us for not obeying traffic control signs rather than the extra MPH. Fortunately the '89 RT's 'engine room' lets me know via seat and sound more or less how fast I'm going without looking at the clock.

If you were riding with Dave I am sure you were "a wee bit over" It's always nice if/when you get stopped that they are understanding. If your riding safely I see no reason for anything but a warning at best!!

The real embarrassment at that Cop Stop was that 5 minutes after we'd been pulled over a bunch of Hardly Ablesons we'd passed at a rate of knots a while before came potato-potatoing past while the kindly SP gentleman was handing each of us our 'You owe us $100 and pass Go no mo at that speed" papers--a real embarrassment for Beemer riders--to be passed by Hardlys under any circumstances!! I remember a time a few years back when a bunch of us were riding back on 79S from a Conneat Lake fish feeding where we were just doing the limit due an SP car in an obvious position when we were passed by a couple of HDs...Paul White decided that embarrassment was quite unacceptable, pulled out of line on his K1200LT, and tore after 'em, blowing 'em off as a matter of BMW pride about a mile further on. We caught up with Paul at the next rest stop, and he was wearing a broad ear-to-ear smile at having upheld the honor of the rest of us Müncheners.