roisman

Hi! Im new to this site. I just want to ask if any of you guys know how to adjust the kilometer (odometer) reading on my VTR. My bike is a '99 and it's original instrument gauge was fried by a local electrician when we were installing HID headlights . My original gauges used to read 16,800 kms. The shop bought a replacement for me, it came from a wrecked '98 VTR, the gauge works fine but the only problem is the odometer reading is already 53,980 kms. I wish to bring it back anywhere near my original mileage, I live in the Philippines and there is no such service available here. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Hawkrider

The way it works on some cars is that there is a chip that can be replaced, or swapped, inside the gauge cluster. That's probably the same way it works on the Superhawk, but is probably not as easy as the 1984 Camaro that I worked on where I just swapped microchips. If there's no easy way to do this then the shop will have to fix the situation. They did, after all, just reduce the value of your bike by about $1000US.

roisman

Thanks Greg! I already discussed it with the shop and told me it is the best they can do. Anyway, going back to the chip replacement, won't it go back to zero reading if I have the chip replaced?

nuhawk

Yes, I think that would be the case, Roisman. You could probably attain that same goal by pulling the battery out of the gauge module (if you can find it). Any digital memory has to have a power source of some sort to do its job. Removing that power source and then reapplying the power source will effectively restart the memory. But in both cases 0=0.

Hawkrider

Heh, and 0 miles is a problem? Nuhawk, I think the chip is a bit like (pun not intended) the BIOS in your computer. There is no battery in the gauge cluster. The battery in your computer just basically keeps the internal clock running, hence when you unhook the battery in your car or bike, you have to reset the clock, radio stations, etc.

nuhawk

The bios in a computer has two parts. One is "burned" into the chip and the other is powered memory. If the battery goes dead on the motherboard the computer still boots - it just does so at a very primal level. If this speedo was removed from a parts bike and moth-balled something kept it remembering that it had 58k on it. I defer, of course, to your knowledge of these bikes and their parts but something in that module is helping it remember its settings.

shayne

This can be done. I have had mine adjusted by a guy here in Australia. They access the chip and adjust the readings of it. In my case I wanted to reduce it to zero to match the full rebuild I have done on the bike over the last 2.5 years. The guy got it down to 150km which was close enough. It was originally at 77000. Of course if selling the bike you would need to be ethical and not try and misrepresent the mileage. In my case it was purely convenience for servicing etc.

I would make enquiries for someone who is an instrument specialist in your area, and go from there.

roisman

Hi! I already had a friend with background in electronics look at the gauges and we did'nt see a battery at the circuit board.

Shayne, did the technician use an instrument to have your gauges reset?

shayne

I am trying to remember what he said he did......(scratching head)

I think the memory is contained in the chip like a computer hard drive. A computer will retain data without power, as will our gauges. So I think what this guy said he did was to feed signals into the circuit board to change its memory. This is something to do with why it cannot be returned to zero, he could only go so far.

With respect to your friend, you need to be looking for an instrument specialist, and go from there. I had my gauge faces repainted, and they outsourced the odometer recalibration to another shop, so it is a specialist job it seems.

Loco

I'm guessing it involves using the bike's own sensor that measures the sprocket rotations, and then somehow inducing a negative effect into that switch, effectively tricking the bike into thinking it's going backwards, very very fast. Without knowing the specifics of that measuring device or the gauge cluster (i.e. voltage, resistance) you would have to be extremely cautious when tampering with either device. Probably best to spend the $100 on some replacement gauges.

Steptoe

Old thread I know, but I just found you guys
If you are still hunting for a solution, you simply need to swap out the EEPROM (Flash Memory) Chip on the circuit board in the Speedo. It is usually an 8 pin Surface Mount Device (SMD)

Looks like the chip on the right.


Flash memory will keep the memory even when power is disconnected, just like those USB thumb drives.

roisman

Hi steptoe! do you have a background on how to do this procedure?

Hanukkah

I'm also in the RP. Maybe you are just asking the wrong people about your problem mate. I can help you on your problem. PM me if interested. Thanks.

lazn

I wonder if the bike rolls over at a million miles.. Then you could just use a signal generator to run the numbers up and over.

Tweety

Nope, it doesn't "roll over"... If you get it to that point it will stick on 9999999... I have tried that with a signal generator...

Oh, right... So with your total post count of one post to your name, you know all about the people on this forum, what they know, what background and expertise they have?

Do you know where i put my 8mm socket the other day when i was wrenching too? I couldn't find it...

I'm splitting my post here to keep things apart...

Tweety

The odo memory does indeed work of a flash device, and it could potentially be a 8 pin SMD device like that in the picture... It could also be about 30 other size's and shapes, so unless you know how to identify a flash device, the surrounding circuitry and what part does what in the whole gauge cluster, it's about as likely that you will find the right one as it is that you will find a used cluster with the exact same mileage down to the last number as yours...

And when you have found it, you need to not only know how to solder SMD components, which is fairly easy, you also need to know how to de-solder an SMD component amongst a dozen others, without damaging the rest... The odds that you know how to do that is significantly less than the odds of finding the right circuit on your first attempt...

And then you need to hook a signal generator up to the circuit and increase the mileage in the new memory circuit to the right number... Which at this point compared to the rest is a walk in the park...

Or you could just save yourself the work by hooking up the flash device to more than one signal generator, the right way, and set it to the desired mileage in somewhat coarse steps... That's a lot easier... And it's still complicated enough that I'm not going to try to teach you it online... Either do the research on your own, or find a company near you that has the expertise...