Koso Speedometer

[Striker1423]

Well I bought a small Koso digital speedometer and intend on using it on the RD. But after hooking it up it doesn't power on?

This is the one I bought:
https://kosonorthamerica.com/product/xr-01-speedometer/

I have it hooked up according to the wiring they provided. Red to constant hot (red wire in headlamp bucket), brown to keyed hot (brown wires inside headlamp bucket), black to ground, and green just tied out of the way as it's for a non existing fuel gauge. All connected with provided scotchlock connectors.

My mechanic friend said the constant hot would be for speedo memory, and the keyed hot would be to power it up. Yet the speedometer will not power up?

Does it require a signal from the magnetic pickup to work? I have yet to finish installing the pickup magnets as the RD250 has regular bolt heads. I was gonna swap a few of the brake rotor bolts for cap heads or maybe order the magnetic pickup bolts from Koso.

[Kawtriplefreak]

On my RX2GP a 0 appears when you power up the unit. It should have come with 6 magnets. I believe 6MM Allen heads are the correct size for the magnets. You can always take one with you to verify when you buy them.

[Striker1423]

I hope I didn't break it somehow by pulling it into the headlamp bucket lol. But it wouldn't surprise me.

[Gil Gallad]

scotchlock connectors????????????????? throw them in the bin and fit proper connectors - soldered or crimped. you'll probably get a circuit then  ;D
cheers, gil.

[m in sc]

agreed. or proper crimp connectors from vintage connections

[Striker1423]

Alright I knew better than to use those damn things too lol. Well, I'll try to connect it up the right way and see what happens with it.

[Baldwin53]

I always check connections for proper voltage and grounds. A bad ground is the problem in many cases. My Koso lit up when I connected it and then went blank. Pushing on the button for 3 seconds wakes it up. Their website FAQs say that the meter has to be in ODO mode before entering the programming mode.

[Striker1423]

Well it turns on now that I soldered the connections. None of the scotch locks made a connection lol.

I also found out I'll need to buy the magnetic bolts Koso sells. I'm thinking of doing 4 of them as they are 7 bucks a piece. But working on the bike now has me itching to ride lol.

Time to tackle the sled before winter leaves.

[Baldwin53]

As I recall you only need one magnet, more to improve accuracy. I believe that they do have to be evenly spaced if you use more than one.

[Kawtriplefreak]

They do.