Ex police 1150RT. Advice please.

[Decompressing]

I know it's not a cracking shot, but this ex-Met R80 shows the separate clock. The in-car shot is a similar, if not identical, speedo head.

fuck me!! The car pic...is that an Enigma machine next to the calibrated speedo?!!! Just in case you had to send an encrypted message back to the u-boat command centre!!!

 

[Martyn H]

fuck me!! The car pic...is that an Enigma machine next to the calibrated speedo?!!! Just in case you had to send an encrypted message back to the u-boat command centre!!!

Vehicle Location System; enabled crews to update their status/location without a verbal message. Also known as a Coded Tone Generator. Now the wonders of SMS type of updating literally makes it a museum piece.

 

[Steptoe]

That was the case with the old airheads, but not for years. The BMW speedo is calibrated & certificated by a company in Notts. (IRS) & stays with the bike. I think the latter process started with the K Series so 1980's. The first job BMW's I rode had the second speedo driven as well as the BMW speedo, so the BMW speedo was still your odometer. Then, in the 80RT era, the BMW speedo was disconnected, & a large, very legible it must be said, speedo was mounted on top of the dash.

Part of earning my living was buying ex-police bikes in the late eighties until the late nineties going all over the country getting bikes. Some forces bikes had a junction box which enabled both the original and separate speedos to work at the same time. Still have a couple in a box somewhere . Cumbria used to sell their R100RT's with only around 12k miles on the clock. Once had three training bikes from north wales police with less than 10k miles, one had 4K miles and was like new. Worst bikes used to be from Manchester police, doubt they were ever serviced in their lives before being punted out to auction.

 

[Martyn H]

Part of earning my living was buying ex-police bikes in the late eighties until the late nineties going all over the country getting bikes. Some forces bikes had a junction box which enabled both the original and separate speedos to work at the same time. Still have a couple in a box somewhere . Cumbria used to sell their R100RT's with only around 12k miles on the clock. Once had three training bikes from north wales police with less than 10k miles, one had 4K miles and was like new. Worst bikes used to be from Manchester police, doubt they were ever serviced in their lives before being punted out to auction.

My first two job BMW's ( an R75/6 & a 75/7) had a large white faced speedo mounted up on the fascia, for want of a better word, on the Avon fairing. I seem to recall they were calibrated by a company called Auto-Tempo, at Kings Cross, but I believe they were a German instrument. Very steady needle, but the junction box, just above the gearbox, could be a source of trouble.
When the R80RT's came out the single speedo, complete with odometer, was used. I have it my mind that they were a Lucas clock, but it might have been Smiths. Do you recall ? (As in Post 18 )

 

[Decompressing]

Part of earning my living was buying ex-police bikes in the late eighties until the late nineties going all over the country getting bikes. Some forces bikes had a junction box which enabled both the original and separate speedos to work at the same time. Still have a couple in a box somewhere . Cumbria used to sell their R100RT's with only around 12k miles on the clock. Once had three training bikes from north wales police with less than 10k miles, one had 4K miles and was like new. Worst bikes used to be from Manchester police, doubt they were ever serviced in their lives before being punted out to auction.

you didn't work for Mottingham Motorcycles did you? They used to specialise in flogging ex-Job bikes to the public...

 

[Martyn H]

On another sad site that i belong to, a former colleague posted this, from the Eagle comic, in 1982.
Illustrates the second speedo. above the clock & voltmeter very well, which is quite sad, in that I noticed.........

 

[chopper_harris]

And Police gauntlets that fill up with water after 15 minutes of rain