Speedometer Calibration for Dummies - The Freelance Files MMLXXV

Speedometer calibration

We don't know about everyone else, but around the Antisocial Network we're pretty much unanimous in our opinion that, when you have a how-to question, you're better off asking someone who knows more than you for advice. We mean, really: do you ask someone who's never been in a helicopter how to fly one? Of course not... which makes us wonder why someone who wants to know "How to Calibrate a Harley Speedometer" would bother reading the advice of Artesia Peluso at ItStillRuns.com.

With all due respect to Harley and the brand's devotees, they probably already know that,

"Harley-Davidson is a leading American motorcycle manufacturer..."

...and the rest of Artesia's 56-word introduction. What would probably have made for a more on-point introduction might have been an explanation of why someone would want to calibrate a speedometer. Guess what: Peluso had no friggin' idea why!

No, this mental midget started out by telling people to drive past a roadside radar gun (which the communications major called "laser radar-monitors [sic]") to "Test your speedometer," thereby determining "if your speedometer reading is accurate or faulty."

Artesia then went off on a tangent, telling her readers to visit their local H-D dealer and "provide the representative with your motorcycle's model information." You do that because, according to Peluso, "The company usually carries the the proper speedometer drive gears to calibrate your particular Harley."

At this point it became clear that Peluso assumed calibration to be some sort of repair. She even told her readers to, "Take out the broken speedometer drive-gear..."

Apparently, Artesia didn't realize that the main reason for speedometer calibration is a change in tire size. If you want to change the speedometer's drive gears to recalibrate, you'll need to specify the old and new tire sizes as well as the "model information." Artesia also seemed unaware of electronic speedometers, which can be recalibrated without messing with gears by using an aftermarket device.

We'll freely admit that no one here knows much about Harley-Davidson motorcycles, but it's for damned sure that we know more about why (and how) you'd calibrate a speedometer than our Dumbass of the Day. Just like her other appearance here, Peluso tried to explain how to do something without having the most basic knowledge of the task. Fie on you, Artesia: maybe you should read Robert Pirsig!

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