I installed a mini speedo to a 2005 Sportster custom. I wired in like the attached diagram. Two wires to the main harness (harness from old speedo, 1 to the accessory wire and 1 to ground). The other three I spliced into coming from the speed sensor. When I turn it on the speedo goes to 100 mph then back to 0 and displays all zeros. When I start up the bike the speedo acts just like a tach. So i tried taking the orange (signal) wire from the VSS to the databus wire from the old main harness. When I did that the speedo now jumps all over the place. I don't know what else to try.

 

What year is your bike?

 

2005.

 

Double check which model years that speedo is compatible with,some aftermarket ones don't work with 04-06. I had a friend run into a similar situation on his 04, key was in the on position and the bike wasn't even running but it put 10 miles on it while the speedo went crazy.

 

It's a bikers choice mini speedo but I can't seem to find what specific years it's compatible with.

 

Mine was also doing the same with the key in the on position. What did your friend end up doing? I really like the look of the mini speedo. I'm hoping it works

 

The 2004 and later Sporty does not use a "typical" analog signal from a speed sensor (VSS) to drive the speedo, it uses a digital signal from the serial data buss that comes from the ICM/ECM. Regular analog speedos won't work won't work on 2004 and later bikes.

If the speedo doesn't say it's compatible with the Harley serial data buss (2004 and up Harley), it's not going to work.

 

Yup, that's the same speedo my friend used. He had four different shops tell him it wouldn't work but one guy told him it would so he bought it. Fortunately that guy promised him he would take the speedo back if it didn't work.

Long story short, he went back to the stock speedo with a fork mount.

 

Thanks a lot for the info I was stumped as to what was going on. I really like the look of the mini speedo. Do you happen to know of any similar speedos that are compatible with 04 and up Harley's off hand?

 

I haven't personally looked but the options are limited. I've heard talk of switching to a mechanical one but couldn't tell you more.