No speedo = Better Rider?

As some of you may know I have been without a speedo for a couple of weeks thanks to a shot speedo rotor (now replaced).

However in the two weeks of having no speedo my confidence grew massively and my driving appeared much, much better than when the speedo was working.

Anyone know why this might have been?

It wasn't due to the weather as it was, at times, truly awful.

Originally Posted by krhall

Anyone know why this might have been?

Probably partly because you were judging speed by ear and feel as to the Revs - but I suspect also cos' you were simply looking ahead and around you continuously and not down at the speedo every 5 secs........yer look away even for 1/2 a second it breaks yer concentration / the continuity (?) of the story in front of you - which IMO rather sensibly does affect yer confidence in knowing what is going on.

Or it could be something else.............

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Wayluya

Probably partly because you were judging speed by ear and feel as to the Revs - but I suspect also cos' you were simply looking ahead and around you continuously and not down at the speedo every 5 secs........yer look away even for 1/2 a second it breaks yer concentration / the continuity (?) of the story in front of you - which IMO rather sensibly does affect yer confidence in knowing what is going on.

Or it could be something else.............

This is partly the reason why you almost never see a speedo on a race bike, or when there is one its taped over so it cant be seen.

Its too distracting. Its amazing how much distance you can travel during that half second glance at the speedo during a race or track day session, certainly enough to get you into trouble.

The other fairly obvious reason is that there are no speed limits on the track!

Yes - that sounds like a perfect explanation to me. I knew it wasn't working so wasn't pre-occupied by the speedo.

Originally Posted by flymo

This is partly the reason why you almost never see a speedo on a race bike, or when there is one its taped over so it cant be seen.

Its too distracting. Its amazing how much distance you can travel during that half second glance at the speedo during a race or track day session, certainly enough to get you into trouble.

The other fairly obvious reason is that there are no speed limits on the track!

+1

Not so great on the motorway unless you know your cruising revs...

TBH now I think about it when im making progress in the twistie bits I rarely look at my speedo. No real need imo...

Worse thing is when they stick speed cameras on juctions, so instead of looking at avoiding an accident, you are looking at your speedo!

I have to say though riding without a speedo I find rather disconcerting personally.