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Ambient thermometer accuracy

4955 Views 35 Replies 20 Participants Last post by  SkooterG, 
Bandit Greg
I'm a bit mystified by what I'm seeing on my dash regarding ambient air temp ... it doesn't always seem to match what I would guess.
Where is the sensor for this unit... inside the fairing? and how accurate might it be?
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Bandit Greg
SkooterG said:
I do however have one issue with the ambient thermometer: The sampling rate. It is slow to react. While riding through hot or cold pockets for a mile or two I can feel the temperature change drastically temporarily, but the ambient thermometer never changes.
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THAT may be what I'm experiencing, more than any general inaccuracy
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AtlRiderrr
Unlike the coolant thermometer which changes every two seconds 😆. Maybe we should all write Yamaha and tell them we would trade one for the other.
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skippy344!
I have not analyzed it yet, but if it were to be relocated, to where it was able to sense the air as it is going by, rather than the pocket inside the fairing, where it senses the engine temps before it can sense the ambient air temp, might that give us a more accurate and up to time reading?
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rbentnail
Ride to the bank, observe temperature, ride home. Wash, polish and park bike. Problem solved! :p I'm sorry but just how important is it, really, to know the exact temperature at any given moment.

Ride more, stress less ;).
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J
Bandit Greg said:
Yeah, nothing radical... I don't think mine is "defective" or anything; it's only that I've been surprised a number of times when I felt the air temp would have been significantly different. Yesterday I was up in northern Connecticut and I saw a reading of 97 at one point. It WAS an exceptionally warm day... but... ninety-seven?
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I live in CT. It was 96 the other day at the airport where they keep records...broke a record....that must have been the day and you are not far from reality. I rarely look at the temp. reading because I know how I feel.
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vzhq16
I've always felt that the two I've owned were pretty accurate with the caveat that you need to be moving at a decent clip and for more than just a minute or two. Since it is housed under the faring, it is subject to the heat reflected off the pavement as well as engine heat if you are going slow enough or sitting still.
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Randy_B
Mine is significantly hotter than OAT after I stop for gas or lunch, but while I'm moving, it's accurate enough for me.
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B
Your bikes came with ambient-thermometer's !?! 😵
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CatchMeCory
I've compared mine against a weather app on numerous occasions and it's +/- 1 degree F, and who knows where the weather app is getting it's info compared to where I am at that very moment.
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Bill Lumberg
On my ‘14, the reported temp was about 3 degrees off. On the other two, it’s been spot on. Of course all read high if you’re sitting still.
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B
Just for my own curiosity, does this sensor have anything to do with engine management in any way or is it simply a temp readout for the rider? FSM shows a way to test it but didn't see anything about its purpose(s).
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RaYzerman
Ambient air only, the coolant temp sensor and intake air temperature sensor provide ECU inputs. Ambient sensor is behind dash plastic on Gen2 and on Gen3, mounted to the mirror stay with one screw.... buried under the nose fairing. Sitting in the sun or engine heat will affect it.... gotta be moving so it can get some airflow.
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NeoRonin
Whooshka said:
I'm just getting the popcorn ready. I'm curious of...

1) How many pages this develops
2) How many guys list "data points" from their experiences
3) How a body thermometer is more or less accurate from an FJR one
4) WGARA


:LOL:
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All of these things are interesting to me. The science and discipline of metrology is both fun and infuriating. It always seems like it should be simple but often it drives me nuts. Same for sociology, but that could be due to my low level of specifically relevent education.

1) looks like 2 pages so far
2) a surprisingly low fraction by my count
3) nobody yet, but it's an interesting observation. Are medical thermometers individually calibrated or do they just have crazy high quality control?
4) Given the number of postings, I would estimate at least 32. I know some people have multiple posts, but other interested people aren't posting at all. With no defensible basis, I will guess that the two factors cancel out, more or less.

Getting away from this meta-conversation and going back to the original thread: An old BMW Airhead Club article examined results from a bunch of tire pressure gauges and found that they all were in good agreement. My recent comparisons suggest this is not true for contemporary pressure gauges. Assuming temperature gauges vary the same way, I think this suggests it is possible to get a high level of accuracy with attention to quality, even without individual calibration. More obviously, instruments produced by anonymous brands in far flung locations may be very untrustworthy.
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Whooshka
I'm a certified meteorologist so let me pUt this as simply as I can. If you're hot, open some jacket vents. If you're cold, put another layer on under your jacket. That's the relevance of the ambient temp reading on your dash.

But I digress... WGARA.



:LOL:
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rbentnail
Whooshka said:
I'm a certified meteorologist so let me pUt this as simply as I can. If you're hot, open some jacket vents. If you're cold, put another layer on under your jacket. That's the relevance of the ambient temp reading on your dash.

But I digress... WGARA.
:LOL:
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It is helpful to know how much the temperature is relatively changing to know if I need to stop and put on rain gear before I get wet. Riding in steep mountains, this may be the only indication of impending rain.
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S
Whooshka said:
I'm a certified meteorologist so let me pUt this as simply as I can. If you're hot, open some jacket vents. If you're cold, put another layer on under your jacket. That's the relevance of the ambient temp reading on your dash.
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WTF fun is that?!?! I am not cold unless my ambient temperature gauge tells me I am cold. I am not hot unless my ambient temperature gauge tells me I am not. Don't be a f***ing buzzkill!!!

Perhaps it was my small exposure to engineering in my younger days, but I like stuff that takes accurate measurements!

Where's the good ol middle finger smiley when you need it?
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