Five Iconic Motorcycle Cockpits

Five iconic motorcycle cockpits 1

These are the speedometers we love to stare at

The pleasure of riding is a combination between the feeling you get while staring at the lines of your bike and the time spent behind the handlebars, but a thing is for sure: you will always remember some details. Now how many cockpits or speedometers you recall? We’ve made a list of the most emblematic and cool looking dashes. Here are the nominees:

Indian – Corbin speedometer

Everybody remembers the large speed clock mounted on the gas tank of the old Indian. It's one of the first instrument panels of the motorcycles era, now a collectable memorabilia. Back then it was pointing up the speed, and it even featured the number of miles made. In 1935 you could choose to fit your Indian with a speedometer equipped with a backlight, a trip meter and a maximum speed hand. It was made out of steel, and it featured clock dials and gearing. The maximum speed hand was used by the police to catch the speeders.

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Ducati Desmosedici RR

The limited edition Ducati RR was one of the first series motorcycles to feature a TFT screen. The Italian manufacturer celebrated the return to MotoGP with the release of the RR derived from the 06’ Race prototype. Besides all the high tech specifications this bike was fitted with an LCD screen instead of the classic clocks. A wonder on two wheels, I personally felt in love instantaneously with the idea. Since then Ducati builds all the top model with touch screens instead of the usual bike cockpit.

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Harley Electra Glide Dash

At first sight, this cockpit will make you dizzy. It's similar to a truck cockpit and it surrounds the rider with gauges and buttons. The Great American Tourer shows everything and also comes with a music player and speakers. How cool is that! It’s probably one of the first motorcycles to feature an audio system.  

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Triumph 

In the 60’s Triumph build their motorcycles with more than on clock mounted on the triple clamp. Besides the classic speed clock, they started adding revolution clock and even a small central dial for the charging system. Symmetry was not always the present on the British bikes. They often had the speedometer mounted on one side the front suspension. This aspect made them even more good looking.

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BMW R20 Veigel clock

The first BMW motorcycles were fitted with a small speedometer gauge mounted on top of the headlight. Even though we are talking about 1920’s, the blend was almost perfect. Veigel was the main speedometer builder for companies like NSU and BMW. Actually, the finish was so good that the German's latest Scrambler and Cafe Racer models have the same small round dial.

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