Historically, the instrument cluster of motorcycle digital speedometer was mounted in the center of the dash to give both the driver and the co-pilot equal access to keeping tabs on vehicle speed, fuel level and warning lights.... Which after a few decades stopped being useful and was kept simply as a brand hallmark.
As the golden age of winning Monte Carlo Rallies passed by, and it was the single driver's interests that became the primary focus of the MINI manufacturer, the digital speedo era dawned. At that point, the digitize