to start off with i have a 2000 model vtr...
i was riding the other night and i looked down to see how fast i was going and everything was dead.. I rode th bike home pissed off and in the morning i dug into it to try and f ix it. I replaced the fuse and it blew in about a min. so i then pulled the cluster off and noticed that the six wire plug was pretty corroded so i cut it out and hard wired everthing back together and put i new fuse in and it blew instantly... if the cluster is unplugged and the key is on the fuse does not blow but as soo as i plug the cluster in it blows.
has anyone encoutered this and if soo how did u fix it. i am going to tear into it some more and take the cluster apart tomorrow to see if i can uncover anything

p.s. does anyone have a gauge cluster for sale that fits the 2000 model i figure i might need to locate one since i am going to be taking this one apart...lol

 

Of course with electronics anything can go wrong but I have heard a few reports of wires wearing through their insulation and shorting to ground or another nearby wire. Check your wiring harness for any sign of worn insulation and proceed from there. There is a link to the service manual on this site in the knowledge base - maybe try to connect up ceratin parts of the gauges like the backlighting and see if it blows and so on to narrow it down. Good luck and hope its an easy fix.