I have the 98 hawk 996. I bought it used. It's obviously been laid down a few times but mechanically it is still pretty tight. The problem I am having is that the speedometer fuse keeps blowing. I change it and sure enough it blows again. I want to check with the community here first b4 I pay the shop $90/hr labor. Any ideas? I'm decently mechanically capable so hopefully I will be able to perform your suggestions. If this has already been answered please redirect me to the thread. Also, I am wondering if the RPM gauge is supposed to light up. It seems like I saw it light up once before but now it's not. I know the Speedo and Odo does. Thank you in advance for all of your help!

 

Check the wiring to the cluster, inside it, etc for any signs of damage or worn insulation which could cause a wire to touch a piece of metal and ground itself out. Others have had similar issues so you may want to search the knowledgebase articles as well. There is also a link to the shop manual download on this site which will help with wiring diagrams. Hope you get it figured out.

 

The other thing to test is your R/R if it has gone bad it can send too much voltage to the system, blowing fuses.

 

thank you RickB and lazn. I will check those things out and follow up with you...Also, in my original post I asked if the RPM gauge should have a light behind it like the Speedometer does. Any feedback on that is greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

 

Yes it should, and that's another reason why I suspect the R/R as it can fry bulbs as well as fuses.

 

R/R, better check it out.

 

Agreed on the RR and it might be going bad as mine caused several odd lighting issues with the bright light indicator going in and out before the RR went bad completely. Changed the RR and not had any issues since.

Double check wiring as mentioned before. If it's been laid down there might be a do-it-yourself splice somewhere to the dash thats exposed. I've not cracked my dash to replace any bulbs but you might need to check there too if you don't have any backlight for the tach anyway.

 

Thank you all for the input. I'm on the R/R hunt right now. I will let you know when I get it replaced. Wish me luck!

 

Ok y'all...replaced the RR today and i noticed a big difference in the strength of the idol and my lights were much brighter so I think it was well needed. NEVERTHELESS, i am still blowing fuses for no reason! IDK! It's only the fuse that is listed as "meter/tail position." Please Help! it's driving me crazy. I will check the wires AGAIN to see if something is shorting or touching metal or anything else.

 

A little while ago I did a fork swap on my hawk. Of course I took the front fairing off and put it back on during the installation. What I didn't notice was that when I put it back I apparently pinched some wires that are near the right side radiator. I was scratching my head also because the bike was blowing that fuse and I was losing all my gauges (lights, everything). Since that was the only thing that had changed I figured I'd try to trace down a pinched wire or uninsulated one. I found that and was back to normal. Just a suggestion!