Hello, im new to this forum and im posting today because I have a slight issue with my bike. Its a 1998 superhawk with 28k miles nice condition always well taken care of by previous owner who put all of the miles on the bike since he bought it new in 98. Well when I road the bike home everything on the dash worked great I gave her a quick wash then took it out to let it dry off a bit. Later I let my dad take her out and he came back after noticing the speedometer quit working. Everything on the dash works all lights miles show up tach works but speedometer doesnt move, it does however light up when its dark. I checked the fuses along with using electrical contact cleaner on the connections for the speed sensor, still nothing. Where do you all reccomend I go from here?

All help is appreciated and sorry for the wall of text im posting off my phone and its hard to make a text wall look good on it -_-

 

Replace the speedo sensor.

And if it hasn't been done upgrade the R/R if you have the original unfinned self-cooking version fitted. And look into also upgrading CCTs.

 

Alrighty im going to order up the speed sensor, it will get cct upgrade I just dont know if I want to go with manual ones or oem automatic tensioners. Ordering those once I sell some of the extra super hawk parts I got with the bike. Thanks for the reply.

Btw the R/R has been upgraded (:

 

Re. CCTs This should help you decide > www.vtr1000.org • View topic - dreaded cct after 48hr ownership :-(

 

I've read several people washing it and losing their speedo for a bit afterwards.

I've taken down the speedo all the way down to the circuitry in the speedometer. After seeing that and reading. Be very careful how u wash the front around the gauges. Verrrry careful

 

So do you think its a speed sensor or am I looking at a new cluster? From your expierence with it failing due to being wet. I had the speed sensor out and I tried cleaning it didnt help at all. Any way to test the sensor like ohm meter or something? Bike has been dry 2 days btw. Oh ane bike has been in my possesion 2 days -_-

 

Normally when the speedo sensor fails it flutters around a bit - check grounds and connections on back of instrument cluster. Try looking on fleabay for second-hand speedo sensor as new they are relatively expensive compared to a speedo cable.

 

Can this effect the gauge lights as well? I washed it on the weekend and one went out, but is now back.

 

I get caught in the rain a lot and I wonder about the gap around the windshield letting water in to the guages

 

Hello ladies and gentlemen im just here to follow up with my speedo issue. 3 days after washing the speedometer decided to work again. Im not sure why but im assuming its because it dried out after my dumb *** getting it wet while washing the bike -_- just a word of advice to you all, I would avoid getting the cluster wet at all costs as I only got a few drops of water on mine, but was enough to mess it up for a short time.
Thanks for all the help.

 

Well fella's, after about 10 years of SHawk ownership, I've just experienced this exact issue. I typically never use the hose on my bike, but last week I took a PT job @ the local bike shop. I had to represent the VTR and she shined... even if I wasn't sure how fast I was going on the way home Hope she dries out soon...

 

Your bike's yellow, right? So I can tell ya how fast you were going. Fast.