98VTR

I noticed this morning on my commute to work that my speedometer was "blipping" down to about 20mph fairly randomly. The digital odometer would cut out at the same time so it appears I'm losing power to the speedo cluster completely. The tach and temp guage were OK, although I did notice the tach fluctuating a litte too (like 200-500 rpms) somewhat randomly too. Although until this morning I never looked so closely for so long.

It's a '98 with 11,000+ miles, and the only thing that I've been doing lately that I don't normally is take the seat on and off alot (to lock my helmet.....it's bike week up here in Laconia, NH). I feel like it's something simple like a loose connection (plug) under the seat.

Any thoughts? I'll check my service manual when I get home too.

Thanks.

SlowHAWK

My bike did exactley the same thing before the R/R cut out. Your probably running on the battery right now. In my case the speedo started going nuts, then the tach, then the entire cluster went out completly, next the headlight, then a bit later the bike just died. This took place over about a 45 mile ride while I was trying my best to get home before it died.... I didn't make it. If this happens to you... you can recharge the battery and run the bike again untill it dies should you not have a place to park it untill you fix it or want to pay for towing.

Check the Electrex site for diagrams of diagnosis of the R/R.

98VTR

Hey man, thanks for the info. Sounds like my R/R is on the outs. I'm pretty sure it's the original one, so I'm probably on borrowed time anyway. My commute home is just under 40 miles so hopefully the battery will hold out long enough. Maybe I should pull the plug to the headlight to conserve battery power? If the tach and other gauges start wigging out I might do that.

superbling

Yup, unplug the headlight. 40 miles is a good ways. Might try a battery charge too if you can. No charger? Try hooking up jumper cables from a car battery and letting them sit (not running of course) till you need to leave.

R/R test: battery voltage should range from 13.5-15.5V at 5k rpm..

superhawk22

Mine did the same thing too, some just die with no warning others appear to do this. I kept getting the bike jump started by my wife who I had follow me because it would just shut down.

Hawkrider

Wow, I guess I'm lucky. I JUST replaced my original 1998 battery. She just couldn't hold a charge for more than a couple of days. Still on the same R/R too! (Knock on wood!)

superhawk22

Wow that is AMAZING, I replaced my stock battery and r/r in let's see when did I join this site....I put in a Westco battery and I just had to replace that last week!!! I think it's from all the trackdays that the new battery died.