instrument panel dead
 

On the way home from work the other day my whole (almost) instrument panel went dead, both the gauges and the lights. The only things working are the high beam indicator and the turn indicators. My tail light is out too, but not the brake lights. I'm guessing there is one electrical connection in common with all these items but so far I haven't found it. Anyone know what mystery wire is to blame for my problems?

Have you checked the fuses?

US VTR Wiring Diagram

Yes, they look good, but it was dark. I'll check again when I get a chance, probably tomorrow. But if memory serves, there is no one fuse that links all those systems. I'll check schematics again too.

Did you check to see if it was charging? Seen some wierd things happen when there isn't enough voltage. Other than that, I'd suspect a ground.

Wrong

My panel blew out today too. I haven't fixed it yet but the fuse was blown and, if you look at the inside lid of the fuse box, you'll see the "meters", illumination and tail light are on the same 10 amp fuse (or check the post with the wiring diagram).

Yeah, I rechecked my wire schematic and saw the same thing, I was sure when I checked the fuse it was ok but I will check again. Thanks for the help, I'll report back tomorrow if that was it.

It definitely is charging ok because I did a track day yesterday and had no problems. Accept for the obvious guesswork involved in shifting with no tach.

And nine out of ten times when that fuse blows, the R/R needs replacing... So, I'd check, not assume that the charging is fine...

I'm not finished chasing down my problem but disconnecting the speed sensor eliminated the short in the main harness brown wire. Now to determine what's wrong in the speed sensor wiring.

Well, I checked the fuse and confirmed it is good. Then... I realized I had been checking the wrong fuse, sure enough the 1 for the meters and tail was blown. I replaced it and bingo! I have instruments again. I didn't have time for a ride today so I don't know if the new fuse is just going to blow again. Could really suck though, since that fuse protects so many different things troubleshooting it could be a real pain. Any way , thanks for the help, especially the color wire diagram, the one in the Honda service manual is only black and white, the color one is soooo much better.

I've traced mine to the speed sensor. It disconnects from the main harness. Still trying to find out how to confirm the sensor is bad. They are +$70 at Bike Bandit.

Tried everything I could think of to prove the sensor was bad. Finally put in a new fuse. Now everything works. Stumped but happy for now. Hope it holds up for a track day monday.

Unwrap the wiring and look for shorts to the frame... Obvious kinks and visible damage is a good place to start, but mostly do the whole...