buzzing noise

[mattevans]

hope someone can help me woith this one because it sure has me puzzled. My 84 venture has recently started making a buzzing or very loud humming noise that seems to be coming from the dash area behind the tach and spedometer. the noise starts usally when the bike gets just above 40mph and stops when you slow the bike to near a stop. I can place my hand on the dash when it starts and can feel the vibration from the buzzing it is very frustrating and it does it most of the time but not all the time. ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY

[GeorgeS]

Remove Headlight assembly to get access to the Instrument Panel

 

Remove the Drive Cable houseing " from ' the Speedometer Unit.

 

Also, remove cable houseing at front Wheel Axel.

 

Remove Drive cable from cable sheath.

 

Clean and hand greese the Drive cable.

 

Lubricate the Bushing IN the Speedo unit where you removed the Cable.

 

Use WD-40 to clean, then Spay into the bushing some type of Lubricant.

Its not real easy to get to.

 

You might have to remove the Instrument Panel itself, and get the Speedo unit out, to do a good lubrication of the entire unit.

 

The loud noise comes from the Bushing, where the Drive Cable, turns the speedo unit.

[SilvrT]

them bees nesting in there get a little excited when other bees and bugs start smashing against the fairing above 40mph....

 

[Kregerdoodle]

Your playing cards need replaced......LOL

[Venturous Randy]

You might have to remove the Instrument Panel itself, and get the Speedo unit out, to do a good lubrication of the entire unit.

 

The loud noise comes from the Bushing, where the Drive Cable, turns the speedo unit.

The only good way to fix this is take the speedo out and put grease on the bushing on the inside of the speedometer at the very bottom where the cable comes thru. WD40 is not a high speed type lubricant and may do more damage in the long run. If you keep riding the bike it will not be a problem after a while because it will destroy the speedometer and the noise will go away.

This is a real common problem on these old bikes, especially when the weather turns cooler.

RandyA

[Gearhead]

The only good way to fix this is take the speedo out and put grease on the bushing on the inside of the speedometer at the very bottom where the cable comes thru.

 

I just did this. As Randy & George told me, it wasn't that bad. 45 min to get it out, an hour playing with it, an hour or so putting back together.

 

The thing I didn't like was that you can't take the bushing apart to really get grease inside of it. You can access both ends, but the inside (upper) end is down between parts. So here's what I did. I sprayed WD40 on the lower end only (where the cable goes), spun the bushing, and then blew it out with air. Repeated a couple times, to clean out the bearing and at least get something thin that would penetrate the entire length of the bushing. Be careful where you spray stuff and blow air or you'll make a mess out of your speedo (it doesn't get any worse than that :-) Then I sprayed some chain lube on both ends, Honda stuff which is really cool. It goes on extremely thin and then evaporates to leave behind a clear teflon and moly coating. I spun the bushing by hand and repeated a couple times. I let that sit a while to evaporate. Then I did my best to shove in wheel-bearing grease with moly. On the bottom end I worked it in with my finger and tried to force a little up the bushing. On the top I had to use a jeweler's screwdriver to put some grease on the end of the bushing, so I'm not really sure how effective it was in getting any down the bushing. Again, I spun and wiggled the bushing by hand to help the lube work in.

 

No noise so far.

 

Jeremy

[MikeM8560]

I can get my cable off without removing the headlamp housing by removing the window and thw aplastic cover under the wondow and behind the instrument pod.took some reaching in with the fingers but it worked.