Vibration reduction of Instrument Cluster on 83-85 Venture

[dingy]

Vibration reduction of Instrument Cluster on 83-85 Venture.

 

I have experienced a lot of vibration / bouncing of my instrument cluster on my 83 Venture when riding on rough roads.

 

I recently had the cluster off of the bike and found that the two brackets that mount the cluster to the fairing sub frame had excessive play in them.

 

There is a rubber grommet over a shoulder stud at two points on each bracket for vibration dampening.

 

I placed a new 3/8” washer between the existing washer and bracket to reduce the free play in the brackets.

 

The 3/8” washer will fit over the shoulder of the stud allowing the bracket to slightly compress the grommet some more. The existing washer is replaced back over new washer and will only allow the nut to be tightened until contact with the shoulder of the stud.

 

When the washer is placed correctly and the bracket is bolted back on the cluster, the threads of the stud will be about even with the back of the 10 mm nut when tightened.

 

With this modification in place, the vibration of the cluster has been significantly reduced. There is still some flexing of the cluster that will absorb road vibration, but not nearly as much as before.

 

The 4 conductor connector in the1st picture is for my shift position lights. The mounting bracket for the cluster is removed in this picture. The mounting studs for it are to the top left and bottom right of the electrical connector.

 

The second picture shows where I placed washers.

 

Gary

Edited June 10, 2013 by dingy
reformated

[skydoc_17]

Thanks for the write up!! I too have a vibration issue with my dash and this seems like a doable fix for it.

Earl

[dewinks]

Dingy, is this fix the same that I would do on my 92 VR? I have a bunch of vibrations in the fairing area, cluster one of them. Thanks.

 

N.

[dingy]

Dingy, is this fix the same that I would do on my 92 VR? I have a bunch of vibrations in the fairing area, cluster one of them. Thanks.

 

N.

 

I am fairly sure it is the same. At the time I wrote it I didn't have any experience with the 86-93 bikes.

 

Gary

[KIC]

I did the same thing on my 89 when I had the cluster off to grease the speedometer. Made a BIG difference ! Thanks for the write up.

[icebrrg3rd]

You read these tips and think "Now why didn't I think of that, it's so simple." Thanks for the tip, going to do this soon, will be taking the gauges off to re-solder the connections (again), turning the high beam on causes the white headlight warning light to come on.

 

-Andrew

[sebringjim]

I did the same thing on my 89 when I had the cluster off to grease the speedometer. Made a BIG difference ! Thanks for the write up.

.

 

Hello, Just curious, where di you place the lube and what type did you use? I have mine out to do this procedure at the moment but I can't find a answer for either of these questions.

 

thanks for any help you can provide.

 

Jim

[Venturous Randy]

.

 

Hello, Just curious, where di you place the lube and what type did you use? I have mine out to do this procedure at the moment but I can't find a answer for either of these questions.

 

thanks for any help you can provide.

 

Jim

 

The thing that needs greasing is the bushing/bearing that goes into the speedometer that the cable sticks into. The only way you can grease it from the outside is to force grease around it and there is a fitting that someone on here sells that will screw onto the threads where the cable housing goes and has a grease fitting you can use with a grease gun.

The way most people grease the speedometer is to take it out of the dash and look down inside the speedometer at this bushing and put grease on from the inside. You can use something like axle grease and put it around the top of the bushing and it will work its way down around the bushing. Do not use anything like WD40 as it will just wash any grease off this area and get worse.

I have used a long small diameter rod and put a dab of grease on the end of it and smear it around the bushing several times and like I said, the grease will work its way down around the it. This tread shows the fitting I made a long time ago that you can make yourself.

http://venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36254&highlight=speedometer

RandyA

Edited December 26, 2013 by Venturous Randy

[bongobobny]

Hey Gary, what's the trailer light plug for???

[dingy]

Hey Gary, what's the trailer light plug for???

 

It was connector I had at time to be able to unplug the gear indicator LED's I added to cluster housing. Used a hard drive connector on present way it is hooked up.

 

Left is 1st, middle is 3rd & right on is 5th gear. Much easier to see than CMU indicator.

 

Gary