Radio

[emtdouggood]

Is it normal for the radio on a 83 venture to only work on A M side. Tried to clean all the buttons with electric cleaner but it did not work. I looked on ebay but the prices was a little high.(my opinion) Is there a fix for these or is it the nature of the beast. It is not a big deal but i like it all to work if its on the bike. Doug

[Kregerdoodle]

They didn`t have "FM" back when those where built!!

[Squidley]

No, it's not normal....Kinda like Kbay

You'll have to get into the unit and do some real good cleaning. Many times the buttons will stick over time and need to be flushed out. I have also seen those same units go bad, start with the easy and then troubleshoot further.

[Condor]

Is it normal for the radio on a 83 venture to only work on A M side. Tried to clean all the buttons with electric cleaner but it did not work. I looked on ebay but the prices was a little high.(my opinion) Is there a fix for these or is it the nature of the beast. It is not a big deal but i like it all to work if its on the bike. Doug

 

FM is normal. You may have a bad connection on the multi plug under the unit. You get to the plugs by removing the board that holds the radio and tape deck. Once unlocked they lift straight up out of the outer plastic. Get some electrical contact cleaner and spray the 'H' out of them.

[BOO]

FM is normal. You may have a bad connection on the multi plug under the unit. You get to the plugs by removing the board that holds the radio and tape deck. Once unlocked they lift straight up out of the outer plastic. Get some electrical contact cleaner and spray the 'H' out of them.

 

Yeah that plug can cause all kind of problems. Once spent a couple of hundred bucks trying to get a radio fixed to find out the plug contacts was the problem.

Use pencil eraser and or contract cleaner tools and of course the spray cleaner.

emtdouggood:

I don't know how much the radios on ebay run but back when these bikes were new the radios were around a grand at the dealers.

Good luck,

BOO

[oldgoat]

i just replaced my radio head because the other one was missing some buttons. it worked am and fm. if you dont get yours working and need the radio head give me a shout. if you can replace the buttons. on it? i might just donate it for cost of shipping

[dingy]

Is it normal for the radio on a 83 venture to only work on A M side. Tried to clean all the buttons with electric cleaner but it did not work. I looked on ebay but the prices was a little high.(my opinion) Is there a fix for these or is it the nature of the beast. It is not a big deal but i like it all to work if its on the bike. Doug

 

 

Pull your radio head out of the holder & check that all of the pins are at the same height. Push on each on and see if they are all locked into contact base.

I had one of mine come loose and was pushing back into contact base. I put epoxy on back side of contact to hold in place.

 

Replaced it last year with a car stereo.

 

Gary

[MiCarl]

The buttons have a rubber cover over them. Unless you disassembled the control unit you did not get cleaner in them.

[warthogcrewchief]

My radio was missing some of the (outer) buttons.

 

I pulled the face off, got the right dimensions of the button cavity and then made the two missing buttons out of epoxy putty.

 

I then sanded down to the correct size and smoothness, then drilled a hole right though the middle, tapped it for the screw threads.

 

After that, I painted them. You will need some spring stock cut to size. I tried using the new spring in the same position as the factory buttons, but I don't think it worked. The factory springs were designed to prevent the button from retracting too far, which, with new springs kept the button depressed.

 

So, I placed the screw through the face hole and then the spring on the screw and screwed the screw into the newly made button. I did a dry fit first to ensure the buttons worked properly. After I knew they worked, I then removed the screw and placed some super glue on the button treads and reassembled the new buttons. After it was all done, I placed a drop of super glue into the screw hole (from the outside) for added measure. I then did a light sand and a paint touch up by hand.

 

If I get some more time, I'll try to disassemble my radio to get photos.