I/S questions

[Moonshot_1]

Just got a new to me 99 Interstate. Green and Silver combo. Is it nice? Why yes it is. Almost out of the box nice.

The questions. The guy who owned it last said he never rides at night and this is where I got a couple issues.

1. How difficult is it to change the lights in the Speedometer and Tach? Any thing to look out for?

2. Does the radio/time LCD display have a back light? This one remains dark at night. Can't see the time or radio station. Not a big issue but if it can be rectified easily it would be a plus.

Thanks
Mike

[Michvalk]

Yes, there are some alternatives for lights. I don't know what they are, but, there were several posts on them in the past. Go to the top of the first page for tech board, and use search. Should find plenty of threads on them. And, yes, there is supposed to be lights behind the center display. I would think, if all the lights in the dash worked, you wouldn't need to put brighter lights in. You have to pull the fairing to get to the bulbs, but, not really difficult, just time consuming

[Jeffb]

I just upgraded mine check and see if this link works and helps.

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php?topic=50996.0

[ecw]

If I am understanding the wiring diagram correctly, then all of the lights in the instrument panel share a common ground connection.  So if none of the lights are working, then you might want to check that ground connection.

[Moonshot_1]

Just to follow up--- The light on the Tach works but could be brighter and the odometer portion of the speedo is lit. The other stuff is not.

[Bighead]

In My experience they are pretty dim to begin with.

[BigBad1]

Congratulations on the Valkyrie!!   There are four bulbs for the dash lights. The two outer ones light the left side of the speedometer, odometer and the right side of the tach. The middle two bulbs illuminate the right side of the speedometer and left side of the tach. These two center bulbs also illuminate the center LCD. Sounds like your two center bulbs are blown. As already stated by Jeffb, there are some LED options that are brighter. The biggest issue you may encounter replacing them will be the brass inserts in the faring usually break loose from the faring when you try to remove the screws that hold the speaker and trim pieces to the fairing. There are several other post on this board on how to remove the screws and re-glue the brass fitting back in place. You may want to order a few of the brass fitting (part number 90316-MJ1-000) before you start because you will likely damage one or two of them when removing.

[Moonshot_1]

Had to remove the windshield to get it cut down and have run into the brass insert problem. Was able to re-insert them but didn't glue them back in as they seemed to fit pretty snug. Did think about gluing them back in but wasn't sure if that was ok to do. Will be gluing them in when I get them out for the lights.

[Moonshot_1]

Wow. That was easy peasy. Even had to epoxy the brass inserts back into the faring and the whole deal took 2 hours and that includes going to the dealer  20 miles away to get the bulbs. And it works!
Thanks for all the insight and advice.