Ok, what ground did I unplug?

1984 VF500F. Replaced a few parts, and now the gauge cluster lights are on, but the tach, speedo, and coolant temp needles remain dead. Also, the fan will not turn on. I am assuming there is a common ground somewhere I disrupted, by where? I looked, but can't seem to find it.

 

What parts did you replace exactly? Do you have a shop manual? Wiring diagrams would really be your friend. Check for a common power feed as well(hint:fuses)

 

I uh, I got it. Hah!

Turned out that the radiator fan wasn't snapped fully together. That solved that problem.

The rest was the meter fuse. I looked them all over, but the fuse was broken in the cap, so I didn't see it. I thought the two problems were related, so I was hunting a much more complex answer than I needed to be.

As a side note, however, I noticed there is a green and an orange wire, each ending in a female terminal, just behind the headlight. It was there on my parts bike, too. I know I didn't touch them, and they have nothing going to them. Are these test leads for something? Tach, maybe? I can't find anything in the shop manual...

 

I'll take a shot at your mystery wires and say they are for the European model. European bikes have a city light setting that turns off the headlight and runs a small low amperage bulb.

 

I love a happy ending.

 

Viro, I noticed those same green and orange wires the other night...

 

I'm very certain my bike isn't a European model... either of them.

Though, it IS likely for such a light. It's possible Honda equipped both American and European models with the same harness?

 

Most likely, which is why they are just hanging there on your bike.

 

It's just a "spare connector"; it's there in the wiring diagram. Existing in the European model though the wiring loom is different than the American.