Removing and replacing the instrument panel on Vs and Xtras
Posted: |May 9th, 2014|, 4:34 pm
Just for you, ozz!
The manual reckons you should take the forks off just to get the instrument panel, but I disagree! It's a bit fiddly, but it's possible.
Removing the horns, front indicator lenses, indicator side pods, under nose piece, front fairing, and headlight are fairly straight forward, but then you'll be able to see that the instrument panel is retained by three bolts with crown washers - 2 are easy to reach but the final one at the bottom is inaccessible due to the headlight support.
If you stoop down at the clutch side you can see the headlight support is retained by two big brassy coloured bolts, remove the upper one of these: Then you can tilt the headlight support down and access the plastic baffle, the ridgy bit in the centre of this pic: The baffle is retained by three plastic posts into rubber grommets, gently pull on the baffle to feel the tight spots and pull the baffle up and out of the grommets. Be careful, and you should then be able to wiggle the baffle out of the way, turning the steering to one side can help you find the gap it needs to fit through. Once the baffle is out it is possible to remove the easily-accessed bolts with crown washers, and if you then lift the instrument panel up at the front a little bit you can slide the instrument panel itself rearwards slightly to release the final bolt/crown washer/grommet assembly from the slot in the headlight support. A fairly liberal application of Mothers Naturally Black to all surfaces of the grommets seems to restore their pliability, and if you then put a dab of rubber grease into the grommet holes when you refit things they plop into place quite nicely again, ready to be ignored for another 10 years!
If you're doing this to replace the instrument panel bulbs you'll need six 5mm wedge bulbs - 4 for warning lights, 2 for backlights. The bulbs are held in bulb holders so it's a simple job to open up the instrument panel and swap the bulbs over, make sure you test them though before putting the whole thing back together.
The manual reckons you should take the forks off just to get the instrument panel, but I disagree! It's a bit fiddly, but it's possible.
Removing the horns, front indicator lenses, indicator side pods, under nose piece, front fairing, and headlight are fairly straight forward, but then you'll be able to see that the instrument panel is retained by three bolts with crown washers - 2 are easy to reach but the final one at the bottom is inaccessible due to the headlight support.
If you stoop down at the clutch side you can see the headlight support is retained by two big brassy coloured bolts, remove the upper one of these: Then you can tilt the headlight support down and access the plastic baffle, the ridgy bit in the centre of this pic: The baffle is retained by three plastic posts into rubber grommets, gently pull on the baffle to feel the tight spots and pull the baffle up and out of the grommets. Be careful, and you should then be able to wiggle the baffle out of the way, turning the steering to one side can help you find the gap it needs to fit through. Once the baffle is out it is possible to remove the easily-accessed bolts with crown washers, and if you then lift the instrument panel up at the front a little bit you can slide the instrument panel itself rearwards slightly to release the final bolt/crown washer/grommet assembly from the slot in the headlight support. A fairly liberal application of Mothers Naturally Black to all surfaces of the grommets seems to restore their pliability, and if you then put a dab of rubber grease into the grommet holes when you refit things they plop into place quite nicely again, ready to be ignored for another 10 years!
If you're doing this to replace the instrument panel bulbs you'll need six 5mm wedge bulbs - 4 for warning lights, 2 for backlights. The bulbs are held in bulb holders so it's a simple job to open up the instrument panel and swap the bulbs over, make sure you test them though before putting the whole thing back together.