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97 odometer issue

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Old Jun 8, 2017 | 08:46 AM
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Default 97 odometer issue

Just bought a clean, 97 heritage classic to add to my collection. It has the typical problem with the odometer starting to blacken out. That doesn't bother me a ton. What does, is that when you first start it up, the odometer is blank. By the time the bike warms up, you can see the odometer numbers. I've heard of the blackening issue before, but not the blank issue til warm. Anyone else heard of, or experienced this?
 
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Old Jun 8, 2017 | 11:41 AM
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Have you tried cleaning the pickup??
Sometimes that fixes that.

A couple others have had problems with the odometer screen in the past and the cure seems to be replace it.
You have to disassemble the speedo to do that.
 
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Old Jun 8, 2017 | 12:52 PM
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Originally Posted by texashillcountry
Have you tried cleaning the pickup??
Sometimes that fixes that.
No, I haven't. I know the pickup can cause the odometer and speedo to not work, but can't see how it would cause the numbers to not show. I think I'm gonna have to put a starter clutch in it, so will pull the pick up when I do that.
 
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Old Jun 8, 2017 | 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted by cuda67bnl
No, I haven't. I know the pickup can cause the odometer and speedo to not work, but can't see how it would cause the numbers to not show. I think I'm gonna have to put a starter clutch in it, so will pull the pick up when I do that.
To be honest I see how it would either but Traildog got his working by cleaning the pickup.
Damned if I know why it worked but it did.
 
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Old Jun 8, 2017 | 04:49 PM
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I went ahead and cleaned it after a quick trip up the road. Had to leave for awhile afterwards, but when I came back it was working. The bike had cooled down, But it was sitting outside in the sun. I pulled it back in the shop in the shade, and will check it later or in the morning. Maybe that's what it was. It did have a few shavings on it.
 
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Old Jun 8, 2017 | 06:51 PM
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Nope, that wasn't it...... Definitely seems to be heat related. Guess I'll let it go until it quits altogether, then just replace the speedo.
 
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Old Jun 9, 2017 | 06:30 AM
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There were some troubles with those year speedometers. I had to replace my 97 Road King one because the odometer was absolutely impossible to read.

The trouble, as far as I can remember, was in the connectors of the speedo and I had to remove and replace them and install new deutsch connectors. Here you have the instructions to replace that, just in case you need to do that:

http://84.234.73.214/wiki/images/c/c8/Speedo_instruction.pdf

Regards,
 
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Old Jun 9, 2017 | 01:55 PM
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Could possibly be a bad solder joint on the board that hold the liquid crystal. When it gets hot and expands it makes a good connection.

Try taking a low wattage solder iron/gun and touch it to each solder point to re-melt the solder and see if that solves the problem.
 
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Old Jun 9, 2017 | 03:08 PM
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If the odometer screen looks like ink bleeding through you can replace the odometer itself. You will have to find a donor speedometer to use.
 
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Old Jun 9, 2017 | 04:00 PM
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I had a similar prob on my 97 FLSTS (my trip meter would reset or read wonky for no apparent reason) and it turned out to be that the battery was failing (it was 6 years old). I should have guessed as the bike wasn't starting a sharply as normal.
 
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