Hey - I'm the proud (?) owner of a 2002 Gs500 as of a week ago. Trouble is, the bike has had a few owners that tried out their redneck engineering skills, and now there's some new features to my bike that I'm not sure that I want.

one of the more annoying ones is that I think the previous owners destroyed the guage lights - at night the gauges are completely dark, unless you turn on this cheezy little LED that's taped above them...

how does the stock system work? is it backlit? or are there lights around the outside of the guages? Also, does anyone know of a wiring schematic available? I'm told that the clymer doesn't have much help for the '02s

any suggestions for improved methods of lighting would also be very welcome...

Thanks in advance - and greetings to all members from a newbie who will probably be asking many dumb questions in the next few weeks

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bajabound/1593372515/

Here's a picture of said redneck engineering for anyone in need of a laugh.

does that even light up anything
the stock lights are behind the face plate of the tach and speedo, if u take the black plastic cover off you should be able to spot those wires unless he took those off as well.

Quote from: bajabound on October 16, 2007, 03:32:31 PM
[...] does anyone know of a wiring schematic available?

Try [THIS ONE], from the Haynes manual.

Quote from: bajabound on October 16, 2007, 03:32:31 PM
I'm told that the clymer doesn't have much help for the '02s

any suggestions for improved methods of lighting would also be very welcome...

Funny that you should mention Clymer and lighting at the same time.  I like to dredge up the old [Paging Mr. Clymer!...] thread whenever I get the chance.   

here is the "exploded view" of the guage area... dont loose the rubber grommets...

Thanks a bunch for the help - far more than I could have hoped for 

Thanks also for that link - I didn't find that when I was originally searching for answers. Very useful

Hi Baja,
Welcome to the site.
And don't worry about asking stupid questions here.
You'd be amazed at the incredibly stupid questions asked by some of the people who have been visiting here for a while.
Mach1, you know who you are.

I haven't a clue as to what the PO was trying to do with the LEDs there either.

Maybe he was trying to illuminate himself at night for more visibility?

Seems to me it would probably cause the rider's night vision a problem.

Let us know if you need more assistance.

The "A Team" has been here, I am just the clean up guy. 

I loved that piece of redneck injuneering 

the PO had a good idea, but put the lights in the wrong place.  INSIDE the gauges they'd look good, my old bike had 194R bulbs that were red because I HATED the orange glow they had, so red made the thing a lot better.  yours, I'd say a blue 194 bulb(assuming thats what it requires) would look cool  in there.   

look in the wiki for LED gague light... and replace the bulbs for LED.. last longer.... look at the 2005 model info that shoudl work on your 2002. (think LED changed after 01)

Quote from: bobthebiker on October 18, 2007, 07:32:32 PM
yours, I'd say a blue 194 bulb(assuming thats what it requires) would look cool  in there.   

<<------- have a look for yourself