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Headlight Woes

  • Thread starter Thread starter gspower
  • Start date Start date
G

gspower

Guest
So ....

I had dropped my bike in the garage a couple weeks ago (slick oil on the ground, no apparent aesthetic damage) and when I picked it back up to check everything over I noticed my headlight was out. Since the bucket was in bad shape from the PO anyway I opted to buy a new bucket. I bought a 7" bucket (when it arrived, it was only 6.25" from bracket to bracket, but that's another story) and waited patiently. Upon installation, however, the light still doesn't work. I do not think both lights are bad and find it improbable that the last bulb would have bit the dust without cause. I read up a bit on the forums and checked the grounds - though I found nothing. My signals and dash lights work fine. The only piece on the bike that is affected is my headlight. I checked out the glass fuse under the seat, and it looks alright, though I don't know what to look for. It's certainly not burnt. Perhaps I'll replace is with a typical fuse and see if that sorts out the problem, but if I had a blown fuse I would be experiencing more electrical issues, no? Again, the only issue is my headlight will not turn on.

Input much appreciated. If anyone has a solution to hook up the undersized headlight without too much work I'd appreciate that too. In fact, I appreciate any feedback at all.

Thanks again,
GSP
 
gspower said:
So ....

I had dropped my bike in the garage a couple weeks ago (slick oil on the ground, no apparent aesthetic damage) and when I picked it back up to check everything over I noticed my headlight was out. Since the bucket was in bad shape from the PO anyway I opted to buy a new bucket. I bought a 7" bucket (when it arrived, it was only 6.25" from bracket to bracket, but that's another story) and waited patiently. Upon installation, however, the light still doesn't work. I do not think both lights are bad and find it improbable that the last bulb would have bit the dust without cause. I read up a bit on the forums and checked the grounds - though I found nothing. My signals and dash lights work fine. The only piece on the bike that is affected is my headlight. I checked out the glass fuse under the seat, and it looks alright, though I don't know what to look for. It's certainly not burnt. Perhaps I'll replace is with a typical fuse and see if that sorts out the problem, but if I had a blown fuse I would be experiencing more electrical issues, no? Again, the only issue is my headlight will not turn on.

Input much appreciated. If anyone has a solution to hook up the undersized headlight without too much work I'd appreciate that too. In fact, I appreciate any feedback at all.

Thanks again,
GSP
Click to expand...


Way overthinking this.
Is there any continuity through the filaments? Sometimes they break from an impact like that. Is there power to it? Ground still connected to ground?

Or are you trying to do all of this without a multimeter?
 
Both high and low beam out?

Ya, you really need a simple multimeter to verify what's going on. They're cheap and you really can't own a 30+ year old bike without one.;)
 
tkent02 said:
Way overthinking this.
Is there any continuity through the filaments? Sometimes they break from an impact like that. Is there power to it? Ground still connected to ground?

Or are you trying to do all of this without a multimeter?
Click to expand...

I haven't checked the filament, only visually inspected, and they both look okay. The new bulb is brand new. I guess it's possible the new one is a dud too. I would follow the wires back but they enter the harness and I'm not sure where it comes out on the other mess of a side. I'll check that there is power coming through the wires when I get home at 4. Too dark last night to start tinkering with the voltmeter. Ground still connected to ground at the male plug end. Where does it ground on the other end? I have everything that I could find grounded to a point near the battery housing. Everything else is working flawlessly. Great charge, functional R/R, stator output is good. Fuse is alright (I think).

And yes, JTGS850GL, both high and low.

I guess I' m overthinking it in the fact that, because both bulbs don't work, I'm thinking that the drop and the light going out are coincidence, ie: correlation does not equal causation.
 
Just checked ... whole new can of worms. I recently installed the Polaris SH775 R/R. I should add that the headlight was working fine with it installed for weeks. Now ....

Voltage at the battery while charging is near 16 volts. Doesn't seem like my R/R is wired up correctly. Additionally, there is no power coming into the headlight at all. Zero. I checked the grounds and they looked okay. The main battery ground is bolted down near the battery box and the ground coming out of the harness is bolted down to the same area.

Where in the hell do I start? I'm thinking it MUST be a ground, but I don't know where to begin or where the best spot to ground is.
 
I AM AN IDIOT.

There is an OFF switch on the headlight of a 1979 GS425. It was switched off. The overcharging has probably boiled down to the light being off while riding for hours. Anyway,

GSP
 
Last edited:
gspower said:
I AM AN IDIOT.

There is an OFF switch on a 1979 GS425. It was switched off. The overcharging has probably boiled down to the light being off while riding for hours. Anyway,

GSP
Click to expand...

Get a series r/r like sh775 and forget a outit
 
posplayr said:
Get a series r/r like sh775 and forget a outit
Click to expand...

I just finished installing the SH775. What I meant was I actually had the switch for the headlight on "OFF". I wonder when motorcycles stopped being manufactured with the option to turn the headlight off. A ton of time and money later it seems everything is working.
 
posplanew and 2054531 said:
The series r/r should not boil over the battery with light off.
Click to expand...

Will keep an eye on it. Might I be looking at a bad ground? The sh775 is brand new and very well grounded.
 
gspower said:
Will keep an eye on it. Might I be looking at a bad ground? The sh775 is brand new and very well grounded.
Click to expand...

If your battery boiled out after fixing your charging system with, then first thing I would suspect is your charging system. If you did it with a SERIES R/R that is a miracle.

Did you do a "Quick Test"?
 
posplayr said:
If your battery boiled out after fixing your charging system with, then first thing I would suspect is your charging system. If you did it with a SERIES R/R that is a miracle.

Did you do a "Quick Test"?
Click to expand...

The battery is still good. It was overcharging at close to 16v, though it never boiled out. I will do a comprehensive test on the system ... Just looking for common problem areas. Thank you for your help.
 
gspower said:
I AM AN IDIOT.

There is an OFF switch on the headlight of a 1979 GS425. It was switched off. The overcharging has probably boiled down to the light being off while riding for hours. Anyway,

GSP
Click to expand...

Don't feel too bad. There are a few on here, including me, who ocassionally suffer from HUA (head up arse) syndrome.
 
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