I have to pass on something I told Charmayne to do with her bike a few weeks ago but that I failed to do myself and painfully learned my lesson over the last 24 hours. I made sure Charmayne labeled each of the connections in her headlight so she knew how to put them back together once we finished upgrading her fork springs and headlight. However, I didn't as I felt I would recognize the wire color pattern and be fine with reconnecting them.
Fast forward to yesterday and I was finally in a position where I could put the electrical system back together in the headlight bucket. Unfortunately, I spent many hours until late last night and again early this morning trying to figure out why my turn signals (LED) would only dimly light. After much troubleshooting and swapping her turn signals for mine (everything worked with hers), I finally paid attention to the fact my center console wasn't lit up (oil pressure, gears, signals). I decided to remove the bucket and disconnect all wires to ensure I was getting power at each. I then realized I had cross connected the center console wires and swapped them. Sure enough the center console lit up and my turn signals worked as they should have.
Had I marked my wires when I disconnected everything, I would not have wasted the time I did; especially when I knew I should have and even explained the reasoning to Charmayne.
There is another lesson here that I just haven't wanted to spend the time working on - if you have to replace multiple connectors in the same area as I did a few years ago, alternate the pattern somewhat or use different colors to signify what connects to what. This would also have simplified matters for me this weekend.
Fast forward to yesterday and I was finally in a position where I could put the electrical system back together in the headlight bucket. Unfortunately, I spent many hours until late last night and again early this morning trying to figure out why my turn signals (LED) would only dimly light. After much troubleshooting and swapping her turn signals for mine (everything worked with hers), I finally paid attention to the fact my center console wasn't lit up (oil pressure, gears, signals). I decided to remove the bucket and disconnect all wires to ensure I was getting power at each. I then realized I had cross connected the center console wires and swapped them. Sure enough the center console lit up and my turn signals worked as they should have.
Had I marked my wires when I disconnected everything, I would not have wasted the time I did; especially when I knew I should have and even explained the reasoning to Charmayne.
There is another lesson here that I just haven't wanted to spend the time working on - if you have to replace multiple connectors in the same area as I did a few years ago, alternate the pattern somewhat or use different colors to signify what connects to what. This would also have simplified matters for me this weekend.
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