More electrical questions for the '82 650g

[delta21]

Ok, so I got the new headlight/turn signal combo all hooked up and wired up, the headlight does not turn on (either hi or low beam) Does the engine need to be running for the headlight to work?
I bought some LED rear turn signals, when they are wired up no blinky, but when I put the stock signal back on (the rear) blinky! so I guess I cannot use LED's?
I bought a new taillight (retro looking) that only has two wires, the stock assembly has six wires (three for each light) I cant seem to make this work any thoughts?

 

[cowboyup3371]

As far as the turn signals, you'll need a newer relay found at Napa or any of the other auto parts stores. Do a search here or even look at Basscliff's site for the model numbers that can work.

 

[Steve]

Does the engine need to be running for the headlight to work?

No, the engine does not need to be running. You may not get full voltage by simply turning the ignition key ON (that is a must), but the light will come on.

I bought some LED rear turn signals, when they are wired up no blinky, but when I put the stock signal back on (the rear) blinky! so I guess I cannot use LED's?

Define "no blinky". :-k

My guess is that they come ON, but do not flash. Right?

The LEDs do not draw enough current for the flasher to work. You will need to do one of two things: 1) install a resistor in parallel with the turn signals (it requires one resistor on each side) to get enough current to trigger the flasher. (This negates the power-saving advantage of LED signals.) 2) get an electronic flasher to replace your stock flasher. Electronic flashers don't care what's downstream, they flash based on time, not load.

I bought a new taillight (retro looking) that only has two wires, the stock assembly has six wires (three for each light) I cant seem to make this work any thoughts?

You need to kinow what the two wires are for. If it is, indeed, a tail/brake light, then one wire will be for the tail light, the other will be for the brake light, the housing will be the ground. If you are using a nice-looking marker light as a tail/brake light that only has a single filament, those wires will be for power and ground.

Easiest way to check is to use an ohmmeter between each of the wires and the housing to compare resistances. Or you could take a chance of throwing a few sparks and just connect the housing to the - terminal of a battery and each of the wires to the + terminal to see what they do.

.

 

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. delta21,

I've got a write-up for my blinker mod on my little website. But you could also go with a simpler solution and use one of the small canister, two-prong flasher units that fit into the stock socket. I think it's a 552 or 522 by Tridon, Bussman, or similar. You'll have to find which two holes to put it in to make it work (the socket has three holes).

Anyway, let's get to the good stuff...your "mega-welcome".

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[delta21]

Well hmmmmm, thanks for the all the help so far.

I need to find out why the head light is not coming on, (I'm pretty sure it worked when I took it apart) I even tried plugging in the stock headlight.

When I plugged up the stock taillight assembly the other night the running lights did not come on, but the front and rear brake did make the light come on (are the headlight and tail on the same circuit ?) The new tail light was a 6v single filament, I switched out the bulb to a 12v dual filament, but the housing is mounted to a painted fiberglass seat/fender so do i need to run a ground wire from the housing to the frame?

 

[tom203]

Ok, so I got the new headlight/turn signal combo all hooked up and wired up, the headlight does not turn on (either hi or low beam) Does the engine need to be running for the headlight to work?
I bought some LED rear turn signals, when they are wired up no blinky, but when I put the stock signal back on (the rear) blinky! so I guess I cannot use LED's?
I bought a new taillight (retro looking) that only has two wires, the stock assembly has six wires (three for each light) I cant seem to make this work any thoughts?

I hoped you've stumbled on Basscliff's site where a readable wiring diagram awaits you! On 82 model 650s, the headlight was wired to be on always when ignition was on- did you check headlight fuse?
As for tailight, your retro tailight needs more than two wires, if you plan to have a brakelight and a tailight ( always on with headlight). Maybe the retro light was designed to be grounded thru its mounting bolts.Does it have a double filament bulb?

 

[Steve]

Thanks for asking, but please put down the tools and back away from the bike.

The new tail light was a 6v single filament, I switched out the bulb to a 12v dual filament, but the housing is mounted to a painted fiberglass seat/fender so do i need to run a ground wire from the housing to the frame?

First of all, you don't simply take out a single-filament bulb and insert a dual-filament bulb. There is an insert in the bottom of the socket that also needs to have two contacts to mate up with the contacts on the bulb. In this case, the difference between 6 and 12 volts does not matter, but you HAVE to have the correct socket. Quite often, the side pins on the dual-filament bulbs are offset so you don't put the bulb in backwards, so the socket needs to be correct, too.

As I guessed in my first post, your "retro-look" light was probably designed as either a tail light or a brake light, but not both. Your two wires are for power and ground, which is required when it's mounted in a non-conductive housing like fiberglass. You will need to find a proper socket for your bulb, then find a way to mount it in your housing.

Now you may CAREFULLY pick up your tools and resume your work.

.

 

[Redman]

Ok, so I got the new headlight/turn signal combo all hooked up and wired up, the headlight does not turn on (either hi or low beam) Does the engine need to be running for the headlight to work?
...
...

Any further development with this?

What electrrical troubleshooting tools you have? (so we can give you advise appropiate to your situation)
I noticed that youy havent mentioned any voltage readings.
You have a volt meter?
You have a test light/probe?

.

 

[delta21]

stuff

stuff

sorry, I have not had a chance to get out to the garage to try some more experimenting with the + and (-), i'll keep y'all updated

 

[delta21]

ok, still no progress at all.No head light,tail light or brake lights. I checked the fuses under the seat (all good) I checked all of the connectors at the head light (they all look good). I'm pretty sure it's a grounding problem at the back of the bike, the 12v bulb fits into the socket and the connectors and prongs on the side line up.

 

[Redman]

Delta,

Plenty of folks here willing to help.

Is difficult to troubleshoot electrcial problems but just looking at stuff. By looking at things the only real troublehooting will be if you find some wiring disconnected, something obvioulsy unplugged.

Really need some test equipmnet like a volt meter or a test probe light. Then can do some testing and then can say "well, its good up to this point" or "nope, it is NOT good up to this point", then go to the next or previous point, and that way narrow it down to where the problem is.

A $6 test light probe from auto parts store will help alot.

Also, Might be a good idea to list you location in your profile (go to User CP), then that will show up in your postings. Also, put your year and model in signiture line, that too will then show up in every posting.

You say you suspect thing are not grounded and causing problems in the back of the bike. You should find some blk/wht wires connencted together at the back of the bike, and those connected to a blk/wht wire comming from the wiring harnerss. (but that should not effect the headlight).
Also look for a blk/wht wire from wiring harness in area of the top of the battery (if its like 850G and 1100G), should be connected to the bike frame somewhere. SOmetimes that doesn make good connection (rusty or corroded) or sometimes gets broke off, or in event of some R/R failures it getts burnt/melted off.

Tell us more what you find.

.

 

[tom203]

Delta, like redman said, you need a multimeter ( less than $15 ) to solve this. Under seat, there is a hole in rear fender that should have the wires going to rear lighting. The black/white wire is the ground- probably connects to plug with other b/w wires close to rear brake fluid reservoir. Close by, you should see a white wire plug- this is the positive feed for the breaklight. You could use a small jumper wire from + battery to this white wire and see if it lights- it it doesn't, there's a grounding problem, since the the tailight should be grounded at all times.(make sure you have a good bulb)
The connections on these bikes are always suspect!

 

[Scorpion]

I know on my 81 gs1000 my ground ring broke off my back left turn signal and that shut down all my lights and ignition on the bike for some reason all the grounds are tied into eachother to the frame. check every ground on the bike.

 

[delta21]

So last night I'm playing with my volt meter, turned on the ignition and the headlight came on! (angels singing, flowers blooming) but only the high beam works no low beam, so maybe it's the switch??

 

[Steve]

..., so maybe it's the switch??

You are guessing?

We have to guess, too, but you have the advantage of being there to apply meters and tools.

Please measure and test, then report back.

.

 

[1_v8_merc]

Okay, so the headlight didn't work, and suddenly ONLY the high-beam worked? Was this AFTER you checked all the connectors inside the headlight dome?

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But judging from that, it's possible one or many of your connections ARENT clean enough.

Trust me, you can't just "look" at something on these bikes.

That's exactly what I thought when going threw my wiring harness too!
I thought "ahh it looks good to me!"

But I cleaned EVERY SINGLE connection on the bike anyways.
(use a can of electrical contact cleaner)

Sure enough, it stopped my flickering light problem!
And my lights were x1000 times more bright!
(And I was sitting there thinking......hmmm....I didn't see ONE dirty connection either......that's strange.)


It takes very little dirt or corrosion to Hault an electrical signal on these 30 year old bikes!
(plus even IF the connector looks clean as a whistle, the wiring behind it can be Completely rusted out.......don't ask me how I know!)

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So make sure your wiring is 100% before you go out buying headlight switches,etc.

Because the headlight Automatically engages when you turn the key to ON.
(if it doesn't, I think you have a wiring problem somewhere.)

 

[tom203]

So last night I'm playing with my volt meter, turned on the ignition and the headlight came on! (angels singing, flowers blooming) but only the high beam works no low beam, so maybe it's the switch??

Or maybe it's the bulb!! BUT remember these old connections are always suspect.

 

[delta21]

OK, i've got things figured out. I need a new ignition switch and a left side hi/lo turn signal assembly. Does anyone know of a good resource besides the dealer?

 

[cowboyup3371]

Ebay or post in the parts wanted section