[blo0dlu5t]

following this thread with interest...this, my friends, is what our community is about! Just sorry I don't know enough to put in my 2 cents, hehe.

[source]

Today, I made observations, breakthroughs and realizations.

The clouds parted, angels sang and light streamed forth from my headlights. Alas it was temporary.

I scanned the schematic from my Haynes manual (the one I posted earlier in this thread) then printed it and taped it to the wall in my garage. I studied it and thinking logically I was able to figure out how all the wiring works on the bike, making sense of the spaghetti.

I started with the headlights and worked my way backwards using the process of elimination.

There are 3 wires that go to the headlight bulb on the bike.
Yellow = high beam
White = low beam
Black/white stripe = negative/ground

I decided to start with the ground. I hooked up the negative side of my meter to the connector for that wire, and the positive side of my meter directly to the battery. I got a complete circuit with near 12 volts, thus eliminating one of three wires going to the bulbs.

This left the yellow and white wires (high and low beam circuits), which were both dead, on high and low beam settings of the switch. At that time I realized that it was unlikely both the high and the low beam wires were bad, so started looking at the switch. I took it apart and made sure it was clean, functional and had continuity where it was supposed to. The switch was fine, but unfortunately I was a bonehead and forgot to note how it went together, so spent over an hour reconstructing it

After putting the hi/lo switch back together properly, I decided to move back further in front of the switch...specificially the yellow with white stripe wire. This wire is the main wire that powers both the high and low beams. When it gets to the hi/lo switch, the switch uses that feed to either complete the high beam circuit using the yellow wire or the low beam circuit using the white wire.

I put the negative side of my multimeter on the spot in the connector for the black wire with the white stripe and the positive side of my meter on the yellow with white stripe wire which should have completed a circuit. Nada. I then put the negative side of my meter directly to the negative pole of the battery. Still nothing. This was a big discovery. This meant that the high/low switch wasn't even getting power. This made sense to an extent, because the connector that feeds the high/low switch was the one that had been blackened and bypassed and one of the two wires this had happened to included the yellow with white stripe wire in question. As I said though, that connector had been bypassed and I had even re-spliced the connection so I knew it was a good connection, but apparently there was a problem in the harness prior to the connector.

Sooo, to test my findings, I took apart the aforementioned splice and ran a wire directly from the positive terminal of my battery to side of the splice that was heading to the hi/low switch. Let there be light.
My headlights kicked on and a small cheer went up from my garage. I flipped the switch to high beams and involuntarily let out a "woohooo!"

After reveling in my most recent discovery for a couple of minutes I noticed the headlights were extremely dull. I put the volt meter on the positive and negative terminals of my battery and almost cried as I watched the volts plummet 8 volts...7.6...7.2....6.9....I disconnected the temporary wire to the high low switch feed from the battery, turned off the key to the bike and hooked it up to my trusty battery tender to charge the battery back up.

Another piece of info: My headlight bulbs are mismatched and not drawing the same power. While they are both 12v, one has a 60/55 watt bulb and the other has a 100/85 bulb. I'm thinking that alone could cause problems, but I'm not sure to what extent.

Sooo, I definitely have a problem with the "yellow with white stripe" wire that feeds the hi/low switch somewhere between that connector the line that comes off the alternator.

The question of the day is: Why were the volts plummeting so quickly when I ran the line directly to the battery? Is a problem with the wires past the hi/lo switch likely I wonder? Maybe the mismatched bulbs...Granted the bike wasn't running because my garage is attached directly to my kitchen so I can't let it run in there without filling up the house with fumes....

You'll notice in the schematic I posted that the yellow with white stripe wire I've been speaking of, runs from a line running off the alternator, then runs to the splice we've been discussing before the hi/low switch, and also runs to the headlight/blinker harness for no apparent reason, dead-ending there. I'm tempted to snip that wire that dead-ends at that harness and connect it to the wire feeding the high/low switch, because when I tested it at the headlight harness it had good voltage. This should accomplish essentially the same thing the direct run to the battery did...perhaps with the same battery draining effects unfortunately...but worth trying. I'm going to wait for my new bulbs to come in first though.

Score:
Wire Gremlins 37
source 1

[awsnap]

I decided to move back further in front of the switch...specificially the yellow with white stripe wire. This wire is the main wire that powers both the high and low beams. When it gets to the hi/lo switch, the switch uses that feed to either complete the high beam circuit using the yellow wire or the low beam circuit using the white wire.

I put the negative side of my multimeter on the spot in the connector for the black wire with the white stripe and the positive side of my meter on the yellow with white stripe wire which should have completed a circuit. Nada. I then put the negative side of my meter directly to the negative pole of the battery. Still nothing. This was a big discovery. This meant that the high/low switch wasn't even getting power. This made sense to an extent, because the connector that feeds the high/low switch was the one that had been blackened and bypassed and one of the two wires this had happened to included the yellow with white stripe wire in question. As I said though, that connector had been bypassed and I had even re-spliced the connection so I knew it was a good connection, but apparently there was a problem in the harness prior to the connector.

I swear I said that, or directed someone that way recently.....

[awsnap]

What I suspect is that there is a portion of burnt and severed wire somewhere in the harness due to the high current draw from the high wattage headlight. As to why it died so quickly, maybe it's time for a new one...

[awsnap]

Score:
Wire Gremlins 37
source 1

Is there a mercy rule?

[source]

I swear I said that, or directed someone that way recently.....

You probably did, but unfortunately I didn't have the ability to fully comprehend all the great information shared with me in this thread at the time it was presented to me, because I didn't fully understand the concepts involved at the time. I've since spent quite a bit of time teaching myself how the wiring on the bike works, and after reading over the thread for a 40th time, I now can fully understand everything that has been posted, whereas at the time of posting I probably comprehended 60% of it, based on my limited experience.

I also give you much respect for picking out the wire right from the get-go, as illustrated in the schematic. I only wish I had known how to read the schematic/apply that information when you first posted it. It would have saved me a lot of time. Oh well, it has been a great learning experience. You've taught me quite bit, as have several others in this thread.

I'll post with more info when I have the bulbs.

Does my thought about snagging that dead-end wire sound like it might work?

[source]

Score:
Wire Gremlins 37
source 1

Is there a mercy rule?

Fortunately no, but there is a little known clause where when one opponent buys a new playing field (new wiring harness) they get 50 bonus points. That one I picked up cheap on ebay hopefully will be a good one, which hopefully will help me win against the gremlins

What I suspect is that there is a portion of burnt and severed wire somewhere in the harness due to the high current draw from the high wattage headlight.

Now I'm starting to think my idea of stealing that dead-end wire off the harness won't completely work either as it is still indirectly attached to that bad section of wire, even though the bad section would be capped off.

[Astro4x4]

The dead end wire will work as long as it's as heavy or heavier than the original, so that it can handle the current.

[source]

The dead end wire will work as long as it's as heavy or heavier than the original, so that it can handle the current.

Sounds good.

[awsnap]

FUSE IT at the battery of course and you may be ok. (larger wire wouldn't hurt, but you still have the smaller factory wire from there out then, but amperage is only a concern over a distance and you just cut that in half so you may be ok....) If another problem arises then you know that there is a problem further on....

[Astro4x4]

Do you have juice at that dead end wire? How old is your battery, if it's on it's last legs, the headlamps would kill it quick without the motor running. Perhaps time for a new batt too.

[source]

FUSE IT at the battery of course and you may be ok. (larger wire wouldn't hurt, but you still have the smaller factory wire from there out then, but amperage is only a concern over a distance and you just cut that in half so you may be ok....) If another problem arises then you know that there is a problem further on....

If I use the one that is dead ended at the headlight connector, not currently being used, I shouldn't have to add an additional fuse because I wouldn't be running a whole new feed from the battery, I'd be using the existing circuit, same yellow with white stripe wire & everything, just another section of it.

[source]

Do you have juice at that dead end wire? How old is your battery, if it's on it's last legs, the headlamps would kill it quick without the motor running. Perhaps time for a new batt too.

Yeah, I have juice there. That's why I'm thinking it might work well.

I left the battery charging on the battery tender all afternoon. I've had the key turned on quite a bit for troubleshooting purposes over the last few weeks without running the bike, so I'm guessing that's a big part of why it's running down.

The tender is in the blinking green status right now, meaning over 80% charged, but not yet fully charged after 8 hours of charging, so yeah, it must have been pretty wiped out. I just threw a meter on it while it was still charging, probably not the best idea, and it showed 14 volts, so hopefully it will continue holding a good charge. I've only had the bike for a few months now and it has always started right up, so I'm assuming the battery is still good. I know virtually nothing about the bike's history though, so I don't know how long this battery has been in it. If I get this mess straightened out and the battery serves me well for the rest of the season, I'll probably replace it in the spring just to be safe.

[Astro4x4]

FUSE IT at the battery of course and you may be ok. (larger wire wouldn't hurt, but you still have the smaller factory wire from there out then, but amperage is only a concern over a distance and you just cut that in half so you may be ok....) If another problem arises then you know that there is a problem further on....

If I use the one that is dead ended at the headlight connector, not currently being used, I shouldn't have to add an additional fuse because I wouldn't be running a whole new feed from the battery, I'd be using the existing circuit, same yellow with white stripe wire & everything, just another section of it.

I believe he was talking if you run a feed off the battery. But now that I think about it, you don't want a feed off the battery or your headlights would be live with key off - right?

[source]

I believe he was talking if you run a feed off the battery. But now that I think about it, you don't want a feed off the battery or your headlights would be live with key off - right?

Exactly, the line to the battery was just temporary for testing purposes.