AAAUGHHHH Electrical quandry

[newmaac]

Ya the bulb looks fine.
I didn't get to the relay today, but I DID notice something that I had previously not noticed.
When the bike is running, not only is the headlight out, but I have no lights in the speedo and tach.
The turn signals, emergency flashers, horn, oil idiot light and ignition all work fine, just no headlight and gauge illumination.

Does it seem logical that a bad headlight diode would affect the gauge lighting??

[TopCatGr58]

With ALL OF THOSE OTHER LIGHTS OUT,

You need to revisit your fuse panel, but it could also be the main ignition switch, might even be a loose wire in the handlebar switches!? They do corode and come loose! The gauge and tail lights are all on the same circuit!
T.C.

[newmaac]

Today we changed the relay to a modern type and eliminated the wire that "hides" the diode in the headlight circuit. I had printed a copy of Sid Hansen's tech tip and even had a phone conversation with Sid before getting into it. (thanks for the encouragement Sid).
All worked very well. Everything works exactly as it originally did, with one exception. I will still probably add a switch to the new power wire that we added, so that I have to option to turn off the headlight when starting.

I use the word "WE" beacuse it turned into somewhat of a group project.
I had asked some of the guys from the XJ group to come over and have a little work clinic. As it turned out, we got the carbs cleaned, syncronized and color tuned, got the headlights working and got to know each other a little.
It was kinda kool blending the XS and XJ populus together.
We had Owners of XS 1100, XJ Maxim, XJ Seca, an there was even a Radion.

Thanks for all the electrical advice this week.

[skids]

I am glad everything worked well. Some of this maintenance stuff can be pretty intimidating before you do it, but the more work you do on your bike, the more you will be at ease on long trips!
My wife had a Radian that we just sold. The thing was a lot of fun. Tell your Radian friend there is a Yahoo groups site for those bike owners.

Originally posted by newmaac

I had asked some of the guys from the XJ group to come over and have a little work clinic. As it turned out, we got the carbs cleaned, syncronized and color tuned, got the headlights working and got to know each other a little.
It was kinda kool blending the XS and XJ populus together.
We had Owners of XS 1100, XJ Maxim, XJ Seca, an there was even a Radion.

Thanks for all the electrical advice this week.

[johnstewart]

Aha! So this is the same thing, it sounds like, as what is afflicting my bike:

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...threadid=10251

Where did you get your new relay?

Do you think it was a bad relay, or a bad wire/diode?

thanks!

[newmaac]

Yup, that sounds like the diode, to me!!

I bought a universal headlight relay at the local auto parts store. (Napa)
It cost about $5, and had pleanty of extra wire attached to make the necessary connections.
Good luck

[johnstewart]

Originally posted by johnstewart
Aha! So this is the same thing, it sounds like, as what is afflicting my bike:

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...threadid=10251

Turns out it was as simple as replacing the relay (the diode was fine). Thanks to Sid's directions, I was at least able to FIND the little bugger (and had a good one from my parts bike).

thanks!