lost head light power

[high desert xs]

ah thanks for the wounderfull site just got this xs (been a basket) and lost power to headlight. waiting for manual from ebay.

had headlight, now nothing. replaced headlight just incase. i have power from fuse but lose where it goes to from there. have tried to follow with wiring diagram but can seem to find problem.
any ideas would be great.

89 deg in bend oregon and no light

[rman]

Headlight relay

Hi,

Not sure what year your bike is?

Headlight relay and the reserve lighting unit may have something to do with your problem. I had no headlight turned out to be a bad headlight relay, I bypassed it and lights work fine.

[high desert xs]

thanks i try to do that, the bike is a 80 xs 100 sg

[high desert xs]

still nothing

been out of town, just getting back to it. bypassed the relaystill nothing seems to be charging and reg is good as far as i know. H4 bulb replaced and nothing, checked conections i,m getting frustrated now. can,t find my volt/ohm meter. any way to hot wire to check? no power to connection.

anybody in central oregon want to ride?
....................................
80 1100 sg

[BlkMage]

Similar issue...

Hey, I just came off a similar problem with my electrical, but I'm stuck on the transmission and carbs now. If I can get them fixed and you are still having issues, I'll ride up one weekend.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey High Desert,

Okay, the you said you bypassed the Relay. The relay sends power from the Red/Yellow wire/fuse block thru the blue black wire to the RLU(Reserve Lighting unit). From there it sends the power to the headlight dimmer switch via the light blue/yellow wire.

So....jump the blue/black wire at the RLU to the light blue/yellow wire, and the headlight should work. IF so.. then the RLU isn't working properly! Skids has a link to his website in the tech tips on HOW TO BYPASS the RLU. IT's only function is to send a reduced voltage to the high beam WHEN The low beam burns out, and to light the dashboard indicator light to let you know the bulb is burned out! So...you can do without it!

BTW, Geezer who is a good electrics guru is in your state, but you should be able to do the above. There's a wiring diagram in the LINKS section for your information till your manual arrives!
T.C.

[skids]

Originally posted by TopCatGr58

Skids has a link to his website in the tech tips on HOW TO BYPASS the RLU. IT's only function is to send a reduced voltage to the high beam WHEN The low beam burns out, and to light the dashboard indicator light to let you know the bulb is burned out! So...you can do without it!

Here is that link, since the off site tech tips have become "cobweb sites"
http://home.comcast.net/~sidhansen/rlu/rlu.htm

[scott0757]

Piggybacking, but it's related.
I don;t do much night driving but did last night. My 80 XS1100SG has the 7" round headlamp with removable halogen bulb (I think the 55/60 watt version) . The high beams are great but the low beams are like holding a candle in front of me!. Bad!

I'm not sure where to start looking for a bad connection. What I do notice is the blue hi-beam indicator lamp in the tach has a faint glow even when the lamp is on low beam, Do others have this or is this a clue of a bleed off /short in my low beam power?

Am am also troubleshooting the dancing tachometer based upon other posts and threads, so far wihtout success. I repeatedly opened, reseated and greased all connections so far). Doubt that's related but who knows. Tonight I plan to break out the schematics but wondered if anyone else has this issue.

For now, I'll ride in the day light!

[tinman905]

Are your front running lights and the lights for your tac and
speedo working ? There should be a blue bullet style connector if
you don't have front running lights hooked up check that just use
a bulb from your bike if you still can't find you tester. There is
also diode in the wiring harness just before the headlight relay
that is attached the the white wire that might be shot.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Scott,

Have you checked to make sure your headlight warning light lights when you first turn the key on....is it still good, they can burn out? The high beam indicator shouldn't be on when running low beam, but the RLU will feed reduced wattage to the high beam filament WHEN the low beam filament burns out, but it's also supposed to activate the headlight warning dash/pilot light, but if yours is burned out, then you may not be getting that warning!?

You might want to pull the plug, and check the bulb with an ohmeter for continuity thru the low beam contacts! IF non, then that's what's happening, and you'll just need to replace the bulb!

But if the bulb is still good, then you might also want to check the wires in the left handlebar switch assembly, they can come unsoldered or such!

However, the low beam is rather dim, especially shining thru the old Fresnel prism patterned headlight shell/reflector assembly! You can get a clear lens conversion, and if you want more glow, an 80/100 watt "for off road use only" bulb as well!
T.C.

[Ken Talbot]

Electrical gremlins

Sure sounds like what I was chasing on SWMBO's 'H for the longest time. One time things would look okay, next time the headlight looked dim,then the tach would get weird. Have a lok at this link to see where I finally found the solution for my prolem.

[scott0757]

So far, the headlamp bulb tests good and hi/low are working. The headlamp indicator fault light (the warning when an element is dead) functions properly and is not grounded as it came on when I unplugged the headlamp.
It just seems the low beam is very weak.

Will continue to look for a drain off of power. I had blown the fuse to this circuit a few months back before replacing the fuse bracket with a new pin style., and so far it's been fine.

Likewise the Tach still dances away..has moments of steadiness with more often moments of wild swings....I hate troubleshooting electrical issues.... Grounds can be so elusive...

Thanks for the ideas so far...I'll keep you posted.

[scott0757]

weak low beam

Well I replaced my H4 55/60W bulb with a 9003 55/60W said to have 30% brighter light, but the low beam seems to be just as weak as the original H4... Everything seems to check out connection-wise...just lousy low beam brightness.

I was reading old posts about a Sylvania Silverstar H4, but the post was a few years old. Is it any different than what I have now??

Any other ideas?

[desert1]

Electrical gremlins

I'm with Ken on this one.....invest a couple of bucks in a set of microfiles and be sure the set includes a rattail and spade file they are perfect for cleaning XS connectors, when all your connectors are down to bare metal coat them with dilectric grease and you will be well connected.
Bruce

[webbcraft2150]

Re: weak low beam

[QUOTE]Originally posted by scott0757
I was reading old posts about a Sylvania Silverstar H4, but the post was a few years old. Is it any different than what I have now??


I was not impressed with the Silverstars in my XS11 or my Mazda. The ones in the Mazda died in about 6 months. My rig has the OEM Stanley headlight (Vetter fairing) and it sucks on low beam and blows on high beam. It is marginally better with the 80/100w bulb I put in. The Stanley lens is the weak point IMHO. My bro-in-laws HD has a "clear cut" 5"headlight that outshines my headlight hands down(helps him see me when I am waaayyyy up in front of him ). I am going to order a "clear cut" conversion kit and see how it works and fits the OEM Vetter bucket. Next high $$$ step would be HID conversion but its gotta be cheaper than smackin a deer. In the meantime, I just hafta drive slower at night.