tail light problem with pictures

[whoride76]

Ok i have pictures of the back of my harness. I am going to get a new flasher unit (2 prongs). But am I setting up my rear blinkers correctly.

On the rear of my bike the wire harness has 2 "tails" 1 (long tail)-goes to the rear brake light but it also has two wires that are wrapped in the same "tail" that are Brown and Dark Green.

On the other tail (short tail) it only has three wires: Black, Brown, Dark Green

If i hook up my rear blinker to the "short tail" with the three wires, with both blinkers using black (as ground) The lights appear very dim.

If i hook up the blinkers to the two wires (Brown and Dark Green) coming out of the "long tail" that is part of the brake light set up. AND because this tail does not have a black wire that i can use i have to use the black wire from the "short tail" When i do this the lights are a lot brighter.

Would this be the correct set up?
or
DO i just use the "short tail" (3 wire tail) to hook up the lights and because i do not have the right Flasher Unit it is causing the lights to be dim.

[bikerphil]

I'd try the set-up with the brightest first, but with the correct 2 prong flasher. You can use the emergency flasher to test it out by plugging it into the signal flasher plug. That emer. flasher should be the same as a standard 2 prong. Might have to reverse the terminals. BTW, the headlight reserve unit (2nd to last photo) can be left unhooked to lessen confusion. The by-pass method for eliminating it is just to unhook it.

[whoride76]

little more info

Everyone is saying that the emergency /Hazard flashing unit is located under the seat between the frame and that it is a 2 prong unit.

I am not using LED blinkers and i am going to remove the fuse box to see what is behind it, ( If you feel the earth shake tonight it will be me body slamming my XS1100, repeatedly)
When i replaced the the flasher unit this is the onle i replaced. I was thinking this was the regular flasher unit.
Maybe this is all part of the the problems.
Man!! how problems like to build up to be a real pain in the butt.

The following is what i posted before just with out the pictures:

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I have been working on this bike for the last couple of months since i purchased it. When i purchased it did not have the taillights connected.

I HAVE LOOKED AT ALL THE WIRING DIAGRAMS, and to me everything is connected.
I have 1980 Xs1100G

Problem: When I turn on my hazard lights, Nothing happens, When i turn the key off then they start to blink. I have had problems with trying to wire all the turn signals. They light up, and then when i turn the switch to the right (or left) the Left light will turn off and the right with stay on (not blinking).

I did replace the turn signal unit (I forgot the name) The little silver relay switch. And i have ordered a new left control for the handle bars, they said it was the same year.

I did get my brake light to work correctly.

I still can not get my headlight to turn on.

I have tested the light it works, I have read ALL the threads about the Bypassing the lighting unit (did not work) ( I connected the two sets of wires and still nothing, left the black and light Green (I don’t have a white wire) not connected. I have had to use a toggle switch which is hard wired directly to the battery.

Does the Lighting unit have anything to do with the turn signals? I don’t think so from what i have read.

ANY ideas why the blinkers would blink for the hazard light but not for the handle bar switch?

Is it normal for the rear of the wire harness to have a 6 thermals that connects the rear brake light AND have A have a Brown and Dark green wire in the same wrapped section, Then i have three wires with Brown, Dark Green, and Black running in another wired section (would these be used for the saddle bags) I have ended up having to use the Brown and Dark Green from the brake light harness and then use the Black from the other harness section to make the blinkers come on???

I have on order to replace the fuse box, but it LOOKS fines.

I have spent hours and feel lost with the turn signals and head light.

Thank you for taking time and reading my drama, please give me some ideas, If you may need other infomation i can take pictures and post them if needed, I am just on my lunch break right now, like most of you i cant even sleep because i thinking about it, it driving me crazy!!! So please help if you can..

[DiverRay]

On the headlight reserve unit, IIRC, ONLY the blue and Blue/Yellow should be connected on the cut off connector. I will need to pull the tank and check my bike to be sure.
The wires at the rear of the bike:
You DO have two sets of tail/stop wires at the back. One for the standard tail light, and one set for optional lights. CHECK THE GROUND WIRES!!!!! RUN NEW GROUND WIRES IF YOU CANNOT VERIFY THEM!!!!! Do this BEFORE you do much else. Almost all the electrical problems are because of poor connections after 28 years in the weather. Use a 16 gauge black automotive wire, and put new ground leads to the frame from the rear lights, and the headlamps/front turn signals. The factory ground in the wire harness will go back to one mount bolt on the reg/rectifier. Clean the connection and use a volt/ohm meter to verify that the resistance between one end of the wire and the ground point is LESS THAN ONE OHM! You should also have less than one ohm between any ground and the negative terminal of the battery. If not, start at the battery cables and work your way into the wire harness, cleaning the connections.
This is one of the biggest mistakes people make with this bike. The wires are seldom bad, but the connectors ARE bad.
If all else fails, PM some of the local people for help! If needed, I MAY be able to ride out and help, but LoHo is in Fresno, as well as one or two other members. For a beer or two, you can at least have someone to hold the frame as you smash it! :>)

[whoride76]

Ground wires

I will double check the ground wires. I did pull off my fuse box and there was no corrosion or rust around any connections. I will take more pictures. To show how I wired the tail lights in and the brake lights. No laughing!!

I will also show how i wired the front blinkers too. It should be about 7:00pm tonight. I may have to take you up on your offer if I can’t get this thing working.

The people in this form are great. I thank you for all of your support and the time you guys take to respond to these questions..

[Korr]

Not sure if this will help, but i had problems replacing my turn signals and following the advice of other members, i replaced the stock flasher unit with an electronic 2 prong one. The main thing is that the blinkers will only turn on at about 2.5 - 3k rpms! They will turn off as soon as the rpms drop below that.

[CatatonicBug]

Not sure if this will help, but i had problems replacing my turn signals and following the advice of other members, i replaced the stock flasher unit with an electronic 2 prong one. The main thing is that the blinkers will only turn on at about 2.5 - 3k rpms! They will turn off as soon as the rpms drop below that.

Makes it kinda hard to signal at an intersection, doesn't it??

[whoride76]

head light testing

I have only ridden my bike in the day light, so i never really notice that the instrument panel was not light up along with the head light. I just tested the thermals of the head light and I am not getting any power to the plug.

SO I Am thinking that it is the white diode wire. I have seen the thread that show someone split the wire and attached another wire but i can’t find it.

Is the diode like a one way fuse that i can just cut out of the white wire and replace or is it the whole white wire? In either case how hard it is change out. It sounds like i have to cut in to the harness to find it.

My blinker problem I am thinking it is the flasher unit. (The long silver thing on the right side of the bike). I have tried to put the hazard flasher (2prong) over to the other flasher with no success. When I tested the plug I was not getting anything on the brown wire. When i looked at the wire diagram it looked like to lead to the instrument panel (my thinking is that it will not work either because of that damn Diode wire.

@#$ Note to self- never buy a bike that is taken apart!@

For the front blinkers that are in the headlight bucket is the ground a Blue wire not Black?? I will send pictures of this after dinner.

[bikerphil]

Instead of searching for the diode, you should be able to jump the red/yel and the blu/blk wires togeather at the relay (remove all wires from the relay) and you should have headlight when the key is turned on.

[79XS11F]

The 3 wire harness and other odd wires are just tucked up under the tail light. It is pre-wiring for optional lighting that often comes with saddle bags or extension signal lights that are often used with saddle bags.
Rob

[whoride76]

Instead of searching for the diode, you should be able to jump the red/yel and the blu/blk wires togeather at the relay (remove all wires from the relay) and you should have headlight when the key is turned on.

WHat Relay? I am really new in the wiring department. ANd where might it be located? Is this the Lighting reserve unit?

I did take off the main ground and gave it a good cleaning, only alittle dirty, Really didnt make a differance( that I know of) and i also tested all the fuses to see if i was getting power through them, I am.

I know it is just one simple thing i am overlooking!!! That is going to make everything OK. (hopefully)

I did look at the wire diagram to find out the front blinkers use a blue ground wire. Sorry it was a lazy question..

[whoride76]

More pictures of head lights and the rear lights set up

Ahhh. Dinner was good.

Ok, No smartass remarks on how i wired the rear. I have security issues..

Ok first pictured is how i set up the rear blinkers and the brake light.
Please note that i was using the Brown and D Green wire from the 5 wire section that had the wires being used for the brake light. But because this section did not have a black wire I could easily tap in to; i used the black wire from the 3-wire section that only.
This set up show the 3-wire section only being used for the rear blinkers and the 5-wire section is only for the tail light and the brown and green wire are not used.
Does this look right?? I did make some modifications to the rear section; I just want to know if the rear blinkers look right. (the tail light works)





The next question/Picture
I have two wires that when I first pulled off the headlight to see what was going on these 2 wires were not connected (red and Blue) the plug you see is for the headlight adapter (which plugs directly into the headlight.) It is just not on the plug

What are these wires and should they be connected to something. I cant find them on the wire diagram because of how it laid out, I don’t know were they go to, so i cant identify them on the chart



This is just another picture showing more of the front of the wire harness. I can believe they want you to cram all these wires behind the head light. Stupid!! They small grey and black are the front blinker wires. And i assume that the wires in the sleeves coming from the harness are the blinker wires. (they work for the blinkers) Those 2 wires(red and Blue) they have been connected to something at one time, They are part of that wrapped wire harness section.




They next picture is of the Light reserve unit. I was told to try this and it still didn’t work. Was this right?



TO BE HONEST I KNOW IF ONE PART OF MY REAR BLINKER PROBLEM AND ANOTHER PART OF MY HEADLIGHT PROBLEM ARE CAUSING EACH OTHER OR ARE RELATED TO EACH OTHER AS A "CAUSE AND EFFECT" THING.

If you guys need better pictures or pictures of something else just let me know.
Thank you guys agian for your help, Your brain power, and your time-William

[bikerphil]

WHat Relay? I am really new in the wiring department. ANd where might it be located? Is this the Lighting reserve unit?

No, it's not the reserve lighting unit (RLU). The headlight relay is mounted under the fuel tank up by the steering head. It should have 4 wires going to it. Wht, Blk, red/yel, blu/blk. Unplug all the wires from the relay and jump the red/yel and the blu/blk together. Turn on the key and the headlight should power up. If it doesn't, check at the headlight connector for voltage.

[bikerphil]

What are these wires and should they be connected to something. I cant find them on the wire diagram because of how it laid out, I don’t know were they go to, so i cant identify them on the chart

I believe the 2 single wires, blu and red are accessory wires for a faring and aren't used. The plug next to that with yel, grn and blk go to the headlight. There should be another short harness from that plug to the headlight. If you don't have it, you can easily make one up. Mabye a nearby member would offer to give you a hand in exchange for some beers.

[GARTHXS]

wiring

There is a wiring diagram for an 80g harness posted by 3phase it is a life saver it is full color with all the connectors shown , just take your time and you will figure it out , and I am not any good at wiring either !!