lighting issue

[gonzo]

I have seen the reserve lighting unit elimination threads and was wondering, would I loose my guage lights too if this unit is bad? I didn't want to iliminate anything if I don't have to. I do have a wireing schematic. I have juice to the fuse but no lights at all. I have not had much time to investigate. any help would be greatly appreiciated.

Also thanks to Mike Colicos, I did the "back cutting" 2nd gear fix and it works great. Thanks sooo much. I fell like a drag racer from the ole school days...

[Larrym]

Follow The Wires...

gonzo,

As far as I know removing the Reserve Lighting Unit wouldn't have any affect at all on your gauge lights. Nor would the RLU's malfunction cause the gauge lights to fail.

Starting at the fuses/fusebox is a good idea. Now that you've determined that the fuse is good and that power is getting to the fuse, make sure that the power is getting out/from the fuse. The fuseboxes and the holders are old and notorious for showing symptoms like the one you have. I'm not saying that you should install a new fusebox yet, just confirm that the 12 Volts is making it out of the fusebox to the next switch down the line: the keyswitch for turning the bike on/off.

The keyswitch would be my next likely suspect. Both the connections to and from it along with the internal contacts within the switch. It's not that difficult or time consuming to remove the keyswitch and disassemble/clean the contacts within.

There's really nothing else in line on the positive side of the battery to the gauge lights other than the connectors inside the headlamp bucket.

On the negative side...mustn't for get that negative side...there are the grounding cables from the battery to the frame and the grounding cable form the engine to the frame: this one's right near the middle drive on the left side of the bike.

Hopefully all you've got is a loose or corroded connection somewhere and all it will take is your eyes to find it. If not then please keep us informed of what you see or don't see.

If it gets any more complicated then we'll need to know what model/year your bike is so we can get the right diagram and follow along with you.

[gonzo]

electrical issue

Thanks, I was not sure where to go next, I will clean my switch tomorrow. I already cleaner my left side controls, they were corroded and would not self cancel, OK now. Thanks for the help I will update. This one is the 1981 special.