headlight wiring question

[ambidextrous]

ive searched a bunch of times, but havent found the topic or answer im looking for exactly

im trying to get my new headlight up and running

i removed the left side controls and just running the light into the factory harness isnt working

im pretty sure the reason is because i removed the controls, the low beam circuit isnt completed

so, my question is, can i just connect the wires that would be 'connected' if the switch was still on the bike?

looking at wiring schematics, looks like its 4 wires that should be hooked up for the low beam

thanks for the help

[b.walker5]

More information needed...

What type of light are you trying to hook up ? Does it have a low beam circuit ? and how do you propose to control it without the left side switch block ? Have you tried it with the engine running ? There is a relay in the circuit that prevents the light from going until after startup (to minimise electrical load)

Complicating matters may also be the reserve lighting unit which is designed to turn on one beam of the light should the other fail.

Depending on what your trying to do you may have to rewire the lighting circuit and pick up a live feed from the fuse box and bypass the OEM circuit.

[ambidextrous]

here is the light i got



it has 3 wires, a green, a white, and a blue i believe, so im pretty sure it has a hi and low beam

the OEM headlight worked when i had the switch on, so i know the wiring is good and that the reserve unit is working

im thinking i will just trick the wiring by wiring the wires that would be connected if the switch was on and in the low beam postion

i think that by looking at the diagram, ill go yellow to light green, the yellow with stripe to dark green

i might have my colors wrong, but thats what it looks like in the diagram

[bikerphil]

Do you have power at the headlight connector? Remember the bike's gotta be running. Check your fuses. You could bypass the relay to make it easier to test, jump red/yel and blu/blk at the unplugged connector, you'll have headlight power with just the key on. Could also be a problem with a loose wire inside the switch itself.

[ambidextrous]

i tried some different wiring combinations with the bike running and the light never came on

i think ill go with your technique of bypassing the RLU

it doesnt bother me that the light will be on when trying to start

battery is good, and the bike usually starts right up so it doesnt have to crank long

i guess the headlight could always be hardwired to a 'hot' wire, but id rather keep it on the same fused circuit

[bikerphil]

The bypass I posted above is for the normal alternator switched relay above the coils, not the RLU. There's a bypass for that too. You have a wiring diagram, don't you?

Here's the info on the RLU ....

http://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-t...nd-bypass.html