Scratchin my head...Lighting

[DavHil48]

I bought a 79 xs 1100 special couple months ago, with a bypass on my lighting system. When I turned on the high beam i had no lights, but low beam worked, there is also a bypass on/ off switch rigged in from p/o that runs directly from the head light to a toggle back to the accessory fuse box. I tried taking apart the switch cleaning it and to no avail, so I picked up another switch for it figuring that may be the problem, also in the process i picked up a spare RLU, fuse box, HRU, and an extra switch. Now the problem I have is no lights at all, but if I place the switch in between Hi/Low beam I get Hi beam lights, I tried bypassing the RLU and get just hi beams, why is there no hi/low beam control??? The more I went through this seems like the more confused I got. I would like to get rid of the accessory on/off toggle, which i tried and couldnt get anything to work at all, so i hooked it back up and now only have hi when i jump or short in between hi/low, any suggestions??? One more question: Was thinking of getting rid of the octo unit, so what do you do with the vaccuum lines??

[natemoen]

First, welcome.

Second, is both the high and low beam filaments good? Do you have a known good buld to try?

Second I would pull the handlebar switch apart and clean it well and polish up the contacts. They often get a bit grunge and need cleaning.

Wouldn't hurt to clean up all the electrical connectors in the bike as well. Then we will go from there.

[fredintoon]

Hi Dave and welcome,
looks to me like you've been well and truly PO'd.
What I'd do is rip all that PO-applied junk out of there, grab a multimeter and a wiring diagram and try to get the wiring back to what the factory intended. THEN troubleshoot.
First thing to check is the headlamp bulb. If one filament is blown the RLU switches to the other and that can cause confusion.
Others may say different but YES! Ditch the Octo. A system that uses 10 hoses instead of 2 has to be inherently unreliable.
Cap off the gas tap front fuel spigots and the carb manifold vacuum connection.

[crazy steve]

Well, let's start with the 'simple' thing first; the octy. There's only one vacuum line, all the rest of those lines are fuel lines. The vacuum line should go to one of the intake manifolds, simply cap the hose barb where it connects. The fuel lines will be simplified; run a hose from the rear hose connection on the petcock to the carbs, cap the other connection to prevent fuel coming out. You'll need a fuel-rated rubber cap (hard to find), most use a short piece of fuel hose with a bolt in the end. Or you can 'convert' your petcock; see here: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32980

The issue with the headlight? It's impossible to know what a PO did without actually seeing it, so you'll have to trace the wiring to see where the alterations were made. Here's a troubleshooting guide: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33254 ... but you'll likely need a wiring diagram to be sure as to what's been done. No manual? You can download one for free here: http://www.ringler.us/family/mybike.html courtesy of Catatonic Bug.

HTH...

[DavHil48]

Lighting:

Ok fellas, I will start with the wiring first and take it from there, forgot to mention: co uple weeks ago I ran the bike out of gas, (my bad forgot to hook the low fuel lamp back up), when I put gas back into it, it started running real doggy, sounded like somethin got fouled up on it, had some backfiring also, I was figuring that somethin plugged up in the carb, so out that came and spent the afternoon cleaning that up, was a lil gunked up, so I cleaned that up and the carb is back on, thats as far as i got, (back to midnites )so I have been wondering what would make it run so rough, she would barely idle, I ran it up to the store put a tank of gas in and barely made it home, all gears doggin bad. How touchy are those needle valves??? Help!?!

[DavHil48]

Lighting:

Oh, there's a red wire running directly off of the headlamp, i believe hooked on the green side that runs to the toggle, the hot that runs to the fuse block and the ground wire, that's the bypass for on and off lights if that helps.

[DavHil48]

Fixed one prob.

Well I replaced the light bulb, aha, the filament looked good but was burnt out, the other problem I had was the low beam worked but when I turned on the high beam NOTHING, no tach lights no high beam. So what I did is jumped the headlight dimmer relay, blu/blk to yell/red, whalla, hi and lo, switch works have all my tach lights too, first time since Ive had the bike. So now what I need is a headlight dimmer relay. If I check this with an ohm meter would I have a reading through each of the contacts?? I ran it across but have one lead that doesnt read, just making sure that is what the problem is, which I believe it is. Now for the octo: what do I do with the vacuum lines?? What about the vac advance coming out of the timing? Thats the last step for now.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey David,

Glad you have figured a big part of it out. You state you now have Hi/Lo beams, but you then say you need a headlight "Dimmer" relay? Do you mean the Headlight relay itself? I'll let the more advanced electrical GURU's work on this with you.

As to the Octy, the vacuum hoses are just 1 going to the #2 carb intake boot. The rest of the hoses are all fuel lines, and they can be removed, so that you just have 1 from each petcock going across the tank to the other side/pair of carbs fuel intake spout. Don't forget the inline fuel filters. And you can cap off the front petcock spout...or plumb them both together with a "Y" fitting before going to the fuel filter, etc.

The Vac. advance hose SHOULD be connected to the #2 CARB BODY brass port...it's a metered port...it should NOT be connected to any of the boot ports. Any leftover boot ports can just be capped.

T.C.

[DavHil48]

Lighting:

It must be one in the same that we are talking about. On the wiring schematic it shows a black, red/yellow(sorry guys I stated earlier yell/red), a yellow wire, and a blue/blk, and says it's a dimmer relay, that is what I bypassed. So now I be . As for the vacuum lines, I like how you said SHOULD be hooked up, my vacuum advance was hooked into the octo unit, apparently from what I have read this cannot be correct. I still don't like all those fuel lines in there running through that unit anyhow, so it will be changed out. I already have the fuel line, filters, clamps, and will plug up the petcocks and see how that works. For visuals if I don't like it, like you said go with a y connector. If you use the y connect will you still have a working reserve on the petcock?? (curious) I guess all I will have left is get some plugs for the boot ports. Most appreciative for all the help.

[natemoen]

The headlight relay just keeps the headlight from lighting up until the bike is started and the alternate starts putting out power. If bypassed then your headlight will come on with the key, that's all.

As to the petcocks, on and reserve both come out of the rear nipple, just prime comes from.the front nipple.

[xs11lover]

It's funny I just replied to another thread with this...it sounds the same for you.
I had the same problem with the field bomb. My headlight was good,but it didn't work right....it was hot wired and would come on but only the low setting, when you switched it to high the dash lights and headlight shut off. When I wired it correctly it didn't work at all. It wasn't the reserve lighting unit. It was the little gold/metal box thing....under the tank. I took it off and bridged the gap with a wire...I didn't cut anything, I just tried a wire in the clip and tried the options until the light came on, taped it in until a new one fell into my lap..now my headlight comes on as soon as you turn on the key but at least the headlight and dash lights work. This is what I'm talking about if I remember correctly..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamah...item19c7bf4b8c

[DavHil48]

Exactly, the same prob, from my wiring schematic it says that its a dimmer relay, that about all I know, I'm about to do the same thing, just jump the wires so I have lights, the one thing I havent figured out is the accessory toggle just to turn the lights on and off. I have a wire directly to the headlight on the green wire wired into the accessory fuse to turn the lights on and off. I wanted to disconnect it but when I did couldn't figure out why nothing was working at all. Maybe better off leaving it since I have all lights working now.

[DavHil48]

All smiles

Well fellas thanks for all the help, after a month of sitting fighting with electrical problems and then with a fouled up carb, the electrical problem is solved and after a little customizing ripped out the octo and replaced the fuel lines, pulled and cleaned carb, WALLAH!! Ignition, and can say, man she runs smooth, sounds wayyyy better, Finally get to ride again, I took her for a ride yesterday and like I said Im all smiles now, thanks again fellas for the help.