Help with headlight...

[Edisto]

I am the proud owner of a 79 Special that I have resurected through blood, sweat, and tears. (Pictures eventually). I am having a headlight problem that I cannot solve. 1st off what does the resere lighting box do, if anything? Second, my headlight will not work. The tach works, the headlight works on another bike, but I am not getting any power to the connector. The fuse isworking. Any other tricks? I am about to just run three new wires, but thought I would ask before I went to that trouble. Thanks for this input and all of the other inputs I have read over the last year.

[TopCatGr58]

How many Virginians does it take to fix an XS11 Headlight?

Hey there Edisto,

The Reserve Lighting Unit(RLU) is supposed to provide you with a backup headlight incase your low beam burns out, it activates the high beam at a lower power and supposed to turn on the headlight idiot light in the "pilot box" area to alert you to the fact that your low beam is burned out! They can go bad!? Here are a couple of links on how to BYPASS it!
Tech Tip to Bypass RLU on XS11.com
Skids Personal web page tech tip!

Are you aware of the XS East rally in W. Va. at the end of next month, great times are had by all!! I'm down here in Tidewater! Another Xsive in Richmond will be joining up with me on our way out there!

Answer: 3, 1 to fix/replace the headlight, and the other 2 to talk about how good the old one was!
T.C.

[randy]

Edisto,

Welcome to the show.

You may have a bad headlight relay. It gets triggered by the tach voltage, so you know you have voltage because the tach is working. See if you have juice on the headlight wire where it exits the relay connector. You'll need to have the engine running for this test. Not an easy task, 'cause the relay is under the tank!

Keep us posted.

[Edisto]

Thanks for the help guys. Turns out my tach is not working, so I am working on trying to test the alternator. I haven't had much time to work on it. I am trying to sell my 81 Virago, so it is taking top priority right now, but I think she is ready to go, so back to the keeper.

Top Cat: I was not aware of the rally in WVA. Any links, or other info?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Edisto,

Check out this thread, it is in the wrong section of the rallies, posted in the NORTHEAST, instead of the southeast!
XS East 2006 Rally in W.Va.

After cleaning ALL of your connectors, and checking out the Alt., most of the time it's the Reg/Rect that goes, and cause it to loose charging, rare for the Alt, or Field coils to go bad!
T.C.

[Edisto]

This is strange. Go a new reg/rec and installed it this afternoon. As soon as I turned the key, I noticed a very, very dim orange in the headlight bulb. I turned her over and got her cranked, but still no headlight. Tach is sporadic at best. While running, I disconnected the reg/rec at which point I noticed a total drop on the tach. Also a nice little arc on the smaller of the 2 plugs (green and brown wires) when I disconnected it. I am stumped.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Edisto,

Do you have a multimeter? Check your voltage at the battery with the new Reg/Rect to see if you're getting 14.5 volts at around 2,500 rpm or higher!? If so, then you may have a loopy tach!?

I don't know WHY you would disconnect the Reg/Rect plugs WHILE the engine was running? Have you investigated the headlight relay or the RLU? You shouldn't get any voltage to the headlight by just turning the key on! If you were tempted to just run some new wires to get your headlight going, then you shouldn't have any qualms about bypassing the RLU!
T.C.

[Edisto]

I do have a multimeter, I will test the battery tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback!

[mason79]

my turn for headlight problems

i was savoring the bike, my brakes are dialed in and knowing how i'm going to stop dictates how i ride, faster, good i don't know...

i've read about the reserve light stuff and for a quick answer if anyone knows, the high beam indicator is on; the head lamp out idiot light is on; and i don't have high or low beams...

anyone ever experience these symptoms?

thanks in advance

[John]

I had that same problem a while ago, and it was the dimmer switch over travelling when high beam was selected. If I pulled it back a little, everything worked correctly. The idiot light will come on when the low beam goes out, turning on the high beam, at a decreased brilliance, when the reserve lighting system is working properly. My light would go out, and the idiot light would come on when I moved the switch was moved to high beam.

[mason79]

Originally posted by John
I had that same problem a while ago, and it was the dimmer switch over travelling when high beam was selected. If I pulled it back a little, everything worked correctly. The idiot light will come on when the low beam goes out, turning on the high beam, at a decreased brilliance, when the reserve lighting system is working properly. My light would go out, and the idiot light would come on when I moved the switch was moved to high beam.

i was flicking it hi and low, multiple times, and did not notice an improvment, i'll try later...
suppose it's the dimmer, what's the fix?

[John]

Could be a bad headlight bulb, remove it and check it with an ohmmter.

[vanhump]

Hey Edisto.........Glad to see another XS in the nieghborhood. We have TC at Tidewater and The Old Man in Richmond. I am over in Craig,,,,,,,,Paint Bank;;;;;;;; if you know where it is. I am going to try to make WV either Sat. or Sun if not both. Have a friend that lives at Pineville that comes here hunting and takes about an hour and a half for him to get here. If you want to make it maybe we could head that way early and make breakfast.

[mason79]

Originally posted by John
Could be a bad headlight bulb, remove it and check it with an ohmmter.

okay got around to bypassing the r l u, without trying to diagnose the dimmer, but did reinspect the headlight bundle of snakes, and visualed the bulb... and done and said the light works sans r l u, cheers to you all!

[Edisto]

Success! Got the headlight shining. Turned out it was the relay; I was lucky enough to have an extra one on an old XS 750. Thanks everyone for all of your input!