Headlight Wiring Woes
Headlight Wiring Woes
Hey everyone - I have a 71 75/5. Had problem with Speedo/Tach - sent it to Palo Alto. Got it back and was put everything back, but must have mistakenly crossed a wire - when I hooked up battery - smoke started coming out of the headlight unit. Quicky disconnected. This shouldn't effect the newly redone Speedo right? Anyone know where I can send the headlight bucket to rework the wires? There are some wires in pretty bad shape in there and I am not very good at the electrical side of this bike. Any help and suggestions appreciated.
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Ken in Oklahoma
- Posts: 3182
- Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 5:10 pm
Re: Headlight Wiring Woes
I know very little about /5s but if their headlight bucket is like the /6 bucket there's no pulling the bucket off the bike and sending it away for electrical repair. In the /6 up to the monolever bikes the bucket receives cable bundles from all over the bike. Inside the bucket is where the wires in one cable bundle get connected as designed with wires in other cable bundles.
If working with electrical problems is daunting for you I would suggest finding somebody who is conversant with wiring diagrams and in general what things are done by the electrical system. It would be nice if that person were also familiar with /5 bikes, but really any competent person who can read wiring diagrams and understands vehicle electricals should be able to do the job.
Whether or not that advice is workable for you, I would suggest that you pull the headlight away from you bike's bucket and look around and tell us what you see. Can you see what wires burned and caused the smoke? If so can you tell us the color code on them. The color codes go a long way to tell us what the function of the burned wire is or was. Is one wire burned or are several? The upshot is, the more you can tell us about your problem the better we can helpo you. Don't tell us just the information you think we need. Tell us everything you see. Also tell us more about the incident. What all was done to the bike prior to the problem? Did you have any kind of warning that you were having a problem. I think you get the idea. Give us all the information you've got. We're capable of sorting out what might be relevant and what not.
If you can take a well lit, high resolution pic or two of the inside of the bucket that would be of a help too.
By the way, welcome to Boxerworks.
Ken
If working with electrical problems is daunting for you I would suggest finding somebody who is conversant with wiring diagrams and in general what things are done by the electrical system. It would be nice if that person were also familiar with /5 bikes, but really any competent person who can read wiring diagrams and understands vehicle electricals should be able to do the job.
Whether or not that advice is workable for you, I would suggest that you pull the headlight away from you bike's bucket and look around and tell us what you see. Can you see what wires burned and caused the smoke? If so can you tell us the color code on them. The color codes go a long way to tell us what the function of the burned wire is or was. Is one wire burned or are several? The upshot is, the more you can tell us about your problem the better we can helpo you. Don't tell us just the information you think we need. Tell us everything you see. Also tell us more about the incident. What all was done to the bike prior to the problem? Did you have any kind of warning that you were having a problem. I think you get the idea. Give us all the information you've got. We're capable of sorting out what might be relevant and what not.
If you can take a well lit, high resolution pic or two of the inside of the bucket that would be of a help too.
By the way, welcome to Boxerworks.
Ken
____________________________________
There's no such thing as too many airheads
There's no such thing as too many airheads
Re: Headlight Wiring Woes
I appreciate your feedback, Ken. I will try to take some pics and describe more by tomorrow. Thanks and stay tuned...
Another piece o'cake
First off, were ALL the instrument and warning lights working before the speedo removal?
When you removed the speedo, did you disconnect any wires or did you just pull out all the bulb holders with their wires still attached?
Was the key ON or OFF when you connected the battery and got smoke?
Was the smoke only coming from inside the headlight?
Was it just a bit of smoke for a few seconds? or a lot?
What I would do first:
Remove the speedo to have some room to work (I doubt you did it any harm) and set up all the bulb holders so you can see them and so they aren't touching anything or resting on the housing.
Look carefully for any visible charring or melting on any of the wires.
More than likely you'll find a few wires melted together, probably got pinched by the speedo mounting bracket.
Report back with your findings and some pics.
When you removed the speedo, did you disconnect any wires or did you just pull out all the bulb holders with their wires still attached?
Was the key ON or OFF when you connected the battery and got smoke?
Was the smoke only coming from inside the headlight?
Was it just a bit of smoke for a few seconds? or a lot?
What I would do first:
Remove the speedo to have some room to work (I doubt you did it any harm) and set up all the bulb holders so you can see them and so they aren't touching anything or resting on the housing.
Look carefully for any visible charring or melting on any of the wires.
More than likely you'll find a few wires melted together, probably got pinched by the speedo mounting bracket.
Report back with your findings and some pics.
Mechanic from Hell
"I remember every raging second of it...
My bike was on fire, the road was on fire, and I was on fire.
It was the best ride ever!"
"I remember every raging second of it...
My bike was on fire, the road was on fire, and I was on fire.
It was the best ride ever!"
Re: Headlight Wiring Woes
keep in mind the main harness is still available from BMW cheap.
http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/fiche.aspx
Around $65.00 or so.
Buy one while you still can.
If your in tje Southern California area, bring it by, we'll fix it right up!
http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/fiche.aspx
Around $65.00 or so.
Buy one while you still can.
If your in tje Southern California area, bring it by, we'll fix it right up!
Re: Headlight Wiring Woes
Where are you, hudson? There are forum people all over the world. Maybe someone lives close enough to come over.
state, province, land...section?
I'm with gspd on this...something shorted to the shell when you re-installed the speedo. It's pretty tight in there!!
state, province, land...section?
I'm with gspd on this...something shorted to the shell when you re-installed the speedo. It's pretty tight in there!!
Clemson, SC
R100s, R75/5
R100s, R75/5
Re: Headlight Wiring Woes
Hey guys! I am in Apex, North Carolina - just outside of Raleigh. Before I removed the speedo unit, all LED bulbs/ warning lights, turn signals, starter, high beams, headlight were working fine. I do remember one day when I switched my turn signal on it started to smoke. I quickly turned off everything. During my troubleshoot, everything started working fine again, so I disregarded.
Couple of weeks went by and my speedo acted haywire after a long day's ride. I removed speedo unit - removing the bulbs on the bulb holders with wires still attached. There are two wires I disconnected that clip on the bottom of the speedo unit (I believe one is green, the other is blue). Then obviously disconnected the bracket that secures the unit and the speedo and tach cables. Sent off to Palo Alto for repair.
Received fixed unit, started putting it all together, including new speedo & tach cables. Pretty much remembered everything, but forgot order which wires connected to the speedo unit (green & blue). Hooked up battery, put key in and turned. Turn signals and LED/Warning lights came on - no headlights or high beams (even though high beam indicator was on). Turned off key. Switched the two speedo wires I explained above. Turned key, smoke poured out. Quickly disconnected. It may have been just a coincidence it smoked when I switched these two clip on wires on the speedo unit. Perhaps I shuffled something and something became ungrounded?
There are two wires in particular that look in bad shape. I will see if I can post pics. Let me know what you think so far is the culprit. Thanks....
Couple of weeks went by and my speedo acted haywire after a long day's ride. I removed speedo unit - removing the bulbs on the bulb holders with wires still attached. There are two wires I disconnected that clip on the bottom of the speedo unit (I believe one is green, the other is blue). Then obviously disconnected the bracket that secures the unit and the speedo and tach cables. Sent off to Palo Alto for repair.
Received fixed unit, started putting it all together, including new speedo & tach cables. Pretty much remembered everything, but forgot order which wires connected to the speedo unit (green & blue). Hooked up battery, put key in and turned. Turn signals and LED/Warning lights came on - no headlights or high beams (even though high beam indicator was on). Turned off key. Switched the two speedo wires I explained above. Turned key, smoke poured out. Quickly disconnected. It may have been just a coincidence it smoked when I switched these two clip on wires on the speedo unit. Perhaps I shuffled something and something became ungrounded?
There are two wires in particular that look in bad shape. I will see if I can post pics. Let me know what you think so far is the culprit. Thanks....
Re: Headlight Wiring Woes
Unless, someone knows something I don't, I can't post pics by the IMG feature, as I do not have a website to upload them to. Don't see any other way to attach them to a post. I can e-mail them to anyone interested in taking a look. My e-mail is hudson.ny24@yahoo.com. Thanks again...
Re: Headlight Wiring Woes
Those small lights you see in the speedo face are not LEDshudson wrote:....all LED bulbs/ warning lights, turn signals, starter, high beams, headlight were working fine. I do remember one day when I switched my turn signal on it started to smoke. I quickly turned off everything. During my troubleshoot, everything started working fine again, so I disregarded.
There are two wires I disconnected that clip on the bottom of the speedo unit (I believe one is green, the other is blue).
Unless you actually converted them to LED bulbs.
Your speedo unit has no electrical functions per say, only bulbs.
I don't have a wiring diagram for your bike, but from memory...
Any connector(s) directly on the actual speedo housing would be strictly a ground and should have brown wires connected to them.
Blue is usually for the charging system (from the bulb to the regulator)
Green is usually power with the key on.
Maybe your previously undiagnosed flasher short is back to haunt you.
If someone would be kind enough to post (or preferably email me) a COLOR wiring diagram,
with that and a few pics it shouldn't take long to figure it out.
Mechanic from Hell
"I remember every raging second of it...
My bike was on fire, the road was on fire, and I was on fire.
It was the best ride ever!"
"I remember every raging second of it...
My bike was on fire, the road was on fire, and I was on fire.
It was the best ride ever!"
Re: Headlight Wiring Woes
http://photobucket.com/
It's easy enough....some trial and error and you won't look back...and it's free.
It's easy enough....some trial and error and you won't look back...and it's free.
Cheers, Steve
Victoria, S.E.Oz.
1982 R100RSR100RS supergallery. https://boxerboy81.smugmug.com/R100RS
2006 K1200R.
1994 R1100GS.
Victoria, S.E.Oz.
1982 R100RSR100RS supergallery. https://boxerboy81.smugmug.com/R100RS
2006 K1200R.
1994 R1100GS.