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Headlight Relay Failure??

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 1:08 am
by kutter
Went to a meeting last nite on the R80.
On arrival I found that I had no rear blinkers or
stop/tail light. After the meeting rode with no
rear lights to a mates place nearby. Left the bike there
and got a lift home.Went back today, checked fuses,
bulbs and tracked back to the headlight relay.
From the diagram it is a double pole switch which I suspect
is switching power to the front lights/park/blinkers
but not the rear.
Checking the good info on relays on the internet now.

Re: Headlight Relay Failure??

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 1:17 am
by Garnet
Sounds like a bad ground. All the rear lights ground through one of the brown wires that bolt to the coil mount. Give it a good wiggle and see what happens.

Re: Headlight Relay Failure??

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:16 am
by kutter
Thanks Garnet,
I will check that when I go back tomorrow.
Have just checked out the relay from my
81 R100RS but it is slightly different -
has an 87a connection instead of an 87b
and no internal diodes .The diodes are
apparently in the headlight bucket on the
earlier models. The R80 is a1985 model.
Trying to find a substitute I could buy locally
if the grounding is not the answer.

Re: Headlight Relay Failure??

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:21 am
by Airbear
Another thing to check:
It appears from the diagram that there is a connector back there for the power and ground/earth hoses to the rear lights. It'd be worth giving that a wiggle, too.

Re: Headlight Relay Failure??

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:33 am
by kutter
Thanks Airbear,
All suggestions gratefully received
and checked out.

Re: Headlight Relay Failure??

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:58 am
by ME 109
Like Garnet, I'm thinking a ground.
One ground wire versus 4 individual power wires.

Re: Headlight Relay Failure??

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:36 am
by dougie
Airbear wrote:Another thing to check:
It appears from the diagram that there is a connector back there for the power and ground/earth hoses to the rear lights. It'd be worth giving that a wiggle, too.
On my '87 Mono there is a 6 pin connector for the rear lights. It is a little forward of the battery, left side.

Re: Headlight Relay Failure??

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:09 pm
by kutter
Absolutely correct.
It was the 6 pin/5 wires plug just under the left side
rear of the tank. Another problem solved online.
Plug was completely apart. Seems to be tight enough
when pushed completely home. Then the blinkers wouldn't
blink until 30/40 seconds after the motor was started.

Re: Headlight Relay Failure??

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:14 pm
by bbelk
The proper relay is a double pole but if you have a USA set up that does not have an on/off/park switch on the handle bar, it can work with a standard automotive single pole cause its always on and there is no need to feed the tail light through a different power source when the headlight is off.

What I did learn while I was figuring this out - was that if the relay contacts fail - it will cause the tail lights to fail too. I don't know about the turn signals.

Re: Headlight Relay Failure??

Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:18 pm
by kutter
Thanks for that info.
Oz gets the Euro version.