Headlight lowbeam and tail light?

[azcycle]

Hey all... long time!

I've got a bit of an electrical gremlin, which I thought was just a blown bulb. But before I start digging, I need to know:

Is the tail "running light" (not the brake light) bulb connected to the headlight's low beam?  

I ask because I lost the headlight low beam a while back. I didn't bother to dig into it because I always use the high-beam anyway (non stock aftermarket bucket) and rarely ride at night. But I recently noticed that the lower of the two tail-light bulbs (the running light) is also out. I went to replace it yesterday and it looks fine... no broken element or black spots). So then I looked at the headlight low beam and it's element looks fine too.

I also lose the horn intermittently, and just yesterday, the right turn signal was acting funny. So it's pointing to the whole left control going belly-up. I'll also check grounds.

But I was curious first to know if the headlight/tail-light were connected and hence, if I lose one, I lose the other.

[Bob_Roller]

First pace to go, is the fuse box under the fuel tank .

It's a lousy excuse of a fuse setup .

I would remove the fuses check the condition of it, then bend the tabs that the fuse goes into together, to get better contact between the two .

The head light is a different circuit .

[azcycle]

I've been meaning to replace the old fuses with the new style (and even have them). I just never got around to doing that. I'll check on my lunch hour today and report back.

[bruce_launceston]

Could be corroded contacts in a wiring connector or two. I had an indicator that stoppd working and pulling apart and cleaning/ lubing the connector blocks fixed it. As you said also could be a bad earth somewhere.

[azcycle]

I've looked everywhere and can't seem to find the "how-to" on replacing the old fuses with the new blade-style. Does anyone have the DIY instructions?

[nhmaf]

Another victim of our wiki database explosion of a couple years back.   Monte Miller had a write up and I think I also made one too when I did it - will try to find and post in the FAQ section

[nhmaf]

I haven't found the "how-to" article yet, but this is the NAPA auto parts fuseholder that Monte used, and the one I used is very similar.
http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?R=NW_784667_0362425446

These take a standard SAE mini-blade type automotive fuse and is fairly water resistant and orders of magnitude more reliable than the exposed bent metal fingers with ceramic fuse factory setup.

you basically open / remove the seat, take off the fuel tank move the underseat toolbox tray and expose the little fuse holder board (2 fuses on it).   you unclamp the screw clamp holding it to the frame backbone and move it so you can sort out the wires that go to  either end of each fuse holder.   You disconnect the wires (do (1) fuse at a time to avoid getting your wires confused) and connect them to the wired ends of one of these new NAPA fuses.    I use good quality crimp-on splice connectors, with an external length of heatshrink tubing to further protect the splice.

The original fuses are only around 8 Amps or so IIRC, so pick a suitably small SAE mini-blade fuse (say, 10A) to install to ensure similar protection.  If you cannot find a <10A or less fuse, you could use a bit larger, but by no means go higher than 15A fuse.

Use nylon zipties to organize the (2) new separate in-line fuseholders and wiring, perhaps tying them onto spare screw holes on the relay mounting panel for a neat installation.  I like to leave the wires just long enough so that I can reach under and access the fuse holders from the side without having to remove the tank or open the seat, for those rare "side-of-the-road" electrical checks..

[azcycle]

Thank you! I purchased the fuses a while ago when I was planning to do this and believe I got the correct ones. I just couldn't remember what wires to splice into them.

If you can still find the old how-to I'm sure it would be helpful to pin in the  Tech Specs area.

[montmil]

Scroll on down to the post, Turn Signals Stopped Working by Steven M.

Photos of my fuse replacement operation.