She's alive! Hooray, electrical problem boooo

[silver fox]

Hi all

A big thanks to you all for your input & Biofotis for the parts.
After fitting the Generator & pick ups I had a spark for the
first time in nearly three years, unfortunately the kick start
kept slipping (Biofotis to the rescue again)
Well i'm chuffed to have her running again but now I have an earth
(I think) problem. Last thing to do for the MOT was connect & fit
the headlight.No light from dip or main beams!the "turn" light is
on & there is power to the two terminals in the headlight plug, the
earth in the plug does not seem to work. I can get the light on
with a seperate earth wire.
Would I be safe running the lights from a battery charger that is
switchable from 6v to 12v if I use 6v & put a 10amp fuse in line
rather than keep starting her up. I saw the 9v battery trick but
there's not enough power.

Thank you again & any help with this problem would be great as im
not to confident with electrics.

Ade

[helisupp]

Sounds like a dodgy wire connection in the loom.

Out of interest I just got my spare loom our of storage to trace the earth wire from the headlight all the way to the earth, but unless I unwrapped the loom there is no chance.

You are chasing an earth so no need for any voltage supply at all to test the circuit, you already know you have power to the light.

Just use a multimeter on the headlight earth wire and it will beep when you have an earth, or use a bulb and small battery, it will light up when earth is sorted.

[helisupp]

I have just been through the loom, you must have a broken wire.

Earth wire is direct from light bulb socket to the main frame earthing point without going through any plugs, its just soldered to main wire under insulation tape joints, I suggest cleaning earth point above engine first and making sure its correctly fitted under bolthead.

Picture of green earth wire



AR wiring diagram

[silver fox]

Thanks Heli

The earth from the headlight goes to the left handle bar switch & was broken at the two wires to the
clutch switch. They were folded back on themselves & cable tied to the other wires.
I cut the dodgy section out & soldered new wire in, but in my hurry didn't put the horn switch in
correctly (doh!) Just got to find time for the re test

Thanks again all.

ade

[helisupp]

Silver Fox

All my bikes have the clutch switch disconnected and wires tywrapped back, no need for them to be connected.

[biofotis]

Silver Fox

All my bikes have the clutch switch disconnected and wires tywrapped back, no need for them to be connected.

I thought the clutch switch is used by the PGM to activate or deactivate the AR operation?

[helisupp]

It seems to make no difference connected or not, I cannot tell any difference, if it controlled the AR operation it would be a funny ride if you fanned the clutch to increase the revs......and the engine went soft. With the switch wires disconnected its the same as clutch lever out.

If any AR has an aftermarket clutch lever (many do) the switch is removed from the system as it only works on the original lever assembly.

I thought the clutch switch connected to the side stand switch...........so you can start with sidestand down and in gear but not with clutch lever released.

But who knows........

[biofotis]

i did some tests yesterday and it definitely deactivates the ar thing. Its easy to test to. Just take off the PV cover and cruise with third gear at 1/3 throttle position. Whenever you press the clutch (just a bit to press the button) the PV moves to the normal position depending on the RPM as normal two strokes do. If you release it, it goes all the way down in order to increase the pressure inside the cylinder.

[helisupp]

Excellent news, I will try it next time I am out (next week) and see how it performs reconnected against connected.

Nice to see others interested in them.

I wonder if it also deactivates the ignition spark (like it is supposed to).

[helisupp]

Biofitis,

I went out today (road tyres) and had a ride with the clutch switch disconnected, bike ran like a dream and topped out between 88-90 mph (I am 6ft 3" and 16 stone). I kept it on the stop for 5 miles on the M50 and covered the clutch just in case it nipped up but it was perfect, 1st time its been kept full throttle for extended period.

Next time out I am going to connect the clutch up and whilst riding it see what happens when I disconnect it on partial throttle settings in each gear.

Will report back by end of week if possible.

[biofotis]

I did the tests with the switch attached to the lever properly. I just added more freeplay on the cable to allow pressing/unpressing the switch without affecting the actual clutch. You can also listen the difference on partial throttle

[helisupp]

I have connected the switches up today on all 4 of the bikes (3 of the switches were gummed up with crud and not working so I stripped them off and cleaned them out.

Wonder if disconnecting this switch is the cure for jerky low end partial throttle running, I will investigate as soon as I can.

All I know is the bikes run superb with the switch disconnected........

[biofotis]

I think disconnected switch means clutch in disengaged position so it wont make any actual riding difference on any bike if fitted. Just to complete the bike as honda wanted to be! It only deactivates the ar when in standstill and clitch engaged

[helisupp]

That does not make any sense if it only works at idle, you said it works at 1/3 throttle...............
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Just take off the PV cover and cruise with third gear at 1/3 throttle position. Whenever you press the clutch (just a bit to press the button) the PV moves to the normal position depending on the RPM as normal two strokes do. If you release it, it goes all the way down in order to increase the pressure inside the cylinder.
-----------

I think it does not matter as I have just been out and found no difference whatsoever in riding with it connected and working.

[biofotis]

It works from fully closed throttle until 1/3 approx but I guess it doesnt make any difference on the road as you will only see something when on standstill and on idle
but its definitely worth checking the switch in case it got stuck in close position as it will deactivate completely the AR operation if its connected to the loom.