1981 High Beam Indicator Light

fyl1982

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Hey everyone,

First post here... I am wondering what I can do to troubleshoot my high beam indicator light not working. It's a little blue LED light on the tachometer. My high beam seems to work fine but I'd like this light to operate as it should.

Can anyone give me some ideas on how to troubleshoot this?

Sorry for the noob question. :thumbsup:
 
Hey everyone,

First post here... I am wondering what I can do to troubleshoot my high beam indicator light not working. It's a little blue LED light on the tachometer. My high beam seems to work fine but I'd like this light to operate as it should.

Can anyone give me some ideas on how to troubleshoot this?

Sorry for the noob question. :thumbsup:

No, its not an LED. Back in those days it was just a good old fashion bulb. The bulb is likely burnt out. Remove the tach,undo the cover, and the bulb will pull out from the back of the tach.
 
On a headlight high beam indicater power come of the yellow wire from the headlight high beam. The power can be straight from dimmer switch or just spliced to the yellow wire. This power goes to the indicater, from the indicater to ground. A very simple circuit. Most likely a bad ground or a blown bulb.
Is it a stock tach or aftermarket? The stcok tach, I would pull it from the case and check to see if the bulb is blow. If after market, the lights are probably LED's and they seldom blow but they won't work if they are wired backwards.
Leo
 
I was able to get the bulbs replaced!!! =)

Pulling the tach apart was kind of a pain because the line that connects to the tach is wired very tight on my bike. Just had to loosen the two 8mm cap bolts that connected to the frame. Once I had some play on that I was able to loosen the tach cable. Once that was off I removed the two (I think it was 5mm or 6mm) cap bolts, pulled off the washers and two rubber pieces on the back of the tach. Then the whole inner piece of the tach came out. The bulbs were just rubber booted into place, just had to pull them straight out. Went to AutoZone and picked up some 158 indicator bulbs and swapped them out. Worked like a charm!!! =)

Thanks fellas! Big help!
 
Hey retiredgentleman,

There were two bulbs in the tach. One was obviously the high beam indicator. What is the other one? I was hoping it was a turn signal indicator but am thinking maybe it's a red-line warning indicator. Do you know what that second bulb is?
 
for a 81 the layout has a meter light to light up the dial, speedo has one also
 

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One is the light bulb so you can see the tach after dark. One is the high beam and some have the neutral light in the tach.
Leo
 
I'm glad I have a turn signal indicator, I have to replace that one too then...

I did replace that meter light bulb but it didn't do anything... is there anything special that activates it? Or is it just always on? I'd like to get all this stuff going. =)
 
I'm glad I have a turn signal indicator, I have to replace that one too then...

I did replace that meter light bulb but it didn't do anything... is there anything special that activates it? Or is it just always on? I'd like to get all this stuff going. =)

Most likely it is always on , just like the headlight. On mine the headlight is on as soon as you turn the key , but I also have a light switch ( factory part ) that turns on the lights in the instruments .
 
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