83 Heritage headlight not working

[Dune19670]

Hi everyone
Im wondering if you electrical geniuses could help me out please.
I have a 83 Heritage project going on, and have now found out the headlight has stopped working
After searching the forum i think its the headlight relay, as i put a temporary jump wire between the red/yellow & blue/black wires ( see photo ) and the headlight works
So my question is, what is the best way forward,
Would it be ok to leave the jump wire in place ( done properly)
Is it possible to fix the relay
Is it possible to remove the relay, considering it has the starter safety relay attached
Other suggestions??
Thankyou in advance Steve

Just to add another question,
Does the headlight only work when the engine is running, or will it come on just with the ignition ( as the rear light comes on with the ignition )
Thankyou

 

[5twins]

Yes, you could jump those two wires permanently but then the headlight would come on with the key. That might rob battery power for starting which may not be an issue if the battery is good, but it could be if it's getting old and weak. That was the whole point of the relay - keep the headlight off to conserve battery power until the bike starts. Best scenario would be to add a headlight on-off switch along with the bypass jumper.

Yes, you might be able to repair the relay. It's a mechanical relay with contact points that open and close. It could be stuck or maybe just all corroded inside.

I wouldn't remove it because like you said, it contains the starter protection relay too. I wouldn't want to operate the bike without that relay.

I have an '83 as well and plan to eventually bypass that light relay. I will be adding a '78 or earlier right handlebar switch housing that has the factory headlight on-off switch in it.

There are a couple of other safety relays on your '83 that you should consider eliminating, one on the clutch lever and one on the sidestand. The sidestand one in particular can be troublesome. At the very least, get rid of that one.

 

[Dune19670]

Thankyou 5twins
So the relay may not be broken then ( I cant start the bike yet as its still not quite ready ) i just assumed the headlight came on with the ignition as the rear light does ??
Yes i have removed all the other safety relays
Cheers Steve

 

[5twins]

Yes, the relay may not be broken. The headlight won't come on until the engine is at least cranked over several times and the alternator starts spinning and generating juice. So, the relay in fact doesn't work 100% like you'd like it to. You can trip it while attempting to start the bike before it does actually start. That's what I don't like about it. The only way to turn the headlight off then is to recycle the key to off then on again.

On the other two relays I mentioned, the sidestand switch and relay can simply be removed but the clutch relay requires a jumper wire between the red/white wires to restore starter function .....

 

[Dune19670]

Great info as always 5twins, I’ll wait to see what happens when i get the bike running before i start altering any wiring
Thanks again Steve

 

[xjwmx]

Somewhere on here I did a pictorial where I soldered a wire to the relay to bypass it, and added a headlight switch so I can turn it on and off at will. It was an '81 which would also work on your '83. I didn't trust the relay because of its age and didn't want my headlight to go out some night in a pitch black winding road.

 

[Dune19670]

I found your pictorial, Thankyou
And ive soldered a joining wire at the rear of the relay as you had done.
The battery is new, but I’ll just have to make sure i keep it topped up

 

[xjwmx]

Just to check things, with that jumper, the headlight should come on as soon as you turn the key on. If not, the relay isn't the problem. In that case get a good schematic for your year, there's a color one that's easiest to follow. Then start at the headlight and look for power with a meter, with other probe connected to the bike frame. Use the schematic to keep going back toward the battery until power suddenly appears, and you'll know where the problem is. If it's easier you can go the other direction with the checking and look for power to disappear instead of appear.

 

[Dune19670]

Thankyou for your advice,
Yes the headlight comes on now with the ignition & the back lights of the speedo & tacho which didn’t work before either