inbrick
XS650 New Member
I have a 1980 special II (g) that a friend of mine was kind enough to give to me. He lost interest in motorcycles (I'm not sure how that would happen), and said I could have the bike if I promised to get it working. It had been sitting for over a year and was in rough shape, both mechanically and aesthetically. I took it to a shop to get the tank and carbs cleaned, battery charged, etc, and it runs now. I've had it for about 9 months. Still needs lots of work, and I don't have the skills to fix it myself or the money to pay for it to be done, so I've been addressing things as they become unbearable.
A couple months ago I was having issues with my headlight, turn signals, and horn. The fuses for the turn signals and headlight kept on blowing. When they fuses were intact, the headlight still wouldn't work and only my right turn signal would light. The horn would work if the fuses were intact. I figured out a couple weeks ago that the clutch-side switch was the source of the problems, and bought a replacement from mikesxs. The fuse-blowing problem is now solved, the turn signals work, the horn works, and my headlight works, but not quite right. The electric starter works fine, and I have never had any problems with my battery not charging, so I do not suspect the alternator or charging system.
When the switch is on low-beam, the light is very dim - too dim to cast any light beyond about a meter. The blue "high beam" indicator light on the instrument panel is lit very dimly. 8 volts flowing on the yellow wire to the headlight, no voltage on the dark green.
When the switch is on high-beam, the light is slightly dimmer than I would expect a fully functional low-beam to be. The "high beam" indicator light on the panel is not lit at all. 24 v flowing on the dark green wire to the headlight, no voltage on the yellow.
As far as I know, all parts are either stock or as close as I could get to stock if I had to get replacements from mikesxs. The ground from the headlight has 0 ohm resistance.
I suspect there is a problem in the switch, as I think I should have voltage on the dark green wire for the low-beam and on the yellow wire for the high-beam. However, I didn't take any readings on the headlight when it was working properly oh-so-long ago, so I am not sure. Comments or suggestions?
A couple months ago I was having issues with my headlight, turn signals, and horn. The fuses for the turn signals and headlight kept on blowing. When they fuses were intact, the headlight still wouldn't work and only my right turn signal would light. The horn would work if the fuses were intact. I figured out a couple weeks ago that the clutch-side switch was the source of the problems, and bought a replacement from mikesxs. The fuse-blowing problem is now solved, the turn signals work, the horn works, and my headlight works, but not quite right. The electric starter works fine, and I have never had any problems with my battery not charging, so I do not suspect the alternator or charging system.
When the switch is on low-beam, the light is very dim - too dim to cast any light beyond about a meter. The blue "high beam" indicator light on the instrument panel is lit very dimly. 8 volts flowing on the yellow wire to the headlight, no voltage on the dark green.
When the switch is on high-beam, the light is slightly dimmer than I would expect a fully functional low-beam to be. The "high beam" indicator light on the panel is not lit at all. 24 v flowing on the dark green wire to the headlight, no voltage on the yellow.
As far as I know, all parts are either stock or as close as I could get to stock if I had to get replacements from mikesxs. The ground from the headlight has 0 ohm resistance.
I suspect there is a problem in the switch, as I think I should have voltage on the dark green wire for the low-beam and on the yellow wire for the high-beam. However, I didn't take any readings on the headlight when it was working properly oh-so-long ago, so I am not sure. Comments or suggestions?