Some years had a hydraulic pressure switch to activate the brake light. The pressure switch would be on the brake hydraulic line or fitting, not at the lever or m/c.
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Lots of electrical issues, please help
- Thread starter LuckyLeprechaun
- Start date
Some years had a hydraulic pressure switch to activate the brake light. The pressure switch would be on the brake hydraulic line or fitting, not at the lever or m/c.
LuckyLeprechaun
XS650 Enthusiast
essexboydave: Ok, well if for some reason it gets to the point that I NEED the starter, or I get really sick of kicking it, i'll look into fixing it. For now though, getting it running and on the road is good enough
retiredgentleman: After tracing the brake lines themselves, I did find some wires plugged into a hydraulic fitting, so I will trace those and see what I can do about getting the brake light to work.
retiredgentleman: After tracing the brake lines themselves, I did find some wires plugged into a hydraulic fitting, so I will trace those and see what I can do about getting the brake light to work.
#1 your starter may not engage because of a weak spring on the gears behind the clutch. A bit of work to get to but you can often fix by removing the spring and squeezing the end to tighten. I'll post a pic. On the 76 the neutral light had no effect on the stater. Your neutral light might not work because the bulb is blown or the wire that hooks to the neutral switch is loose or unhooked. The neutral switch is on top of the transmisson. The wire is a Sky Blue that comes out of the wire harness just above the transmission.
#2 your front brake should light the brake light. The 76 uses a hydralic switch mounted in the junction block between the upper and lower brake lines. This jumction block is mounted to the lower fork tree. I'll post a pic. The wires just plug on the switch. unplug the wires. With the key on hook a jum per wire between the wires of the switch, if the lights come on the switch is probably bad or dirty connections. Claen up the female terminals on the wires and the male terminals on the switch. If you have a meter put it on a low ohms scale, You might need some help here, As you hold the test leads to the male terminals of the switch, have some one pull the brake lever. If you get a low ohm reading while the lever is pulled the switch is ok.
#3 the turn signals draws 57 watts to light the two 27 watt and the 3 watt dash light. That's more than the high beam of the headlight draws, 50 watt high beam.
So you can see if that even with a fully charged battery the flashers may not work well. Go through the flasher circuit to check for loose or dirty connections.The switch itself can get dirty, it can be taken apart and cleaned. I wouldn't worry to much on them until you get the bike running and you can test the charging system.
I can't find my pic of the brake light switch but it seems you found it.
I did find the pic of the spring on the starter gears you need.
Leo
#2 your front brake should light the brake light. The 76 uses a hydralic switch mounted in the junction block between the upper and lower brake lines. This jumction block is mounted to the lower fork tree. I'll post a pic. The wires just plug on the switch. unplug the wires. With the key on hook a jum per wire between the wires of the switch, if the lights come on the switch is probably bad or dirty connections. Claen up the female terminals on the wires and the male terminals on the switch. If you have a meter put it on a low ohms scale, You might need some help here, As you hold the test leads to the male terminals of the switch, have some one pull the brake lever. If you get a low ohm reading while the lever is pulled the switch is ok.
#3 the turn signals draws 57 watts to light the two 27 watt and the 3 watt dash light. That's more than the high beam of the headlight draws, 50 watt high beam.
So you can see if that even with a fully charged battery the flashers may not work well. Go through the flasher circuit to check for loose or dirty connections.The switch itself can get dirty, it can be taken apart and cleaned. I wouldn't worry to much on them until you get the bike running and you can test the charging system.
I can't find my pic of the brake light switch but it seems you found it.
I did find the pic of the spring on the starter gears you need.
Leo
Attachments
LuckyLeprechaun
XS650 Enthusiast
Thank you for that helpful tip about the starter, I will try to keep that in mind for if I ever want to try to get it working.
I did indeed find the front brake switch. I took the wires off, cleaned both connections, put them back together, and now have a working light.
I won't get too concerned about the flashers not flashing until I actually have the bike running and can test them properly. If they still don't work then i'll start tracing wires and see if I can find something that needs fixing.
I did indeed find the front brake switch. I took the wires off, cleaned both connections, put them back together, and now have a working light.
I won't get too concerned about the flashers not flashing until I actually have the bike running and can test them properly. If they still don't work then i'll start tracing wires and see if I can find something that needs fixing.
No3 and the paragraph after, that XSleo wrote, is very important to having a good electrical system that works properly.
You have cleaned 2 components and solved 2 problems so that tells you one of the first things you need to do is go through your wiring harness from one end to the other and clean all of your connections. It is tedious and difficult but will eliminate a lot of problems you associate to other things. Don't put this off
A fully charged battery and good connections will make your indicators flash surprisingly fast even without a running engine.
You have cleaned 2 components and solved 2 problems so that tells you one of the first things you need to do is go through your wiring harness from one end to the other and clean all of your connections. It is tedious and difficult but will eliminate a lot of problems you associate to other things. Don't put this off
A fully charged battery and good connections will make your indicators flash surprisingly fast even without a running engine.
LuckyLeprechaun
XS650 Enthusiast
Well 99% of my problems are now resolved, and it seems like most only existed because I had the key in the wrong position. That being said, I am in total agreement that going through and checking/taking care of things is definatly something to do.
This is my first motorcycle, but i've been working on cars for about the last 5 years, so even though things are set up differently, a lot of the maintenance and basic rules are the same. Also, living in Wisconsin, we have pretty harsh winters, and use ALOT of salt on our roads, so corrosion is something that must constantly be dealt with.
I don't know how well charged the battery i'm using for tests actually is., but since I have plenty of time, I will try to run the flasher wiring and see if I can't get it working properly with just battery power. If still no, i'll have to fire it up and see what it does then.
This is my first motorcycle, but i've been working on cars for about the last 5 years, so even though things are set up differently, a lot of the maintenance and basic rules are the same. Also, living in Wisconsin, we have pretty harsh winters, and use ALOT of salt on our roads, so corrosion is something that must constantly be dealt with.
I don't know how well charged the battery i'm using for tests actually is., but since I have plenty of time, I will try to run the flasher wiring and see if I can't get it working properly with just battery power. If still no, i'll have to fire it up and see what it does then.
