Rookie wiring question

[bsimmons]

So I'm going to be wiring soon and I'm just going over my stuff and my headlight and tail lights I bought where from lowbrow. So as I'm looking I notice the the headlight only has 2 wires white and black my question is would the white wire be running light and black be the ground?

And second the taillight is similar but both wires are black and it's a taillight/break light. My question is does that mean that it's self grounded and one wire is break light and the other is the license plate light? Thanks sorry if this seems dumb but I'm new at this

 

[XSLeo]

On the headlight, open it up and look inside. If it has both a high and low beam it should have three wires coming off the bulb. One wire for high and low beams and a ground. If this ground wire is hook to the case of the light then it grounds through the mount.
The same applies to the tail/brake light. Most tail/brake lights don't have a separate light for the license plate. They have a clear window so the tail light shines down on the plate.
The only dumb question is the one that doesn't get asked.
Leo

 

[bsimmons]

Ok thanks yea the tail light is only one bulb in,it's of wrote it wrong to begin with. But I'll pull the headlight apart and see if its grounded inside as with the taillight thanks

 

[bsimmons]

So checked them out the headlight is grounded inside with the white wire so making the black high beam and the white low correct?

And as for the tail light I didn't see it grounded inside like the headlight.

 

[XSLeo]

If the white wire grounds to the case then it can't be low beam. Remove the bulb itself and see if it has one or two elements. A lot of headlights are actually driving lights with just a one element bulb. Just one beam, no high/low.
On the tail light, the outside on the bulb base is the ground, this connects to the outside of the socket. The out side of the socket is made as part of the case.
The bulb has two shiny grey spots on the very bottom. One hooks to the brake light the other to the tail light.
Use a battery, hook the case to the negative. A jumper wire will be fine. Touch each wire to the positive. One wire lights the light at a low level, the other wire lights it to a bright level. The low is the tail light, the bright is the brake light.
I went to the lowbrow site. All the 5 3/4 lights are headlights with a high and low beam. The 4 1/2 inch lights are driving lights and only have one beam. If you got one of them One wire is hot, the other ground.
So what light did you get?
Leo

 

[bsimmons]

Yes thanks I looked at lowbrow again and read over it. It only one option no hi/lo so even though the white is ground in the light I should still ground the whit coming out right? Because it says the black is the light

 

[member3480]

Here is a easy way to check. Set up a battery and first ground the light if you have two wire and both light up one is low beam and the other is high beam .If only one light up and when you touch the other it sparks you only have a single filament bulb. Same for tail. A lot of tail lights being sold are chassis ground and the two wires are running light and brake light. EASY HUH

 

[peanut]

its very important to be led by the function of a wire rather that its colour if electrical problems and potential fires are to be avoided.

The convention on Yamaha bikes of this era is for the black coloured wires to be the ground or earth wires for everything .

Unfortunately many other car and bike manufacturers and after market part manufacturers had their own wire colour convention for ground wires which could be brown or even green which can cause a lot of confusion.

If the bulb has only a single filament and two wire feeds then it doesn't really matter which way round the live feed and the ground wire is connected to the bulb nor the colour of the wires. it will work connected either way.
if the bulb holder only has a single wire then that wire will be a 12v+ live feed and it is essential that it is connected to the end of the bulb and not the metal case of the bulb or it will short out to ground.

Convention dictates that we generally connect the metal body of the bulb to the chassis of the bike(ground) for safety and this may be done either through the metal housing bolts to the bikes chassis or by seperate black ground wire to the chassis for improved grounding

Check carefully to see which battery terminal is connected to your bikes chassis. It should be negative (- or black) The chassis is your ground for everything .

Every electrical component of the bike has to have a 12v+ supply wire and a ground wire (although sometimes the ground connection of a component is made internally to the metal housing of the component and then the ground connects to the chassis through the fixing bolts. In this case you only have perhaps a single wire going to the component.

if you have 2x or more wires going to a component it doesn't necesarily mean that they are live feed and ground wires . Both wires may be seperate 12v+ live feeds to 2x seperate functions within the component (ie 2x bulb filimants)
In these cases the metal body of the component when bolted or touched to the chassis will act as the ground wire .

You really should use a multimeter to test wires before you connect them and always when testing any electrical items or wiring make sure that you undo the ground battery terminal and have the connector loose so that you can pull it off if a wire suddenly bursts into smoke and flames.

 

[XSLeo]

In post #4 he said the headlight was grounded inside to the white. It may also ground through the case, mount to the frame. In this case ground the white. I would extend the white wire long enough to reach back under the tank and ground it to the frame. This will be a better ground than just through the mount.
Leo

 

[bsimmons]

So got the wiring close to done but still trouble. So the wiring diagram I'm using says to wire the headlight and taillight together and then into the fuse. So I got that so when I tried it out it came right on. But when I hit the switch to off the both stayed on. So input a switch on the headlight got that problem solved. But the tail light is still always on regardless of what position the switch is in. So is it a problem with the switch. I'm using just a on off toggle switch I've yet to start the bike either to tell if the switch kills the motor. So some help would be great full

 

[XSLeo]

What diagram are you using?
Hooking the head and tail light right to a fuse works but I think it's better to hook a switch in so the headlight can be turned off. This helps the bike start better. The headlight draws a lot of current. Having the tail light on won't effect starting much, not much current draw.
Leo