serious newby electrical problem

xschop

xschop

XS650 Enthusiast
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Location
milwaukee,wisconsin
So I have zero experience with electrical...I'll he honest...and idk bit as of late when I flip the switch on my bike...my lights take a couple minutes to turn on...and when they do they turn on very dim...after a minute or two...the light turns bright and I proceed to kick the bike over and go on my way...why is my bike doing this...I have a chopped 72 xs and I have all original wiring and I am running points...the only thing I did was remove all of the stuff that doesn't make it run...I currently am running headlight tailight and toggle switch...everything else was scrapped...and today while on the freeway I lost all power and it shut completely off....please help...I'm considering buying a multimeter from harbor freight but not sire what I should test and how...I have my manual ready also but still not clear enough for me please help...I live in milwaukee wi. And wanna ride before winter starts coming up....:eek:
 
Hi xschop,
how can you live without a multimeter?
I guess the same way as some folks can live without an air compressor?
Go get a multimeter, first thing!
The Ohms setting measures resistance; the D.C.Voltage setting measures
(wait for it - - -)
Voltage.
There's also some other settings on most multimeters but the Ohms & D.C.Volts settings are all you need to check what's going on with your bike's wiring.
The wait then dim then bright lighting after you turn the key but before the engine starts phenomenon?
Buggered If I know but there's no effin' way that should happen.
Happy fast learning curve for you, your new multimeter and a wiring diagram.
 
Hahaha thanks man I appreciate it...was just hoping for a little more specifics about what should everything read out to and what setting do I put the multimeter at when testing the stator etc etc...I'm going to harbor freight now to pick up a multymeter
 
Grettings xschop,

I also own a 72, but stock and with points and lights, no blinkers. First question, why do you turn on the lights before you start it? They seem to only do this on TV or the movies.

Anyway, check your grounds and battery connections. The main ground comes down from the negative side of the battery and bolts to the right rear side of the engine. Another one is under the tank by the coils and capacitors. Remove & sand the ground wire ends and all surfaces that the ground wire mates with. Coat with a dialectric grease and put back together.

The connectors in the headlight, under the tank and near the left rear shock should also be checked for tightness and continuity. All of the blacks should be ground or negative.

Try that for now. At the same time check for rub-outs. With all the vibration going on, any one of the hot leads could be worn thru causing shorts.

This just in: That dim to bright thing could be a high resistance short that fades away when you get on the bike or kickstart it!

Good luck!:thumbsup:
 
Oh that's because I wired my. EBay headlight to my toggle on off switch that gives power to the bike
And just got back from harbor freight..and I checked my rectifier and it read -4.25....is my rectifier good? What should be the range for voltage regulator and rectifier and stator?
And that dim to bright answer you gave me I don't understand your answer sorry can you break it down some I hate electrical components but I'm commited
 
Oh and don't judge me but I tried jumping my cousins Harley with my bike running when his bike took a shit and after that I think that's when the problems started...and note..when I charged my battery last night it smelled like rotten eggs...I forgot what that meant..bad battery?
 
!st: dim to bright, (with this new info), could still be a poor connection, but you may have puked your battery. One or more of the cells could be gone. The 72 yam battery isn't strong enough for starting Harleys.

The rotten egg smell may be that you over charged the battery.

Use ur new meter and check the battery voltage with no load, bike off. Must be over 12.5V at least. Bike running, it should read ~13.5V or more. I don't hav the exact voltages in my head right now, but I just saw a great utube for checking voltages and poor grounds and connections. I'll try to send it ur way. Good luck!
 
Yeah thanks I actually did check the battery it's readin at 12.6 volts and at this point I can't even kick the bike because when I flip the switch I get no power at all to start it...oh and I literally took apart everything and found that the cable that goes to the starting solenoid down to the motor which I'm assuming is the starter....my battery was sitting on that cable and the cable on part of the metal is chewed through it leaving have of the wire cut in half...so with that..even though I use this bike as a kick only will it cause my bike no to turn on at all??
 
OK. With the meter on the battery, it reads 12.6V. Now turn on key, it should read ever so slightly less, but if it drops quickly, then ur battery may be bad. Hard to say from here.

Check all wiring carefully and replace the big ones that are burned or melted.

Again, check all connections. Keep digging. It seems like you're getting there.:thumbsup:
 
Okay I wanna post a pic of what I got going on so far and trying to figure this out...but since I can't...sitting on the bike on the left hand side under the panel there is the started solenoid and some other piece that looks like three white wires and one red...what is that? Is that part of my rectifier ? Trying to get familiar with this sorry for constant questions :shrug:
 
Okay sounds good thanks and when I put my battery back in after checking all ground I checked the voltage and my voltage on my battery is now 12.4
And when I turned the switch it wouldn't give me a good reading it'll Gove me a reading of 0.456 so idk why it's reading like that and when I turned it on the ground and a quarter of the battery top was getting warm and started smelling like eggs again Grrrrr I'm getting frustrated so I'm gonna take a break for now:banghead:
 
YeAh just took my batteries plus and they tested it I guess my battery was fried so bought a New battery and will try again after work thanks I'll keep you posted you've been of much help
 
Hi xschop,
like Marlin sez, most likely the battery is short-circuiting directly to ground.
Here's a step-by-step I'd try.
Take the battery out, check it's Voltage, set it on a charger overnight and check it again.
Meanwhile, set your multimeter to Ohms and check between the main positive wire and ground.
With the key OFF you should get a Zero reading.
With the key ON you should get a reasonable resistance.
My aging brain won't come up with a number but pull your headlight bulb and check it's resistance, kinda that much or a bit less to allow for the ignition and tail light.
Remember, Ohms is backwards, the less the Ohms the more the current.
And into all this, how's the fuse?
 
Okay Fred can you explain that a little better....I just bought a brand new battery cause my old battery wasf fried...it read 12.5 volts but the moment I put a load on it it went down to zero...so with my new battery...I put it on and installed it and now I'm popping fuses left to right....and I only have one fuse block that's off the battery....so with my new battery I put my multimeter on ohms and put the positive on the positive terminal and the black wire I just ground it?..??? And when I flip the switch do the same?? Won't it get shorted out?
 
Oh and I am finding some wires that are exposed a bit...and I found that my battery cable that goes from my positive and down to my motor which I'm assuming is my starter was horribly cut and was touching the metal..so I just removed that cable for now and I'm in the process of just taping my exposed wires off for now until I can get a good complete harness...I just want to get power at t this point...:(
 

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