Yamaha headlight wire around (reserve lighting unit and idiot light)

[DogBunny]

How to remove your Reserve Lighting Unit and still have proper headlight operation.

Yamaha included a silly device called a Reserve Lighting Unit that will automatically switch your headlight to high beam if your low beam burns out. It also lights up an idiot light to tell you that your headlight is out. If this unit fails you won't have either low beam or high beam and your idiot light won't even work -- far more dangerous, in my opinion, then having a headlight burnout.
Just disconnect the unit and toss it somewhere. Look at the connector in the wiring harness and find the blue/black and blue/yellow wires. Strip a small section of insulation from those two wires and twist them together and solder. Or, if you are serious about this, just cut the wires right off the connector and splice the blue black to the blue/yellow. Now you have headlights again.

 

[5twins]

Yes, those instructions have been online for years here .....

http://www.excess650.co.uk/tips & tricks.htm

Some folks like the thing but honestly, it's like the first thing I remove, lol.

 

[DogBunny]

Not a whole lot of content, but interesting site. Never visited it before.
Yes, I know what I wrote is 15-25 years old. I copied it verbatim from a page in the trove of XS650 ephemera I got a few weeks back.

 

[nj1639]

Aye, the RLU
Back in South Jersey we'd chuck them into the Mill Pond once removed.......here in The Heartland we toss them into the holler........

 

[jetmechmarty]

FWIW, once upon a time, I went to Bike Night 45 minutes from home. After engine start, the headlight came on then the filament failed open. The RLU did its thing and I rode home in the dark like that (low traffic). Besides that, I haven't had an RLU fail in over 150,000 miles of XS riding. Do as you will, but I thought I'd put that out there.

 

[Jim]

FWIW, once upon a time, I went to Bike Night 45 minutes from home. After engine start, the headlight came on then the filament failed open. The RLU did its thing and I rode home in the dark like that (low traffic). Besides that, I haven't had an RLU fail in over 150,000 miles of XS riding. Do as you will, but I thought I'd put that out there.

Agree. Tested the RLU on my bike (by unplugging the lo beam lead in the bucket). It works just fine even though it's 42 yrs old. Personally, I like the concept on a shaky ol' bike that (can) eat bulb filaments.

 

[jetmechmarty]

Personally, I like the concept on a shaky ol' bike that (can) eat bulb filaments.

My XS650SK has 63,000 miles on it. The sealed beam on it has never been replaced. My RLU operational test happened on my XS1100. It's comparatively smooth as silk, but has a halogen lamp. RLUs and indication are the same. That said, I place more value on the RLU with a halogen lamp.