The Pacific Coast Repair and Blog Thread

Looking at the wiring diagram, there is no relay but there are any number of connectors to chase down. It could also be the dimmer switch, the light socket or even the bulb..

kurt said:

Looking at the wiring diagram, there is no relay but there are any number of connectors to chase down. It could also be the dimmer switch, the light socket or even the bulb..

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I like where Kurt is going. Check the handlebar switch for the lights.

kickstand~prophet said:

I like where Kurt is going. Check the handlebar switch for the lights.

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I checked that yesterday and also unplugged / replugged it in after using some contact cleaner on it, but still no luck

Pacific Coaster said:

I checked that yesterday and also unplugged / replugged it in after using some contact cleaner on it, but still no luck

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You took it off the handle bar to get down to where the contacts are inside?

bwdmax said:

You took it off the handle bar to get down to where the contacts are inside?

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Well I kept it on the handlebar, but I pulled the handlebars to the sides and worked on the contacts - should I have taken it off completely?

Pacific Coaster said:

Well I kept it on the handlebar, but I pulled the handlebars to the sides and worked on the contacts - should I have taken it off completely?

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The contacts in the plug or in the switch itself? I see a picture now. I'm trying to get a good view of what you are dealing with.

bwdmax said:

The contacts in the plug or in the switch itself?

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I worked on the contacts in both - sprayed them both down, let them dry, and then plugged them in again

Without a test light or meter it is going to be tough to figure out where your problem is.

Hopefully someone near you will chime in.

If there's no relay, I'd suspect the dimmer switch. Frankly, the symptoms sound like something that dries from warming up, but fails again when cold - and maybe residual moisture creeping back in. That sounds more like a switch or relay than a connector. Any way you can rig something to bypass the dimmer switch?

Did you clean the starter switch. When you push the start button it interrupts the power to the headlight so all the amperage from the battery goes to the starter. When you release the start button if it doesn't come all the way out or doesn't make good contact upon return: no headlight.

tshelfer said:

If there's no relay, I'd suspect the dimmer switch. Frankly, the symptoms sound like something that dries from warming up, but fails again when cold - and maybe residual moisture creeping back in. That sounds more like a switch or relay than a connector. Any way you can rig something to bypass the dimmer switch?

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Honestly it's probably possible, but I'd have no idea of how to do it

bwdmax said:

Did you clean the starter switch. When you push the start button it interrupts the power to the headlight so all the amperage from the battery goes to the starter. When you release the start button if it doesn't come all the way out or doesn't make good contact upon return: no headlight.

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Well, I didn't clean it, I just sprayed the contacts - I actually couldn't even unplug it because the space was so tight in that spot unlike the dimmer switch, so I just sprayed into any slots on it in hopes that it would make it inside.

Here's a picture of the starter switch (linked because it's so big): http://i.imgur.com/LpyIJhi.jpg

EDIT: OH MY GOSH I GOT IT TO WORK I TOOK THE DIMMER SWITCH OUT OF THE ENTIRE HANDLEBAR CASING AND SPRAYED IT DOWN AGAIN AND PLUGGED IT BACK IN AND
AND

AHHHHHH

View attachment 216364

I feel like I'm going to cry tears of joy

EDIT: Thanks everyone for all the input and helping pinpoint the issue. Although it was my stupidity to not check the dimmer switch /completely/ in the first place, I probably wouldn't have done it without you guys keep asking about it. Deeply appreciate the help, ya'll have no idea how happy I am right now - I thought my baby was an electrical goner :c

Edit: Even though you fixed it:

kurt said:

Looking at the wiring diagram ...

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Fuse box is dang-near dead center at the top of the wiring diagram, 10A fuse for Headlight, but if they're all OK, that ain't it. Dirty/corroded fuse contacts are not your friends.

garfey said:

Edit: Even though you fixed it:



Fuse box is dang-near dead center at the top of the wiring diagram, 10A fuse for Headlight, but if they're all OK, that ain't it. Dirty/corroded fuse contacts are not your friends.

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Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and buy new fuses to replace these with. Better new than old

Buy some dielectric grease while you are at it. When you have the opportunity to access connectors or contact points, clean them and coat with a thin coating of dielectric grease. The older the bike, the better this advice is.

Alright guys, I'm just a little bit worried here. After my last debacle, riding has been smooth sailing the past few days after I got it back to working. However, today, I was leaving my class when, as I was pulling out of the parking space, the steering felt slushy. This is, in my experience, from a low tire. Luckily, our campus has a free tire air pump, so I drove up to it, got out my little pressure reader, and... the front tire is reading at 58 PSI, when it should only be 38.

I figured it was wrong, and tried it again. and again. and again.... consistently sat at 56 to 58 PSI. I don't know why it suddenly read that high, so I let air out until it appropriately read 38. When I sat back on the bike, the steering was harder than ever, almost like it was a flat tire. At this point I'm confused so I pump just enough air back into it to ride home on. Nothing felt weird on the ride back, but now I'm legitimately worried and confused - I know air pressure changes as the seasons come and go, but I can't imagine the change being that drastic. Anyone have any ideas about what's going on here, and why the correct PSI reading now feels like it's too low to ride on? I'm scared to take it anywhere else until I know what's up.

Try another tire gauge.

bwdmax said:

Try another tire gauge.

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That!

If steering feels soft and mushy, a low front tire is your #1 suspect. If your tire suddenly reads at 58psi, it sounds like the tire gauge is acting up. Is the gauge passive or digital? Passive ones usually remain consistently inaccurate forever. Digitals might get crazy with a low battery, or if they've been dropped.

I'm also vaguely recalling some incident in which I had a tire reading very high; it had to do with a piece of debris of some sort stuck up in the valve. Blow some compressed air in there.

Oh, if it's a digital gauge, you may have accidentally bumped it to a different standard -- metric or BAR.

tshelfer said:

Oh, if it's a digital gauge, you may have accidentally bumped it to a different standard -- metric or BAR.

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This!

I scratched my head at the funny reading on mine until I realized it was reading Newtons per square acre, or whatever.

Yeah, I've done that. And those other scales are absolutely meaningless to me...... Newtons per square acre????

Heat can run up pressure. Any chance the brakes are dragging and generating excessive heat?

But yea, try another gauge, one with PSI.