When I turn my turn signals on it causes some sort of short. It will sometimes unstick itself on a bumpy road or after sitting some time. I have pulled the whole rear turn signal assembly, the tail light also. I did find the ground from battery to engine is loose and the bolt feels to be stripped. After finding a secure ground The volt meter is still at 0. Inside the headlight bucket there is a HELA box (relay?) that is falling apart. Does that have anything to do with the signals, the brake lights and the running light in the headlamp. I am not sure how to go forward. Thanks for an help. Handensco david
Well, first fix the obvious issues. You really need a wiring schematic for that particular bike. Then just start checking point to point for the circuit that is the issue til you locate the problem.
Poor earth ( ground) connections can cause all sorts of weird problems. It's common for a poor earth to cause brake lights to flash like indicators. Go over it thoroughly checking all earth connections, and fix the part in the headlight shell ( which is probably the headlight relay).
Do you have a schematic? If the wiring inside the headlight is non-stock, might want to take pix if you want help. I generally end up having to draw some schematics/diagrams of my own in order to understand enough to debug electrical stuff. It's usually not all that difficult, since it's just dc. But it's hard to do remotely, so most advice relates to trying to find a shorted wire or a poor ground, usually by tracing 12v until you find someplace where it isn't there and should be. roy
I tried to unplug that headlight relay and it came apart. There is a lot of dust or powder in it. It just came apart. I think that might be part of the culprit. I do have the wiring diagram but it is so hard to read because of the size. I will try and print our a bigger one at work today. I am not good with a multimeter and understanding what to do with it. I do have to find a new place to put the ground wire from the battery. Any suggestions. Where the ground goes to now, same spot as the tach, it seems as if that bolt is stripped. Thanks david
I had my flasher relay go out, it is a long, rectangular relay at the time they were NLA, I was able to make a three pronged one work using a few diodes... is this the relay you are talking about?
Err .. Is this the R90/6 in your public profile? Usually people rearrange the battery earth strap to one of the gearbox bolts. You need a longer bolt and a spacer to get the strap connection out of the bolt hole so it is not distorted. "The voltmeter" ? Does this bike have a voltmeter ? Or is this one you have connected somewhere .. if so where is it connected ... both red and black lead connections? Need to know what bike you have to help... the relay may not be "standard" but either a substitute for an original part or a modification eg an attempt to increase the headlight intensity. You should also tell of any other problems .. after that battery earth strap is secure.
Following with interest and I would love for my lights to work . Looking in the headlight bucket makes me cringe where to start?. I've owned too many bikes and the one thing I find most common is a bad ground. BMW makes a terrible head light they need a good slap over and over the HP2 had a Tupperware salad bowl light what a piece of crap and don't get me started on my R75/5 t I'm learning every day.
Looking at that, all I can say is that I would have to trace out every wire/color/connection, and redraw it a few times until it had some relationship to what's on the Haynes schematic. If you're lucky, most of it will match and you can focus on the things that don't, usually someone adding an extra relay for aux lights or something similar. After that, troubleshooting is more straightforward, chasing 12 volts til something isn't there when it should be. The good thing about electrical stuff is it ultimately makes sense. roy
Yep. For starts that wiring has been re-done by a PO without color coding (and lordy knows what else) and is best re-re-done to factory specs. For starts. --Bill
I assume that the bike is a 90/6 which has been cafed. So depending on who did the work the wiring could be interesting. Most electrical problems are due to corrosion on the red wire at the starter relay under the master cylinder. The undertank master cylinder has 2 wires to the level switch. One of these wires acts as a earth for the indicator light in the instruments, if it is disconnected then you will get lots of issues with indicators. If your 90/6 is an early one there are no proper earth wires for the front indicators. Fit them. Many German cars have use the same wiring colours as BMW, getting an old wiring harness is a good source of the correct colour coded wires.
Having worked on stuff where 'factory spec.' was pink wires .. everywhere and lots of them (as in 1,000s), I'm less inclined to throw stuff away .. even when it does not match the 'factory spec.' ----------------- Ok .. a 'special' with unknowns .. Take one problem at a time? Make a list of what does not work .. and how it does not work (e.g. bumps make it work etc) ------------ The relay... may have some identifying part numbers on it? At least you'll have a number of connections to it .. how many? and are they labeled? e.g. 85, 86, 30a etc... those all mean something. =========== You are a detective looking for clues .. good luck. This message will implode in 2 years..
As well - there are a couple of online sources of European automotive wires with the appropriate colors. Here's one I've found (http://www.eagleday.com/neauwi.html).
First, There are some great books and websites out there that take the magic and smoke out of 12V electronic/electrical work. A good wiring diagram that is color coded and big enough to read is a solid start. If you're Multimeter scares you, make or get a 12V test lamp and a Continuity tester. With these at least it's a go/ no-go and you start to understand wiring tracing, If you're harness is hacked up* sometimes it just better to bite the bullet and get a new harness. *how to tell if it's hacked up Look for: Speaker or lamp wire, Mid stream wire changes Wire nuts Electrical taped junctions Red, Blue or Yellow crimp connections Solid red or solid Black wires Lots of extra lengths of wire two wires joined by soldering and then wrapped with electrical tape This gives you some idea of what to look for but it by no means is an exhaustive list. The best thing I learned to do was to think of it as a bunch of small sub systems and work on each system. Rather then a whole big mess.
Having the wire color coded, so that it corresponds the the wiring diagram, helps immensely when problems arise. Without color coding, the wiring is like a bowl of spaghetti and tracking down a problem then requires tracing wires. A couple of companies that sell color coded wiring are: http://www.britishwiring.com/28-Strand-PVC-Wire-14-ga-AWG-p/c128.htm http://www.riwire.com/
First off it is a 76 r90/6. It was a full dresser at one time that had a big fairing on it. I have a bunch of bikes so I made a daily driver cafe out of it. I took the signal relay apart the other day and cleaned it out. I will superglue it back together to seal it. It now seems to work. It was packed full of really white, very light dust. Now the problem is that the parking light in the headlight and the running light of the taillight don't work. I think it might be in the switch on the left handle bar. I had to replace that housing a few years back. There is another little box in the headlamp that according to the schematic is the ignition headlamp switch. I am not sure how to test that. I really appreciate your pics and help. You guys on ADV are the bomb. thanks david
I had bought an S fairing years ago that came with the clock and the volt meter. I got the wiring from Max BMW and followed the schematic from The S model to hook it up. I will try and look at it this week. I have been busy with work and selling a house and trying to get quotes on adding a garage to our new house. I will take a look at the left switch first and then ask questions after that. Thanks david
