Headlight & Park light Wiring

[jimblob]

Hi Guys,

My total knowledge on wiring and electrics could probably fit on top of a pin head and there'd still be room left over!!! 

I was hoping some of you experts out there could cast an eye on the below photos and see if the wiring looks about right.

I'm (still) rebuilding an RD350R to look something like an N2 and I've just had a go at wiring the connectors on the new single headlamp unit (and park light).

All the wires are a different colour so I've just tried to copy my old setup and stared at the wiring diagram until i've gone cross-eyed.

I was going to try to wire in a Koso clock at some point. Is there anything a newb like me needs to know to prevent me from frying expensive parts of the bike!!

Cheers

Jim

Old set-up!! - 2 black wires coming from the left bulb terminal. One goes to Park light and the other goes to connector block.
900FEAC2-FD94-4CE8-9F19-62BF36B08AB7 by James Smith, on Flickr

My attempt at wiring in the new light!! 4 connectors ready to go into connector block.
BF6B95A2-374D-4F9D-AE56-F099C3176CD3 by James Smith, on Flickr

Thanks again

Jim 

[LC_BOTT]

What does the wiring diag look like, from just a glance, it looks like the park light is in series with the headlight.

Guessing here, green is 'earth/neg'

blue - low beam

white - high beam

brown stripe - park

Test on a bench first, preferably with a meter, but assume you don't have one?

[jimblob]

Thanks for your reply LC BOTT.

I’ll post a pic of that part of the wiring diagram.

I’ve got a meter but I’ll have to watch some vids on how to use it!!

Cheers

Jim

[jimblob]

Right then, my wiring diagram in Haynes looks like this for the N2, F2 and R......

No.29 is the headlight and No.30 is the park light.


159403A7-C314-4593-B98A-B5E910CC9914 by James Smith, on Flickr

So my green headlamp wire (black in diagram) is splitting in two with one going to the park light and one going to the black wire connector on the loom. My white headlight wire (Green in diagram) is going to green connector on the loom. My blue wire (Yellow in diagram) is going to the yellow connector on the loom. The remaining green park light wire (blue/red in diagram) is then going to the blue/red wire in the loom connector. The connector block that the headlight/park light plug into seems to be an extra one not in the wiring diagram so I'm presuming all the remaining connections come off the main loom later down the line!!

Does the above sound about right when you compare my photo to the wiring diagram or have I got it totally wrapped around my neck!!!

Any advice gratefully received.

Jim

[jimblob]

Right then. Ignore that waffle I wrote previously (I know i would!!!)

I think my current wiring is like this (with wrong coloured wires)…



and the wiring diagram shows this…..



In theory am I good to go? I’ll do a bench test when I get a new battery.

Cheers

Jim

[jimblob]

Well I’ve finally got my head around the wiring diagram and I’ve also managed to bench test my set up on a car battery.

I thought I’d post it in case it helps anyone else out in the future.



Main bulb -
White = low beam +ve
Blue = high beam +ve
Green = ground -ve

Park bulb
Green = +ve
Brown/white = ground -ve

All bulbs light up as they should. I’m well chuffed with myself 👍

Jim

[JonW]

Its great when you work this stuff out and it gives you confidence in yourself to do more of it.

I honestly am never scared of wiring, but I know many people are. Once you know how to read a diagram it becomes so much simpler it becomes fun.

[Gitram]

Jan 17, 2024 3:13:09 GMT 1 JonW said:

Its great when you work this stuff out and it gives you confidence in yourself to do more of it.

I honestly am never scared of wiring, but I know many people are. Once you know how to read a diagram it becomes so much simpler it becomes fun.

when i was 17, i had a CB100 honda which developed an indicator fault and i didn't know what was wrong so i went to see my uncle who was a sparky although he knew nothing about motorbikes. We got the issue fixed as it was a bad earth and i thought that it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be so laid my hands on a multimeter, ( thanks Mikee..) and soon was able to check continuity and resistance readings from the meter against diagrams in the manual. 

I think many people look at a bunch of coloured wires and there is something inside their head which triggers a response such as i don't know where these go or what does this do.. ? and that's fair enough but separate those wires and you find that there is less to confuse, i.e. one wire goes to the indicator for example and one goes to the earth, so the issue lies in that circuit somewhere between the battery (power source), wires, load (bulb) and the earth (battery). Back to the circuit diagram, find the relevant circuit and draw it out so you can test continuity between each point i.e. battery to switch, switch to load and load to earth, each part of the circuit can be ticked off when the meter pings..

the first time, it's hard.. the second time it's easier and eventually you buy bikes with electrical faults just to find out why no one else can fix them...

marti

[jimblob]

It may only be a bulb, battery and a few wires but it’s certainly given me the confidence to delve into the wiring diagram a bit more. I was testing my ignition switch with a multimeter the other night and it even made sense!! I’ve even got more of an inkling of what I need to do to fit a koso or Acewell speedo!!!

Famous last words!!!

Jim 👍

[peter1962]

It's pretty easy once you get your head round it, nothing can go wrong if you disconnect the power supply, get a good meter, and do the continuity testing, to be honest you'll probably enjoy it, pen and paper at the ready so you know what has been tested, it's very satisfying when you've solved the problem, just be methodical and take your time.

[LC_BOTT]

Well done on sorting it out. As a side note, does the park light work the other way round, That way the two green wires could be connected together, it might save some confusion later on when one green is positive and the other is negative, in the same light fitting. You would also need to test when fitted in the bike just to see if the light shroud/surround is grounded too.

[midlifecrisisrd]

I agree, swap the green brown over on the pilot light

Keeps the green as-ve on both


A normal filament lamp (bulb) is not affected by polarity. Current will flow in either direction

Steve

[jimblob]

Cheers for the encouragement and the advice guys.

I’ll swap the earth wires around to stop a lot of head scratching in years to come!!

Cheers

Jim