Topic: Wiring fun........not!

[CafeWild34]

Well I am having trouble getting my bike wired. More specifically the headlight and starter button. I do have after market switches so I will try to describe it as best as possible. What I am running into is that I can get my headlight to come on with a 15 fuse in but a 5 fuse will blow. But the way I have the wires when my headlight works the starter button doesn't work. And if I have it wired to where the starter button works and I try to turn the headlight on it blows the fuse. Before I get much further and forget I have a 75 cb550k.

The right side switch I have has some extra wires that the original didn't. First on the kill switch my new switch has a grey, orange, and light blue, where the old one had black and black/white. I hooked the grey to black since it was on the side you switch it to run and I hooked the other two to black/white. The kill switch works not sure if I needed to hook both of those wires to black/white but it worked.

The starter button on the new switch only had a yellow with red stripe so it is hooked up to the yellow with red stripe on the bike. I have the green with red stripe plugged to green based on a post I read a couple weeks ago.

The headlight on/off actually has three positions instead of two but I am not using all the wires since I shouldn't need to. The wires coming from this, from top to bottom, are a blue with white stripe, brown, and brown with white stripe. Where the bike only had a black and brown with white stripe. I have the brown hooked to black and the brown with white to brown with white.

The last wire is a black wire that I assumed was for ground. Which I hook to a green from the bike.

So here is the different ways I wire it. If it is wired like I said above the starter button works but when I switch to headlight on it comes on for a brief second and then blows the fuse. If I unhook the black wire from the switch from the green on the bike and unhook the brown from the switch from the black from the bike and plug black into black, the headlight will come on but the starter button will not work. Wired this second way it will only work if a have a 15 fuse in a 5 will still blow the fuse.

I have been through this countless times, I have the manual with the wiring diagram right in front of me and have looked at all the connections and they all look right to me unless I have something on this new switch hooked up wrong. Can anyone help me? I am trying to learn this and figure out why it is blowing but this is the first time I have messed with electricals. I have searched on this site for a long time too and cannot find anything to help. If you need to know anything else please ask.

[Don R]

Black is not a ground on Honda's. It's 12V. assuming it's a factory wire. I'm thinking a 5 is too small and it should blow.

[CafeWild34]

I knew that black from the wiring harness was power, the black I was talking about was actually on the switch which I believe to be a ground wire for the switch due to its place inside the switch. But it is weird because if I hook up the black from the switch to black from the harness it will power the headlight but then the starter button won't work. If I unplug the black from the switch from the black from the harness and plug the black from the switch to green from the harness the starter button works but not the headlight.

[CafeWild34]

Well ive blown about my 1000th fuse and the last one I had for the night so I guess I am done. I am going to go through the headlight bucket wires one more time tonight and make sure everything is hooked up as the manual has it. I have already done this but I could've missed something I guess so might as well. I'm going to start timing myself and see if I can set a record. Be back tomorrow.

[Rigid]

Start button completes the path to ground.  You are dead shorting that black power wire the moment you push the button.  I just did a complete reinstall of the harness on a 550 last week.  The headlight bucket wires took 8 hours of tracing each wire as to polarity and function.  Previous owner had used red and black only to replace all the hand control switch wiring.  I feel your pain.  Headlight is white blue green.

[Steve_K]

I have aftermarket switches, too.  I spliced the proper colored wires onto the the new switches to ease my efforts.  I used a meter to be sure I got the colors right.
Note:  Mine is not finished yet, I have the headlight not working yet.  Power to  headlight shell is not coming through.  I have time this week with my multimeter and I may make a test light to help.
Good luck. 
Steve

[CafeWild34]

So I do need a wire in my switch to go to ground for the starter button to work correct? The black wire is in a weird place inside the switch, it is on the same part as the headlight on/off switch. But it is on the outside part of it where as the others are on the inside part of it. Im not describing it good but I will try and take a picture of it and post it so it makes sense. But basically the brown and the black wires are in the same spot just one on the inside part of the headlight switch and one on the outside part. The original switch didn't need a wire to ground for the starter button did it? Or is that what the green with red stripe wire was for?

I feel like I have my headlight hooked up right. I have the blue hooked to blue on my left switch for high beam, white hooked to white for low beam, and green to green for ground. Then on the right side switch I have a brown whith white stripe hooked to the brown with white stripe from the harness(what is brown with white stripe for on the harness?). Then I hook the brown from my switch to black from the harness for power like it says in the wiring diagram.

It all works till I hook the black wire from my switch to green from the harness. When I hook this up my starter button will work just fine, won't blow a fuse, then as soon as I switch the head light on it blows the fuse. But my starter button will not work unless the black is plugged to green.

[lucky]

Why don't you get a workshop manual.
It has a complete wiring diagram in the back of the book.

[Rigid]

Oldmanhonda.com has your schematic, as well as this site I believe.  All for free.  The housing can also easily pinch a wire and short when tightened.  Black is positive, brown is taillight power, can't remember white/brown but they all hook together in the bucket.

[CafeWild34]

I do have a manual with the wiring diagram and have been through it tons of times. So either I am it is shorting out some where else other than the headlight bucket or I am hooking up my after market switch wrong. Guess I will just have to keep looking.

[lucky]

Can you show us a photo of the switch with wires on it?

[CafeWild34]

i think i may have found the problem. Inside the switch the black wire is going to the headlight switch but it is also going to ground for the starter button. They must be spliced together somewhere along the way. I assume this is the problem, I'm not 100% but maybe one of you gurus can help me out. And here are the pics.

This is the part that controls the head light on/off, you can see the black wire on top.


This is the other side of that piece the two dots on bottom are what the black wire is attached to.


This is with that part installed in the switch.


Same shot a little further out.


You can barely see it but here is where the black wire attaches to the starter button, well actually right above it.


I was thinking maybe if i took the sleeving off the wires and found where the two black wires attached and undid them and made them both their own separate wire maybe that would remedy the situation? What do you think? I would rather not take the sleeving off if someone doesn't think it will work because i don't have any to replace it. I will have to order some or find some place that sells it.

[thrutheframe]

  Switches rarely have a "ground wire".

  I'm wilth Lucky on this one, you need a manual or bare minimum a wiring diagram.  We're all happy to help but the best way to get help is by using the resources that are out there. 

Manual
Wirng Diagram
VOM Meter
Extra Battery
12v lamp with wire leads attatched
Patience
Beer

All very useful items to have on hand when trouble shooting electrical system issues.

[CafeWild34]

I have a manual with a wiring diagram and have been through every wire in the headlight bucket about 50 times now and they are all hooked up like they are supposed to. The problem has to do with the switch I believe. I have all of these tools just not sure what I need to check. I have never done electricals before so I'm not what causes fuses to blow. Just to be clear I do have a manual with a wiring diagram. If there is some other info I am leaving out please let me know. Too much more trial and error and I am going to have to take out a second mortgage to support my fuse buying habit.

[Don R]

Black never goes to green.
look at the color diagram on the old man honda site. Print it out if you can. Black is 12V and connecting it to green is a dead short.
 Your control has black feeding the headlight switch and the on off (kill) switch, the  Brown/ white return wire feeds most all lights. Black/white goes from the kill switch to the coils. Red green and red yellow are the start circuit. That should cover the wires coming out of the right handlebar. There might only be one black or two, both go to black 12V.

[Rigid]

And you can put a circuit breaker temporarily in place of any fuse and just reset it each time.  Hang in there electrical can be a pain.

[stereosilence]

It sounds like you have things mostly good to me. Not sure about the black wire on the switch. You should get your multimeter out and make sure you understand exactly what each wire on the switch does.

The starter switch should short the yellow/red wire to the frame. However, since you aren't connecting it to the clutch switch, make sure to never try to start your bike with the clutch engaged. I would get in the habit of only having it in Neutral when starting.

The "headlight switch" should connect the Black harness power to the Brown/White "night time" power. Brown/White power makes your taillights turn on and your headlight as well.

If you are in doubt, you can always set up your ammeter between the battery terminal and the red wire and make sure there is no current flowing at inappropriate times. Don't crank the bike with the ammeter, it will blow the ammeter fuse. This will tell you if you have shorts.

Good luck.