Topic: Running lights ... What's the hack? How did the PO do it?

[DJ_AX]

my '75 cb750...
Recently I took it apart, cleaned it up, put it back together.
As this thing has been through several PO's there are some mismatched parts.
Everything worked properly electrically even though the wiring has been through a few hands before me over the years.
So before disconnecting the harness I was careful to label the handful of wire connections where colors were odd.
When I reconnected everything, it all went pretty well...
However I'm having difficulties getting the running lights to work properly.

After hours looking at all the info I can find here, making sense of the schematics, and staring deep into my headlight bucket for several more hours... I believe... a PO has put on a left hand control (blinker, hi/lo, horn) from an earlier 750 (w/o the running lights; Orange/white, Blue/white wires) Also know that there is a jump wire on the main harness and the Brown/Red wires as described in threads on aftermarket harnesses.

In the headlight bucket...
The wires from the signals (dual filament bulbs, yes) that would normally connect to o/w and b/w on the switch for running lights...
seemed to have been spliced together... and plugged into a ?brown? wire in the main harness. But when I tried to hook it back up that way it just doesn't work (I understand now that I probably shouldn't expect that to work) All the signal lights turn on, they all blink when switched left, none blink when switched right... a mess.
Everything else works fine when the running lights are left unconnected.

I know running lights aren't necessarily required but they we're running before and I'd like them to run again.

Maybe the PO didn't have the two wires spliced and plugged into the brown on the harness? ...but to something else?

I can't seem to figure out how they made it work without the proper LH switch.

What's the hack?

[mono]

i'm terrible with electronics.   my advice is:

1.  use a separate battery for the running lights.
2.  always drive with the LH turn signal on and use the bike as an escort vehicle.

 

but really.  i am bad at electronics, but what I'd do is isolate the problem to the wires that you know are involved.  tape and label them as best you can, then turn on the LH turn signal and start moving wires to see if you can find the magic connection.  at worst you'll blow a fuse? 

since all turn signals are going with the LH switch, you've obviously got both turn signals wired together.  this is a good place to start looking.

[bryanj]

The brown wire will only be live when the lights are on or the keyswitch is in possition 2 as it is for the front sidelight used in other markets

[Lars]

In US the front winker lights were constantly on. That means you will have two wires from each front winker. One marked orange for left or blue for right, and another one. The Orange goes to Orange in the main harness and the same With the blue. The other one from the front winker goes to black for Power, if you want that. Not allowed in Norway, so we drop that one out. Brown is for the rear light, as Bryanj Points out. You will have blue, white and green for the headlight, goes to same colors in the bucket. Green for ground, the other two for operating the Hi/Low beam.

Here is a good link from OldHondaman. Choose the interactive wiring diagram. You can switch off other circuits and isoloate Down to Your headlight. Makes it easier, but if you have another switch than original, you might still have an challwenge

Lars