Heqdlight Problem

[Anonymous]

I probably have no business posting on this forum, or owning a 26 year old motorcycle, since I have absoultely no mechanical skills. Electricity especially, is a total mystery to me. However, I recently purchased a 1977 GS 750. The previous owner had replaced the stator and regulator with Electrix equipment and had the carbs professionally cleaned. The bike starts and runs well but I don't have much to compare it to since this is my first motorcycle.

The only problem I am having is the headlight keeps burning out. The taillight also went today but the dash lights, signals, brake light all work fine. My local mechanic did the first test in the stator papers and says the charging system is working as it should. It appears to me that the original sealed-beam headlight has been replaced with a hallogen unit. A friend of mine who owned a Suzuki dealership 20 years age says he beleives there was a service bulletin on this problem. He thinks Suzuki sent out a cable that replaced or improved the grounding of the headlight associated wire in the wiring harness. Is this a common problem and does anyone have a solution?

Ranger

[1100ED]

You will get thew same advice from many folks here. Clean the connections. In fact start in the headlight and remove and re connect everything you can get at. Remove the seat and tank look for ground wires that are bolted to the frame. Most likely the light problem is directly related to wires and sockets in the lighting circuit
cleaning the switch is a good idea also. Get some advice from the guys on taking the light switch apart. Do a complete job--you will never regret it.

[earlfor]

Re: Heqdlight Problem

Hmmm, I see it this way........ There isnt any reason why you shouldnt own a 26 year old motorcycle. No one starts out with mechanical skills, but everyone can learn them. If you want to keep your bike running, you will probably have learn to do the work because the bikes we all ride are old enough that shops no longer have service manuals for them or mechanics that are old enough to have ever worked on one and sometimes have never seen one. :-) :-) It isnt that difficult, and you have nothing to lose by trying.

Now, your headlight buring out frequently and your tailight...............
I have a 79 GS 750 (same bike as you) and I installed a halogen conversion headlight. 30,000 miles later, I am still using the original bulb.
Halogen lamp bulbs are very long lived, but three things will kill them quickly. 1. You must not touch the bulb with your bare fingers. The oils in you skin will leave a print causing the bulb life to be very short. 2. The socket that fits onto the back of your headlight has three plug in slots. One is + high beam, one is + low beam and the last is - ground. You need to check the voltage that is available at the plug to power the light. halogen lights do not like low voltage. 3. Halogen lights do not tolerate vibration well. On the side of the headlight shell (where it mounts to the flange from the forks) you should see a thick rubber washer separating the shell from the flange. The washer should be relatively soft. If it is either brittle or missing, it should be replaced. The rubber washer is there to dampen vibration.

Halogen light conversions do not present any electrical problem requiring a service bulletin. All a motorcycle electrical system cares about is how much electrical power is being consumed. It does not matter what type of lightbulb is used. There is only a problem if the headlamp is upgraded to a unit that requires more power than the electrical system is capable of providing. The stock sealed beam headlamp is 55/65 watt and so are most halogen conversions.

The best thing you can do is to unplug any wiring connectors and clean and check them to be sure you dont have any corrosion in your wiring ends. Also check battery ground, engine ground, fuse box wires and anything else you can find. You can clean them one at a time and then plug them back together, so it should not be a problem knowing where things go back. You dont even need to know what the wire does, just make sure it is clean. :-) You also should check battery water level frequently. Low water means low voltage. Low voltage means things stop working. Same with the oil level (while I'm on the soapbox) :-) :-)
Run it out of oil or run it with the oil level too low, and it is toast.

Earl

I probably have no business posting on this forum, or owning a 26 year old motorcycle, since I have absoultely no mechanical skills. Electricity especially, is a total mystery to me. However, I recently purchased a 1977 GS 750. The previous owner had replaced the stator and regulator with Electrix equipment and had the carbs professionally cleaned. The bike starts and runs well but I don't have much to compare it to since this is my first motorcycle.

The only problem I am having is the headlight keeps burning out. The taillight also went today but the dash lights, signals, brake light all work fine. My local mechanic did the first test in the stator papers and says the charging system is working as it should. It appears to me that the original sealed-beam headlight has been replaced with a hallogen unit. A friend of mine who owned a Suzuki dealership 20 years age says he beleives there was a service bulletin on this problem. He thinks Suzuki sent out a cable that replaced or improved the grounding of the headlight associated wire in the wiring harness. Is this a common problem and does anyone have a solution?

Ranger

[focus frenzy]

sounds like a over voltage problem, have the mechanic, or some one you know with a multimeter check the voltage at the battery at all engine speeds, to see if the voltage keeps rising with speed.
At a idle the voltage may look good but reved up past 6k rpm it may make way to much voltage, causing premature bulb failure.