Electrical Relay Wiring

[saaz]

I just replaced my old coils with GSXR 750 (92 model) ones (work much better!) and remembered I also bypassed the kill switch and put a relay in to the coils as well.

[Mr. Jiggles]

I just finished putting a pair of radioshack relays in for my hi and low beams. What a difference. Last week while I was testing out my new turn signals I noticed that when the signals were blinking the headlamp would dim slightly at every blink. The relays solved that problem. When cutting into the wires that fed the H4 I noticed that there was alot of junk inside the wire that was exposed when I stripped it. I'm definitely going to change out the old stock H4 connector for a new one. I just ordered a sliverstar headlamp from sylvania so we'll see if that brightens things further.

Thanks, this thread has been really helpful.

Jeff

[Anonymous]

Headlights

I did the same, bought an H4 Cibie 7" headlight with city light & use a silverstar bulb. Since my GS is a '78 and I can still turn the headlight OFF I run the small city light in the headlight all the time in lieu of the low-beam. I'm not going to go high-watt like I do in my vehicles since I don't trust the charging system to handle it...55/60 watt should be fine and I don't do much riding at night. If you go to Autozone or similar type place and look in the "fast and furious" section you'll find an headlight plug with an heavy-gauge pigtail, would probably be perfect for this app.

[Anonymous]

I mounted a new 6 plug fuse box on the 400 today and things are looking pretty good although it's hard to know what I did to make the electronics work better.

My bike did not origionally have a fuse panel so I had to relocate the RR to the right hand side of the bike. While doing this I connected a previously unconnected ground to the frame. This is the 3rd wire that comes out at the blinker plug and is shown unconnected in my manual.

After this was all done my horn now works without the key on, keep in mind that it is hooked directly to power but the button still didn't work without power. The bike also started better which I didn't think was possible and the headlight is at full power even at idle. It even fixed a weird problem where my blinkers would blink faster with RPM and eventually stay on above 8k or so. Now they work at a steady rate...something I've been trying to figure out for 2 years.

I'm crossing my fingers that my electric vest will also be warm at idle but I don't expect the world.

Cheers, Steve

[Anonymous]

Fuses

Probably just going to the blade-style fuses helped a bit. In the Jaguar world, one of the first things we do when we overhaul the electrical is to replace the glass canister fuses with blade-types....they make better contact and are less prone to vibration. Easier to change, too.

[moto_dan]

Ok so now I'm ready to wire in a couple of relays as discussed, so my questions are :
Where do I purchase the relays?
What do I specifically ask for, not necessarily part numbers, but types.
Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Briefly, If you want a relay that turns something on while the relay is turned off you'll need a 5 pin device. If not a 4 pin will work. You'll also want a prefab pigtail for the relay so you just pull the plug rather than 5 individual wires. GM has a 6 pin relay but I'm not sure how it works. There are also 5 pin relays with smaller than normal prongs. I bought all of my parts at a Surplus store as I'm not familiar with the parts stores that have popped up over the last few years.

Steve

[Hoomgar]

This is the 3rd wire that comes out at the blinker plug and is shown unconnected in my manual.

Are you sure it is shown unconnected or does it have the wire with a bunch of lines accross it at the end which indicates a ground?

The bike also started better which I didn't think was possible and the headlight is at full power even at idle. It even fixed a weird problem where my blinkers would blink faster with RPM and eventually stay on above 8k or so. Now they work at a steady rate...something I've been trying to figure out for 2 years.

Improper grounds can cause all of the above Steve. Sounds like you resolved some grounding issues your bike had. It's nice when things like that get squared away as a result of working on something else I love that.