'80GS100 Headlights only work with key in "P

[Anonymous]

After browsing/searching most of the forum and finding nobody with the same problem i came to one conlcusion :
I need help.

Got a 1980 GS1000 five months ago. Installed a set of dual headlights after 2 months. These are dual 3" inch lights with 35w bulbs.
Been fine for the past three months utill it started to burn fuses (10a).

One day i had to ride home in bad weather and darkness and was out of spare fuses, so i wrapped the fuse in tin-foil. Worked fine untill i wanted to start the next mornig. No other fuses blew.

The lights still work, but only with the "contact key in "P".
All contacts are cleaned, no corrosinon on the fuses etc. but the light just won't come on.

Any tips before i get me some (expensive) help?
Could it be the headlight switch or?

Thanks !

[Anonymous]

you may have melted a wire when you wrapped the fuse in tin foil. Check your wire to see if you can find melted insulation around any wires.

[Don Lobacz]

Your switch in P should only send power to the rear taillight. Sounds like someone has rewired the bike for their convenience. Another possibility is that you have burned wires or contacts in the bottom of the ignition switch itself. You should disassemble the switch occasionally to clean the contacts anyways. The bottom is held in place by plastic tabs, and the contacts are engaged by a spring loaded piece of metal. It's really simple once you see it. Breaking the tabs is a problem, so be careful. The wire connections on the bottom can short and burn together, or pull away completey, so check everything over.

[robinjo]

Your switch in P should only send power to the rear taillight. Sounds like someone has rewired the bike for their convenience. Another possibility is that you have burned wires or contacts in the bottom of the ignition switch itself. You should disassemble the switch occasionally to clean the contacts anyways. The bottom is held in place by plastic tabs, and the contacts are engaged by a spring loaded piece of metal. It's really simple once you see it. Breaking the tabs is a problem, so be careful. The wire connections on the bottom can short and burn together, or pull away completey, so check everything over.

It also sends power to the little extra 2 watt light inside the bucket we have overhere called a "citylight" for lack of a better translation :roll:
I would offer my help but I suck at electrics, pretty much everything else I can be of some use

[focus frenzy]

Robin is on the right track, the wires for that "city light" are still there on American bikes, but they also have power with the ignition switch in the on position.
the headlight and instrument cluster lights are on one fuse while the tail light, licence plate light and that loose wire for the "city light" (Euro front parking light) are on a totaly differant circut and get their power dirrectly from the ignition switch and the only fuse for them is the main system fuse.
so if the headlights you have are connected to the original head light wires, you have a serious short problem, possibly in the ignition switch.
as you don't have the headlight bucket anymore (you don't do you?) is it possible some one might have swapped the wire from the white or yellow wire to the brown wire?
the white and yellow wires are the headlight power wires and the brown wire is the extra park light wire.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Check over on the Old School Suzuki site you will find a GS1000 manual with a wiring diagram

http://www.oldskoolsuzuki.info/index.htm?fastcat/library/library.shtml~main

[saaz]

Yep, P should only work the rear taillight and a parking light in the headlamp.

You may have melted some of the ignition switch, so it is creating a whole new circuit. The main power goes through there, and it is not the best in terms of passing power. Take it apart and chack the connections down the bottom.

I bypassed mine years ago, using a relay to actually pass the power, with the switch just switching the relay.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys.

I checked the wiring to the light-switch, fuse-box, connections etc. But i never-ever went to the ignition switch... Well i'm not a real techie..

I'll be checking the switch next saturday, will keep a print of this post at hand along with the wiring diagram (thanks SqDancerLynn1).

How would i hook up a relay between the lightswitch-light battery saaz?
Simply take out the wiring and hook it up, or will it be above my ever-so-humble tech-skills?
Any dutch people know where to get a relay?

Focus frenzy, i still got the bucket. In fact, i hookep up the dual-lights myself and i'm afraid that's where the problem started..... I only had to hook up the 3-way connector since the headlights had a matching connector and no others. Did i make a no-no?

I'll keep you posted !

Ser

[saaz]

The main power on the bike goes up through the ignition switch then back to the fuse box. When it ages there is a bit of voltage drop. I put a relay in close to the fuse box that bypasses this circuit. The igntion switch is now used to turn the relay on.

I also have relays running the headlights and the ignition circuit too...unless you have a bit of electrical circuit knowledge this could be a bit tricky.....

[Anonymous]

I'll be checking the circuit next saturday. Got some techie help (thanks Leon!) and borrowed a dmm from work.

New problem, front brake lever won't turn the brake light on. Took the switch apart and found out it's missing a small pin-like thingy that makes the connection between the contacts. Got a replacement part from Safe and tried to install. Proble is, how does it go in? Cant'find it in the manual or the microfiche.

[Anonymous]

Fixes, well actually by-passed...
Headlight-switch bunt out, probably from handling more voltage then it's supposed to.

New problem did occur, after re-fitting the fuel tank, my carbs started leaking. Car no.2 from the left side of the bike started pouring a drizzle of gas through the small bleeder pipe at the bottom. If i plug it up the fuel starts to leak out of the air-filters. I'll check the forum before i start screaming for help.

Strange how i can joyfully hope that i've made some stupid newbie mistake that'll be easy to fix. Somehow i know better, but the hope keeps me going...