Out of the blue today I found I have no horn and no high beam headlight. Push the button for both of them and nothing happens. Any suggestions?
Check the fuses under the seat. looks like the fuse for the hi beam is also the fuse for the horn. by any chance is the lic. plate lamp and brake light out too?
Fuse 2 is your problem. It is a 15A fuse that carries the headlight, horn, license plate light, brake light, and the accessory socket on it.
Both faults mentioned are isolated to the left switchblock, so there could be an issue with the wiring to that. Even if it is a blown fuse, still worth inspecting the wiring as there has to be a cause for the fuse to blow.
+1, nev. Have you wired any accessories into the circuit? Check continuity between each wire and ground. If you get low ohms on one wire there could be a short caused by a chaffed wire or crushed insulation
I think this may be the cause. Yes, my license plate lamp is out....because my license plate holder/light/turn signals got incinerated by the rear tire when it came in contact with the rear fender after going through a deep washboard section. Thanks for the tip.
Sounds like you have found it then. Make sure you check the wires haven't been cut into by the tyre or from flapping around when your fender broke too
Not having a go at you, but I think you left some valuable information out of your first post which was probably relevant. Just saying there's a problem with the horn and highbeam kind of implies that the rest of the bike is functioning fine.
I have a similar issue and it's driving me crazy! I must have gone through 15 off 15A fuses just to try and find the fault. I put in a new fuse and it can last up to 10 minutes, sometimes blows within a second or so of turning on the ignition. I've looked at the wires everywhere I can and all seem OK. With the ignition on and the fuse OK, I've been wiggling around, poking here and there to try and find the cause - all to no avail. The fuses so far have blown with both engine running and engine off. Real weird. Areas affected, as far as I can see, are the headlight (both high & low beam), brake light and horn. I can sense that this is a fix that I will struggle getting fixed. Can anyone help / advise?
Sounds like you have a short to ground. I'm guessing you don't have test equipment, so this is what I'd do in that case. Do you have an added circuit (power point)? I'd look there first. Unplug all affected accessories. I'd leave the horn as it isn't activated until you push the button, not that the button couldn't be bad of course. With the items unplugged turn it on. If it doesn't pop the fuse right away start pushing the buttons and moving the levers for the electronics. If you don't pop the fuse that is good. You don't have a pinched wire or anything like that. Start plugging stuff in and turning it on. Problem should show itself. Remember most things can short internally, especially bulbs. So don't be surprised when it's something simple.
Here is the Headlamp and Horn wiring diagrams with wire color and traces you should check fuses on these lines, check for pinches, check for breaks, direct shorts to the frame, bad switches etc. You need to purchase a cheap multimeter and get familiar with it too. Hope this helps. Headlamp Circuit - Wire Colors: Green with a Brown trace and White with a Green trace Horn Circuit - Wire colors: Green with a grey trace and Brown
Oh OK, interesting. Thanks for that. I wasn't aware that it is possible for the main bulb to short out somehow. I'll take it out and have a look. It isn't the tail / brake light; the fuse blew when this was disconnected so that leaves the main bulb as something for me to look at next. If I can't find the cause within the next couple of days I'll book it into an auto electrician. I really need it sorting as I do use the bike for getting to work; it's winter here now so the mornings are dark.. Thanks again guys. One more thing, how the hell do I start new threads / topics on this site??????????????
I struggle with the idea of purchasing a cheap multimeter. If you are going to troubleshoot electrical problems on motorcycles, you might as well buy a good one. For instance, a Fluke 117 will run you well under $200 and will do a lot more than a $30 multimeter. Plus, if you are working by yourself, having audible tones, min/max hold, and average readings makes life infinitely easier. Plus, an auto sensing meter will eliminate a lot of user error as well.
Stefan NZ , try removing the head lamp bulb that's what was causing the same issue with mine . Some how the filament was causing the short .
Thanks for that guys... I'll have a look tonight.... But, if the filament is shorting out, would that just blow the bulb?
No, it would be essentially be bypassing the filament. There is also a possibility it is going from the low beam to the high beam lighting both filaments. Seen both happen. Then again it could have nothing to do with the bulb. Check it out and see!
Will do, tonight! Thanks for the advise. I really appreciate it. Can someone please tell me how I can start a new thread / topic on this site? I'm new on here and can't seem to find where I start a thread? Am I blind or what?
