Posted by TOG@Toil on November 16, 2009, 10:25 am
> TOG@Toil wrote:
> > Thinking of lights, the K11 managed to pop two tail light bulbs in the
> > space of a month recently. No apparent reason. It's been fine since,
> > but I've got a spare packed in the fairing stash box now. It's got a
> > warning light for rear filament failure: the last bike I remember that
> > had that was my old 1976 Yamaha XS650.
> I'd make sure the tail light assembly isn't loose or missing a rubber
> bit- other than excess volts, the most likely cause of repeated bulb
> failure is vibration.
Yeah, I wondered about that myself, and checked it over, but it all
seems OK, and it hasn't popped any bulbs in a while now.
Posted by ian field on November 16, 2009, 4:08 pm
>> TOG@Toil wrote:
>> > Thinking of lights, the K11 managed to pop two tail light bulbs in the
>> > space of a month recently. No apparent reason. It's been fine since,
>> > but I've got a spare packed in the fairing stash box now. It's got a
>> > warning light for rear filament failure: the last bike I remember that
>> > had that was my old 1976 Yamaha XS650.
>>
>> I'd make sure the tail light assembly isn't loose or missing a rubber
>> bit- other than excess volts, the most likely cause of repeated bulb
>> failure is vibration.
> Yeah, I wondered about that myself, and checked it over, but it all
> seems OK, and it hasn't popped any bulbs in a while now.
Some original equipment stop/tail bulbs had a wire support in the middle of
the tail filament.
The last bulbs I bought was a box of 10 Lucas which don't have the support -
but I can remember a time I tried numerous suppliers for the supported
filament types without any success.
Posted by The Older Gentleman on November 16, 2009, 4:38 pm
> Some original equipment stop/tail bulbs had a wire support in the middle of
> the tail filament.
Oh yeah, I remember them....
--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
Posted by Rob Kleinschmidt on November 16, 2009, 6:07 pm
> TOG@Toil wrote:
> >> If you are determined to add a switch to disable the headlight you could
> >> ask one of our Canadian or UK friends to help you locate a headlight
> >> switch assembly from a non-USA model. I'm betting that the headlight
> >> wiring harness is the same but there is just a shorting bar inside the
> >> left handlebar switch housing where the hi/lo beam selector switch is.
> > I'm pretty sure I've got a Z650 one which will do the trick. I'd
> > willingly part with it for free as long as the postage is paid.
> Which reminds me- my '77 KZ650B1 had a headlight on/off switch, if I am
> not mistaken '78 was the first model year to have headlight switches
> removed on USA models. So if the OP can locate one of these at a
> breaker's yard he might be sorted if he doesn't want to take up your
> kind offer.
> I still say he shouldn't worry about it, I never had a problem starting
> my '82 GPz550, just rode it regularly which kept the battery topped up.
> If he's not riding the bike enough and doesn't use a battery tender,
> then he might have a weak battery occasionally.
It'd be pretty easy to cobble up a normally closed relay
for the headlight that opens when the solenoid for
the starter is energized.
Posted by paul c on November 16, 2009, 9:43 pm
Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
>> TOG@Toil wrote:
>>>> If you are determined to add a switch to disable the headlight you could
>>>> ask one of our Canadian or UK friends to help you locate a headlight
>>>> switch assembly from a non-USA model. I'm betting that the headlight
>>>> wiring harness is the same but there is just a shorting bar inside the
>>>> left handlebar switch housing where the hi/lo beam selector switch is.
>>> I'm pretty sure I've got a Z650 one which will do the trick. I'd
>>> willingly part with it for free as long as the postage is paid.
>> Which reminds me- my '77 KZ650B1 had a headlight on/off switch, if I am
>> not mistaken '78 was the first model year to have headlight switches
>> removed on USA models. So if the OP can locate one of these at a
>> breaker's yard he might be sorted if he doesn't want to take up your
>> kind offer.
>>
>> I still say he shouldn't worry about it, I never had a problem starting
>> my '82 GPz550, just rode it regularly which kept the battery topped up.
>> If he's not riding the bike enough and doesn't use a battery tender,
>> then he might have a weak battery occasionally.
>
> It'd be pretty easy to cobble up a normally closed relay
> for the headlight that opens when the solenoid for
> the starter is energized.
>
I know it wasn't the original question but another aspect of this is
that old bikes of many brands didn't charge much at idle, if at all, so
if you were either repeatedly starting or running a non-magneto/battery
ignition type at idle, say while synch'ing carbs or some other
troubleshooting, it was pretty easy to run the battery down enough that
after a dozen or so starts with a fair battery you might have to boost
to start. On my friend's old CB750 which had lots of problems I used to
disconnect the headlight before working on it, but that was a bit of a
PITA. I had a two-dollar switch on a troublesome scooter of mine and if
the 750 had been my own bike, I would have just put a simple toggle
switch in series with the headlight. Some people might complain that
they'd forget to turn on the light after starting, but to me it's the
same as having a side-stand that isn't interlocked with the ignition,
pretty soon you acquire a rote mechanical routine of steps you do before
you ride off, personally I think anybody who does it a different way
every time without thinking will probably have more dangerous problems
when riding, those might be the same people who don't know when their
speedo cable broke or are surprised to be missing a brake at the bottom
of the first hill!
I have a half-baked theory about this. Really good hockey players
always seem to suit up with the same pattern, eg., left skate first or
what have you. I've never seen one step on the ice with bootlaces
undone. I think bikers who have a long record of safe riding are
similar, they will nearly always do the same thing in any given
situation, including preparing to set off.
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> > Thinking of lights, the K11 managed to pop two tail light bulbs in the
> > space of a month recently. No apparent reason. It's been fine since,
> > but I've got a spare packed in the fairing stash box now. It's got a
> > warning light for rear filament failure: the last bike I remember that
> > had that was my old 1976 Yamaha XS650.
> I'd make sure the tail light assembly isn't loose or missing a rubber
> bit- other than excess volts, the most likely cause of repeated bulb
> failure is vibration.