XT600E 1995, so sort of classic Leaving work to come home last night in the dark and pissing rain, it got 100 yards up the road and stopped - engine and lights failed at the same time. Got back to it this morning, changed the main fuse, and it started fine. The old fuse fell to pieces when I took it out so I assumed this was the problem. So I got a lift back for it tonight (I've had to leave it at my workplace). It started fine again, but when I put the lights on - pop. Or rather - the headlight came on very dim, so I revved the engine. The headlight went brighter, and then the fuse blew again. Im guessing it's a short somewhere in the lighting circuit. If so, where's the best place to start looking? If I have to rip it apart and check everything, I will, but if there are any well-known failure points it would save me a lot of time. I know quite a few on this group have had the same model, so I hope someone will be able to point me in the right direction. Thanks all. -- Rich B 1971 S2a 1995 XT600E 2003 ST1300 Pan European Oh, and a Ford Take out the obvious to email me.
Mark Olson typed: Thanks for this. It's not intermittent at the moment - when I switch on the lights, it blows - but I'll bear that in mind as a Good Trick. Headstock it is, then. Cheers. (I have to get the bugger home first, mind.) -- Rich B 1971 S2a 1995 XT600E 2003 ST1300 Pan European Oh, and a Ford Take out the obvious to email me.
I'd check the charging rate first. Then I'd have a look at the ignition switch - everything goes through there, and they corrode. The fact that the problem initially involved both ignition and lights suggests this may be the problem area.
Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Mark Olson <scribbles furiously> Why had I never thought of that?
Because you have a multi-meter ? -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Pete Fisher at Home: | | Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z | | Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" | +----------------------------------------------------------------+
The Older Gentleman typed: My first thought was the ignition switch, as I had foolishly left the key in, while the area had about 2" of rain in an afternoon. The key stops the little shutter thingy from closing to keep the wet out, and I wondered if the switch had become waterlogged. Then I thought ... nah. But it's something else to check, ta. -- Rich B 1971 S2a 1995 XT600E 2003 ST1300 Pan European Oh, and a Ford Take out the obvious to email me.
And I'm thinking... yeah. Water runs down the key into the switch. (Oh, the shutter thing is called an escutcheon)
It'sa bloody good'un, isn't it? And there was me thinking Olson was another kSeptic who just relies on "change the black box if it doesn't work".....
A very neat trick. Except that a mult-meter would more easily come to hand in my garage than an old car headlamp bulb (can't speak for WUN). I shall now keep one specially for such diagnostics. -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Pete Fisher at Home: | | Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z | | Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" | +----------------------------------------------------------------+
Would it not cause the risk of a fire somewhere else, though, if the circuit is allowed to continue unbroken?
The Older Gentleman typed: Really? Apart from the heraldic meaning, I always thought an escutcheon was the plate *around* a keyhole. It is in cabinetmaking, anyhow. But yes - water running into the switch may be the culprit, although it seems to have left the ignition contacts unaffected. I shall deploy a hairdryer as a line of first attack. Thank you. -- Rich B 1971 S2a 1995 XT600E 2003 ST1300 Pan European Oh, and a Ford Take out the obvious to email me.
Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, The Older It is. I expect I'll be seeing it in a magazine in the near future... Naughty. He's a very nice man.
Seconded. Remote diagnosis is difficult without a wiring diagram but .... The symptoms seem to imply that the battery is no longer connected and the lights are running from an unregulated generator. I would look at the battery and regulator connections first.
Followed by genuine WD40, which, as any fule kno is supposed to drive water off a steel plate. It is an anti-lubricant though, so a gobbet of engine oil or 3-in-1 down the keyhole thereafter might be good.
Could it be that the headlight bulb filament has snapped inside the bulb and laying across the other filament and drawing twice the wattage and popping the fuse? -- Steve Parry BMW R80RS, BMW R45, 03 BMW R1100S Boxercup, 07 K1200GT SE 95 BMW F650, 87 Yamaha FS1, Sukida SK90PY, 91 Kawasaki AR50, 07 VW Passat SE Estate for comfort www.gwynfryn.co.uk
Oh, sorry, I thought you had some cover over the keyhole. You meant the tiny little plate inside the lock, didn't you? My bad.
The Older Gentleman typed: Heh - yes, a cover would indeed be an escutcheon in my book. My poor description. The little plate (what I called a shutter thing) closes the key slot after you take the key out. I assume on a bike it has an anti-rain function, and with the key in during a Biblical rainstorm, that may well be a factor. Day off work tomorrow - we'll see. -- Rich B 1971 S2a 1995 XT600E 2003 ST1300 Pan European Oh, and a Ford Take out the obvious to email me.
typed: It starts and runs fine, and the battery is firmly connected, but the lights being dim (a brown patch on a wall in pitch darkness) and brightening when I revved the engine indicate something is going direct to the circuit. I hope it's a short - I can fix those. -- Rich B 1971 S2a 1995 XT600E 2003 ST1300 Pan European Oh, and a Ford Take out the obvious to email me.
SpamTrapSeeSig typed: Aye, will do. -- Rich B 1971 S2a 1995 XT600E 2003 ST1300 Pan European Oh, and a Ford Take out the obvious to email me.
