I am now well equipped with TWO repair manuals and a full toolbox and
a Positive Mental Attitude. Time to go to work.......

I was watching the dimming of the headlight on my Kawie as I engaged
the starter. The headlight is hard-wired to the "ON" position and is
always illuminated when the key is turner to the run position.

That extra load will slow down the starter a bit, shorten the life of
the battery a bit, and slow down the recharging of the battery.

The charging circuit is designed the the headlight load to be there
continuously. Would anything be damaged if I added a switch in series
to leave the headlight off for continuous running? I know it's
illegal not to have a headlight as a running light, but my concern is
that the loss of the load would spike some voltages and then possibly
harm something expensive such as an electronic ignition system.

What say ye, would it hurt to disconnect the headlight for extended
running?

Thanks in advance,

Biker Dude

Biker Dude <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> circuit is designed the the headlight load to be there
> continuously. Would anything be damaged if I added a switch in series
> to leave the headlight off for continuous running?

No.

> I know it's
> illegal not to have a headlight as a running light, but my concern is
> that the loss of the load would spike some voltages and then possibly
> harm something expensive such as an electronic ignition system.

Generations of bikes, in other countries, have had headlights that
aren't permanently on, and have had no such problems.
>
> What say ye, would it hurt to disconnect the headlight for extended
> running?

No. It might even save you a few bucks a year in extended bulb life.


--
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

>
> Someone has screwed around with your Kawasaki's headlight circuit.
> The headlight should be off until the engine starts running. *There
> is a relay box and one or more diodes that makes this happen. *It's
> been a feature of Kawasakis ever since the late 70s/early 80s.

It's an 82. So the headlight is supposed to stay off whilst cranking
the starter? Best idea I've heard, will look at the wiring diagram to
locate the exact relay or timer that does this.



>
> Adding a switch is unnecessary. *As you say, the bike's charging system
> is designed to have the headlight on all the time when the engine is
> running and has enough capacity to charge the battery while running the
> headlight.
>

When the battery is a bit low it takes too much to energize both the
headlight and the starter.......

Will go to work on this.

Thanks,

Biker Dude

Biker Dude <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> It's an 82. So the headlight is supposed to stay off whilst cranking
> the starter? Best idea I've heard, will look at the wiring diagram to
> locate the exact relay or timer that does this.

On US spec bikes I've owned and ridden, and now on modern EU-spec bikes
(one of which I own), pressing the starter button disengages the
headlight, yes.>
>
>
> >
> > Adding a switch is unnecessary. As you say, the bike's charging system
> > is designed to have the headlight on all the time when the engine is
> > running and has enough capacity to charge the battery while running the
> > headlight.
> >
>
> When the battery is a bit low it takes too much to energize both the
> headlight and the starter.......

Fit a new battery.


--
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

On 16 Nov, 12:52, Mark Olson <ols...@tiny.invalid> 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.

On 16 Nov, 13:30, Mark Olson <ols...@tiny.invalid> wrote:

> 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.

Well, yes, that's my feeling too.

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.

And the GN250 needs a new headlight bulb. The interior of the bulb is
all cloudy, like milk, and has a crack, so I assume bulb failure
rather than over-charging. I checked the charging rate, and it's spot
on.

On 16 Nov, 14:11, Mark Olson <ols...@tiny.invalid> wrote:
> 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.

"TOG@Toil" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eb5f63f9-de57-4d7e-998c-(E-Mail Removed)...
> On 16 Nov, 14:11, Mark Olson <ols...@tiny.invalid> wrote:
>> 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.

ian field <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> 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

On Nov 16, 5:30 am, Mark Olson <ols...@tiny.invalid> wrote:
> TOG@Toil wrote:
> > On 16 Nov, 12:52, Mark Olson <ols...@tiny.invalid> 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.