UK light switch on a US bike..Help!

[kettle738]

Hi all, further to my last about fitting a light switch to a US sourced 1977 GL1000...I have turned up a nice set of UK handlebar switches which have the ON/OFF/Park functions I want.

Ignoring the parking light for now I would like to fit this switch.......but it has a pair of yellow wires which don't correspond to the US wiring harness.  A bit of research revealed this...... the 2 yellow wires are part of the charging system.
There are 3 yellow wires coming from the alternator, two go directly to the rectifier/Regulator, the third goes there too, but via a set of contacts in the light switch. This was, I believe, done to prevent overcharging the battery.


The US wiring seems to have done away with this set up....does anyone with a better understanding of wiring than mine know if I can safely ignore these two yellow wires and isolate them while using the useful functions of the switch?  I guess the same might apply to other 1970s Hondas.

Thanks...........Mick.

[Bryanj]

I have a genuine Honda manual, give me a couple of days and i will try and sort it out for you

[kettle738]

Many thanks for that........I have a Haynes but the circuit diagram is in black and white and pretty much impossible to follow......I have a US wiring diagram in colour but can't find a UK GL1000 colour diagram anywhere.

In the meantime I have loosely wired it in and it switches the headlamp off just fine......I need to work out how to include a pilot lamp which I think I can do and how to incorporate the rear light into the switched circuit which may be a little more difficult.

The basic question still remains though about the two yellow wires (my instinct is to just isolate them with heat shrink) which seem to be redundant on the US spec bike, so any advice about those would be much appreciated....

................Mick.

[kettle738]

Many thanks for that, these are similar to some I found online......what seems to be more elusive than Lord Lucan though is a UK or European diagram in colour.  These are instantly recognisable by the addition of a pilot light in the headlamp.

Some Clymer manuals have colour diagrams....not sure if that includes a UK/European version though.  Black and white versions unless they are huge are worse than useless.

Giving the two yellow 'charging system' leads in the UK handlebar switch some further thought, it seems to me with my limited understanding of these things that the US harness has dispensed with the need for them so I should be able to isolate and ignore them.....but I'm appreciative of informed advice.

Mick.

[Bryanj]

Not sure but the regulator is a Zener i think and might not like passing the extra unsed current if running with full output and lights not on

[Bryanj]

Yup, apart from the fact he wants to be able to turn the headlamp off

[Bryanj]

I have checked using my UK parts book and Motogrid and the loom part numbers are different end numbers---- 000 for UK and 670 for US so it looks like the wing is an odd one in that looms varied between countries not just switches

[kettle738]

Thanks chaps, I think I understand the UK/US set ups a lot better now from the descriptions.

As it happens I'm quite happy to ride with the lights on, but I always want to be able to turn it off for that less than perfect battery moment.....no one wants to push start a Gold Wing, even if it is the lightest of the bunch.

I found this at Silvers  http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/parts/by-part-number/partnumber_35300341671P/

If I use this I think I get the best of all worlds, no pilot light so no need to change the headlamp.....all I need to do is ensure the starter button arrangement is compatible and see if I can work out how to incorporate the rear light so it is also switched.

Mick.

[Bryanj]

The switch wiring can be made to work no matter which way round the starter button works, when you get the switch see if the starter button connects the red/yellow to a black or to an earth and report back

[kettle738]

see if the starter button connects the red/yellow to a black or to an earth and report back

Will do, they are out of stock at the moment, but hopefully not too long.


Mick.

[kettle738]

when you get the switch see if the starter button connects the red/yellow to a black or to an earth and report back

Hi Chaps......well I had to wait a while but eventually got the repo switch from DSS.  On the outside it looks spot on and the lighting ON/OFF switch seems ok, but the starter button was a different matter, very poorly and cheaply made, but the good news is the casing is such an accurate copy I could fit original Honda parts from another switch in place. (It connects to a black / live)

I can now switch the headlamp on and off and everything else functions just fine.......but I am having a head scratching moment with the rear light......I have absolutely no idea how to incorporate that into the switched system so it turns on and off with the headlamp......I'm not even sure if it can be done.......any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

I have to say this has been more awkward than I expected it to be as the UK and US wiring harnesses are completely different and I have a mental dead spot with electrics so any pointers would be great......failing that, the rear light stays on. ( hopefully not an MOT problem)

Mick........kettle738   

[AshimotoK0]

Hi Mick,

Have not studied the diagrams and at work at 'mo. However, if you took a wire from the headlamp main beam,dip and parking and fed two through diodes as shown, I am sure this would work.
I have loads of the diodes.

Cheers ... Ash

[kettle738]

Hi Ash, thank you for that.....did I mention I'm a complete numb nut with electronics, the very mention of resistors, diodes, ohms etc etc brings down an impenetrable fog......I just don't get it....if it's mechanical though it's a different matter.

However, even a bear of very little brain sort of gets something right occasionally.......I do realise the power to the rear light is the brown lead, which on the GL1000 disappears into the guts of the machine but should be traceable.

I was hoping  to locate that, interrupt it and link it to the newly switched headlamp circuit........or is that way too simplistic?

Best..........Mick. 

[Bryanj]

You should find it at the ignition switch or at worst the fusebox mate and you are correct in that it is the easiest way---might be brown/blue though

[kettle738]

Thank you for that...........I'll see what I can do.

Mick...........kettle738