CB360 blows headlights.

ThreeFingerPete · Post by **ThreeFingerPete** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:36 pm

I have a CB 360 that is stripped down to the bare essentials and have had to make some revisions to the wiring. All of my gremlins seem to be sorted except for my headlight, which blew when I revved the bike over 5-6k.

Originally, the headlight lead coming out of the alternator went through the headlight switch (which is now gone, to the fuse block, out of the fuse block to the dimmer switch (which is also now gone) and into the headlight. I'm just looking for a low beam that is on when the bike is on.

I wired the headlight lead coming out of the alternator into the headlight fuse, then from the fuse to the headlight. Everything worked well until I revved the bike up. I'm afraid the voltage fluctuation caused it to pop, but I don't see a resistor or headlight regulator anywhere in the wiring.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This is the diagram that I've been using, which has worked well. Thanks Oregon Motorcycle.

e3steve · Post by **e3steve** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 3:49 pm

Have you left the battery in the circuit?

Edit - Just to elaborate: the electrical system needs a healthy and (at least) partially-charged battery to stabilise the alternator's output.

ThreeFingerPete · Post by **ThreeFingerPete** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:31 pm

yes, there is a fullsize and fully charged battery in the system.

I'm considering wiring all phases of the stator into the battery, since the light will be on when running it shouldn't overcharge.

e3steve · Post by **e3steve** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 4:26 am

I wired the headlight lead coming out of the alternator into the headlight fuse, then from the fuse to the headlight. Everything worked well until I revved the bike up. I'm afraid the voltage fluctuation caused it to pop, but I don't see a resistor or headlight regulator anywhere in the wiring.

Rock-roll! You don't wanna be a-doin' that! When the system was previously complete, the white wire from the 'lights-on' coils in the alt would have been added to the charge output going to the rectifier and regulated, not directly to the lamp. Is the reg still in circuit? In the absence of any lighting switch(es), couple the below-shown wires together -- they can be traced from the 'bar switch assembly and coupled inside the headlamp; if you've removed the kill switch, couple those with them also. Ignore the ground -- that gets applied to the starter wire when the button is pressed.[/i] Don't remove the regulator; without it the ignition coils will eventually fail!

ThreeFingerPete · Post by **ThreeFingerPete** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 8:54 pm

Steve, run that by me one more time. The regulator is still in the circuit of the daytime coils as it appears it was originally.

The Yellow and pink output wires still follow their original path to the rectifier / regulator. The white wire should now just connect in with the yellow? Did I follow that correctly?

e3steve · Post by **e3steve** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 5:09 am

ThreeFingerPete wrote:Steve, run that by me one more time. The regulator is still in the circuit of the daytime coils as it appears it was originally.

The Yellow and pink output wires still follow their original path to the rectifier / regulator. The white wire should now just connect in with the yellow? Did I follow that correctly?

My cockup! See this attached pic. According to the diagram

Y carries AC from the day coils into the headlamp, to the regulator and on to the rectifier
W carries AC from the night coils into the headlamp and becomes a Y/W to the lighting switch
On the lighting switch SE and DY are isolated contacts and are 'made' when lights are selected, as are IG, TL & HL; therefore connect the W to the Y in the headlamp and connect the other 3 together separately (I can't make out the colours properly from the original pic)

Leave the reg as it is. This operation will ensure that the reg still controls the dynamo's output into the rectifier and onto the rest of the system.