Elitric issues

RastaCalavera · Post by **RastaCalavera** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:55 am

87 Honda elite 50 and my blinkers work inconsistently on my bike and I think it is time to get new wires. My electric starter doesn't work, I got a new battery and head lamp works fine. How hard is it to do the wiring job yourself? Any walk throughs out there I could look into?? The blinkers will blink once when I flick the switch but I have to flick it multiple times to let people know where I am going. Also, the noise will click but lights won't come on, some times only the front and not the back, pretty much everything that could go wrong with the lights has. hahahhahahaha

Kenny_McCormic · Post by **Kenny_McCormic** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:30 pm

Not the wires, its the connections, pull off all the plastics and clean out and grease all the electric connections including the light sockets. If its still iffy check that the bulbs are all the correct type(check service manual). Also pull you starter relay apart to make sure its not corroded inside.

RastaCalavera · Post by **RastaCalavera** » Thu May 01, 2008 9:47 am

alright I'll have to try that. Where is the starter relay and what does it look like? I don't have a manual for this thing

RastaCalavera · Post by **RastaCalavera** » Fri May 02, 2008 2:35 pm

I pulled out all the connections and they were very clean!! So I don't know what the deal is. I called a honda shop and they said it might be.....* I forgot the real name for it already but it was a cheap part like 9 bucks and they would install it for 30. I think it was a regulator or something......d***. Anyway, if you have anymore advice I am all ears

justinnielsen01 · Post by **justinnielsen01** » Sun May 04, 2008 9:23 am

it might be the turn signal relay and your head lamp runs off the enigne not the battery

RastaCalavera · Post by **RastaCalavera** » Sun May 04, 2008 6:41 pm

I heard it might be the relay....how do i go about fixing that? I am pretty sure that is the problem. Oh side question, how many volts should the 87 battery be putting out and does it only power the electric start?

Samargh · Post by **Samargh** » Sun May 04, 2008 9:42 pm

I don't think its the relay, and I'll explain why later...

If you can locate the relay, normally they have a cover over them.. might even be clear plastic so you can see inside. Unclip the cover and you should be able to see the contact arms.

(apologies if Im teaching folk to suck eggs here..)

a relay uses power applied to an electro magnet to pull a contact arm into place to make a connection.

the problem you get is that the contacting creates a spark, which means that over time you get the cotacts wearing and becoming uneven.. in some cases you can even get one contact with a hole worn in and the other has a corresponding spike. They can if you are unlucky end up welding together and jamming.

the fix is to gentle file down the contacts with a needle file so they are flat again.

The thing is this doesn't fit with your fault symptoms.

A "welded" relay would leave your light hard on regardless of the indicator switch position, while bad wiring would leave it off all or most of the time.

Somewhere in the circuit is a discharge capacitor... I think they call it a condenser??? in indicator circuits (don't quote me on that, its been a good ten years since I rewired indicator lights). This capacitor, as it charges and discharges is what makes the lights go on and off, so it would be this that I was looking for... however having a look in the manual I can't see one on the wiring diagram.

It may be biult in to one of the other components, like housed within the relay unit itself...

hope that helps

Dave

RastaCalavera · Post by **RastaCalavera** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:56 am

wow thanks! That was a lot to digest but hopefully it will help me out. I'll have to look into a couple things and see if I can't fix the problem. I'll keep ya posted if I fix anything or need help. Thanks again!!

Samargh · Post by **Samargh** » Mon May 05, 2008 8:23 pm

Just saw the question on batteries, and I can answer this one too since I just fitted a new one last night and read the instructions:-)

Assuming its one of the sealed no maintenance types, a fully charged, disconnected battery should read around 13volts. Less than 12 is flat. In between is varrying degrees of charge. If you test it connected, expect lower readings as it will now be "under load".

On mine it powers the fuel tank gauge, horn, indicators and maybe?? the brake lights. Haven't seen it power anything else. Main lights are powered from the engine. Don't know about the starter... I press the button on mine and I can hear the click of a relay but nothing happens, but mine has a kick starter fitted.

Hope that helps you some.

Dave

RastaCalavera · Post by **RastaCalavera** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:53 am

Yeah I figured as much. Mine has a kick starter too. So I checked out my relay and it is busted, but no one has that part in stock and when they do, it is like $40!!! Think I could get it cheaper on line or is it safer to just pay the $40 at a honda shop or other motorcycle place?

Samargh · Post by **Samargh** » Tue May 13, 2008 5:49 pm

Just re-read the fault description and fixed a similair problem... turns out I had a bad earth connection on one of my indicators (instead of two wires, one positive and one negative I have a single wire positive and the negative is provided by the lamp holder through to the screw holding the indicator onto the chassis.

I've jumped a wire to a different area and its now going fine.

For some reason having a 6v instead of a 12 volt lamp in one of the lights would allow 1 indicator to run fats while the other was out, which is not normal.

Hope you got it sorted

Dave