Electrics help req...

[Pete.L]

than the R/R, and the only way a bulb will blow like that, is grease/bad bulb, short and over voltage... There are no other ways...

That was my opening post you argumentative bugger!
The rest was just trying to make scenarios fit. So no need to get so excited. I've be doing this for long enough to have seen a whole load of "creative wiring" from people who only have half an idea or a mate who's prepared to have a go.
Most of the time it boils down to what's been messed with before and then move on to the fault. Sorry if I go off on a tangent at times but alternative thinking can be quite useful when the norm isn't working

There is no amount of creative wiring that can bypass the R/R, unless you hook something directly to that stator by those three wires, which I highly doubt he has done

Who said anything about by passing it?

As for floating, yeah, he "could" have a floating ground, but that would also mean that his bike wasn't charging, since he cannot manage to disconnect both the R/R ground from the battery ground

Hmmph That would be a foolish assumption when fault finding. It's quite possible (especially when someone has been chopping into circuits and making their own) to split earths or disconnect them from one area. Take the earth strap off from the engine connector and the battery will still charge but your sparks plugs will have a real problem. Might even blow your ignition pack

or getting AC spikes in to it, by any means of creative wiring

Ever heard of capacitive inductance? Lay a wire along side the HT lead when the bike running and see if you can get a shock

I'm not, nor was I ever saying, these were the causes but all of them are real and all are possible. You really shouldn't be so dismissive of other peoples ideas and opinions. It not an attractive trait and it certainly wont endear you to anyone.

Pete.l

[Ckennedy]

I having read all those posts fully but the wiring loom is running down the left side of the bike so it may be related to being to close to the HT leads. I am going to make a new wiring loom consisting of 16.5amp cable running down the right hand side and see if it makes a difference. I shall report back with my findings when I have had chance to make and test it

[tony.mon]

Might be a bit extreme, as the standard loom doesn't usually produce a problem.........

[lumpyv]

do you have the original type R/R or a better replacement ?

[VTRDark]

Good info in this thread, all very valid points.

Chris where have you taken your feeds from. Just trying to work out how you have wired it all up and what other circuits are inked into it. Yeh wires close to HT leads could have an effect and is something to rule out if you have wires running literally next to them, but I doubt it's that. The insulation on the leads is there to protect it. I would lower the fuse size though, as if it's blowing bulbs then the fuse is not doing it's job. The standard light uses a 20a.

(:-})

[Ckennedy]

The feeds came from the standard wiring harness for the headlight back to relays which I located under the seat. These were both earthed and linked to the battery then the witres were run back down the bike to a ceramic bulb holder for the uprated headlight.

The r/r is a fined copy so not a genuine one but it is charging as it should.

Need to make a new wiring loom for it any way so I'll do that and get it fitted any ho. If by some medical it fixes the problem, great, if not, I'll solve it one day

[Tweety]

than the R/R, and the only way a bulb will blow like that, is grease/bad bulb, short and over voltage... There are no other ways...

That was my opening post you argumentative bugger!

I'm not, nor was I ever saying, these were the causes but all of them are real and all are possible. You really shouldn't be so dismissive of other peoples ideas and opinions. It not an attractive trait and it certainly wont endear you to anyone.

Pete.l

OK, you got that right, I'm argumentative... But then again, so's half this forum...

Should have put a smiley or two in there perhaps, but for unknown reasons ";)" does not equal on this forum which annoys me to no end...

I wasn't simply dismissing your statements, I was in fact like you started with arguing... And my point is while yes, you can probably manage what you describe (I have seen a few of the examples in real life) they are all very much less likely than the R/R... The reason being that f the bike runs, and runs well, the only think acting up, AFAIK is the bulbs, then the likely culprit is the R/R...

[Tweety]

The feeds came from the standard wiring harness for the headlight back to relays which I located under the seat. These were both earthed and linked to the battery then the witres were run back down the bike to a ceramic bulb holder for the uprated headlight.

The r/r is a fined copy so not a genuine one but it is charging as it should.

Need to make a new wiring loom for it any way so I'll do that and get it fitted any ho. If by some medical it fixes the problem, great, if not, I'll solve it one day

The best way, is to hook the harness for the headlight/relays directly to the battery poles, nothing else, and if you re-do the harness, consider that...

Also, consider actually testing the R/R, since as of now it seems you are assuming it's working on a few isolated measurements, it would help a whole lot to be able to cross it off the list, since it's a big source of many seemingly unrelated issues, and I stand by the statement that it's almost the only component capable of producing over voltage...

Also, please, please for the love of good windy roads, denominate cables by their cross section, either AWG or mm2 since saying 30A or 16.5A wiring is about as informative as saying it's red, unless you specify by what table you get that rating, or for how many hours its rated at that amperage...

[Tweety]

Good info in this thread, all very valid points.

Chris where have you taken your feeds from. Just trying to work out how you have wired it all up and what other circuits are inked into it. Yeh wires close to HT leads could have an effect and is something to rule out if you have wires running literally next to them, but I doubt it's that. The insulation on the leads is there to protect it. I would lower the fuse size though, as if it's blowing bulbs then the fuse is not doing it's job. The standard light uses a 20a.

(:-})

Yeah, the headlight fuse as standard is a 20 A, but even so, it's over sized by a fair amount... Still at 20 A, it's actually feasible that it will blow before the wire burns off, so at that point you actually effectively have a fuse, where as at 25-30 A, it's completely useless altogether... If you want the fuse to do what it's supposed to do, either a 7.5-10A slow acting fuse, or a 12-16A fast acting fuse is the right answer... Since the type used in the stock fuse box of the VTR typically are slow acting, hence my earlier recommendations, based on that most use what they have already...

[Ckennedy]

Right I think I have found the problem. Totally by accident too I was fixing a coolant leak and decided to turn my heated grips on as they used to cut out rather quick, has a system where it cuts power when voltage gets to low, and when I revved the engine on the drive the grips cut out. First I thought it was just coincidence, so I tried it again. Low and behold again it cut out. So I am thinking my reg/rec is spiking when the throttle is blipped which would also be killing my headlight? Plausible?

Now for the new loom I am thinking if using 16.5amp twin core which is 32 strand 1mm2. Will this cable be suitable for the upgrade? I have looked online and it says that the bulb I want to run will draw between 6.5 and 8.5 amps (or near enough) so this cable should be OK and I would be OK to use a 10amp fuse?

Please answers in simple terms.

This of course will not solve my problem as it looks like I need a new reg/rec before fitting and this new loom was letting to much current through compaired to the old one which is why the new loom blew the bulbs and the old one didn't?

[macdee]

Right I think I have found the problem. Totally by accident too I was fixing a coolant leak and decided to turn my heated grips on as they used to cut out rather quick, has a system where it cuts power when voltage gets to low, and when I revved the engine on the drive the grips cut out. First I thought it was just coincidence, so I tried it again. Low and behold again it cut out. So I am thinking my reg/rec is spiking when the throttle is blipped which would also be killing my headlight? Plausible?

Now for the new loom I am thinking if using 16.5amp twin core which is 32 strand 1mm2. Will this cable be suitable for the upgrade? I have looked online and it says that the bulb I want to run will draw between 6.5 and 8.5 amps (or near enough) so this cable should be OK and I would be OK to use a 10amp fuse?

Please answers in simple terms.

This of course will not solve my problem as it looks like I need a new reg/rec before fitting and this new loom was letting to much current through compaired to the old one which is why the new loom blew the bulbs and the old one didn't?

cable will be fine as its twice the size of the current being used
the 10amp fuse will stop it even getting close to its limits
simple as asked for

[Ckennedy]

Thanks macdee. I want to learn electrics but need to start with simple as words don't sink in. I have to have the object there to make any sense.

[Tweety]

Thanks macdee. I want to learn electrics but need to start with simple as words don't sink in. I have to have the object there to make any sense.

I'll give you an even simpler answer...

Can I add a little advice though?

To make life easier in oh say 13 months or so, when it's been on your bike two winter seasons... Get shrink tube with pre-applied glue... One, it's not even expensive, and two, if you make nice long tubes at all joints and connectors, the seal should keep any possible corrosion away...

[Ckennedy]

Don't worry tweety, I already have heat shrink connectors with the glue inside them and the heat shrink tubing to go over the top of the joint

[macdee]

Don't worry tweety, I already have heat shrink connectors with the glue inside them and the heat shrink tubing to go over the top of the joint

hi Ckennedy
hows things going
have you got a R/R to test with or are you going with a dare i say it yamaha r1 R/R