Gang,
My '50 has life!!! Finally got a 6 volt battery on it tonight and turned the ignition switch on after 40 years of inactivity. To my pleasure, the oil, generator, brake, running lamps (front), and "Cycle-Ray" headlight came to life! Yet another hurdle crossed. Next is primary gasket, some fresh fuel, and some luck! Thanks to you guys, I may have a running bike soon.....
My question is: My bike has a set of the optional Guide spotlights. I could not get them to fire when all other lights were operating. Was there a "standard" way these lights were wired into the harness? Since they were optional, I imagine ANY way was the right way. Are they supposed to illuminate when the headlight is in dim mode? The only switches on the bars are the standard headlight off and on (on the right hand toggle switch) and the headlight dimmer (on the left hand toggle switch.)
Short of dismantling the upper fork covers and tracking the wiring from the spots down, does anyone have a thought about how they were supposed to operate.
I tried searching, but couldn't find anything on the board or in Palmer's book. Thanks in advance.
Spotlight Question
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Please do not start new topics here, but here: New Panhead and Flathead topics
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FlatHeadSix
- Senior Member
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Re: Spotlight Question
tcb
you're right, those "passing lamps" were wired every way you could imagine. The MoCo accessory came as a kit and could have been installed in several possible ways. The most common was to wire them to a terminal on the terminal board that was always "hot", switch on or off, lights on or off, it didn't matter because the terminal was always hot, the original lights had a toggle switch on the back of each one. You could turn them on and off independantly whether the bike was running or not. The factory wiring diagram showed them connected this way.
The other common way to install them was through a separate switch similar to the Hi-Low switch but mounted on the right side of the handlebars, the factory accessory wiring diagram allowed you to switch between headlight and passing lights (but not both). If you have only a horn button and a hi-low switch on your bars this option was not used on your bike.
You will probably have to pull the rear right cover from the fork tins and look at the terminal board to see where the power feed is coming from for your lights. A good volt meter will be very helpful.
and, one more thing to check, make sure you have a good ground connection to both lights.
keep us posted!
mike
you're right, those "passing lamps" were wired every way you could imagine. The MoCo accessory came as a kit and could have been installed in several possible ways. The most common was to wire them to a terminal on the terminal board that was always "hot", switch on or off, lights on or off, it didn't matter because the terminal was always hot, the original lights had a toggle switch on the back of each one. You could turn them on and off independantly whether the bike was running or not. The factory wiring diagram showed them connected this way.
The other common way to install them was through a separate switch similar to the Hi-Low switch but mounted on the right side of the handlebars, the factory accessory wiring diagram allowed you to switch between headlight and passing lights (but not both). If you have only a horn button and a hi-low switch on your bars this option was not used on your bike.
You will probably have to pull the rear right cover from the fork tins and look at the terminal board to see where the power feed is coming from for your lights. A good volt meter will be very helpful.
and, one more thing to check, make sure you have a good ground connection to both lights.
keep us posted!
mike
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awander
- Senior Member
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Re: Spotlight Question
The standard headlight off/on is through the ignition switch. If you have a switch on the right-hand bar that turns the headlights on and off,it may be wired as Mike mentioned, to switch between headlights and spotlights, and the spots are just not working.tcb-1 wrote:The only switches on the bars are the standard headlight off and on (on the right hand toggle switch).....