| Author | Message | ||
     99savage |
Since acquiring my accursed 06 Ulysses, about 2X/year the lights stop working. - Usually in a remote place but some times just before the scheduled NYS inspection. Every time the problem has been a loose something in the connector. - Tighten everything up, tape everything & good to go for about 4 months.. This time in addition to the loose connection got the long predicted broken ground wire. Question(s): * Would it be smart to cut into the black wire in the wiring bundle on the headlight nacelle itself and ground directly to the mounting bracket? * Has anybody ever just cut out the headlight connector and replaced it with (4) separate, automotive spade connectors or the like? * If it is considered wise to splice into the existing, failed, ground wire what it the best way to go about it to assure a long service life? My fingers don't work for squat anymore and my soldering is horrible. - Hate fine work like this. All advice appreciated. | ||
| Johnshore |
I replaced my problem headlight connector with four old fashioned bullet connectors. Used to be on all the old Jap bikes. It makes it easy to do the high beam mod too. | ||
| Griffmeister |
By "ground directly to the mounting bracket" I hope you don't mean putting the headlight ground on the headlight bracket? By putting a ground wire on any metal part in the front fork assembly, you are in effect making a ground through the steering head bearings. All grounds should be made on the main frame and you are more than welcome to route a new wire from one of these grounding points to any offending accessory. | ||
| Ratbuell |
...my '06 has a wire from the wire loom, that's grounded to the brace behind/above the headlamps (where the factory horn mounts), grounding the entire front end... I've added grounds for my Stebel, my aux lights, and my voltmeter to that same stud - no issues. If your headlight is "unplugging", try putting a zip tie around the rubber boot after you install it. Also, push as much of the wiring through that boot as you can, after you put the boot on the back of the light. | ||
| 99savage |
Ratbuell ...my '06 has a wire from the wire loom, that's grounded to the brace behind/above the headlamps (where the factory horn mounts), grounding the entire front end. Yeh, that's where I meant. - When the ground on the horn broke I grounded it there. However, there was nothing connected there when I got the Ulysses and had to dive into the wiring. If your headlight is "unplugging", try putting a zip tie around the rubber boot after you install it. Also, push as much of the wiring through that boot as you can, after you put the boot on the back of the light. Done that and about 40 other things. - The individual connectors unplug from their proper place in the connector housing. - Thinking about epoxying them in place this time and look for the aforementioned bullet connectors for the next time. Hate fine work like this, after 70 years my fingers have just given up - Close vision not all that great either. Been into there so many times the threaded holes are starting to wear out. - May have to tap them oversize. All suggestions appreciated | ||
| Mnrider |
If you think it's the 4 wire h/l connector giving you the problem you could just bypass it.Cut each wire one at a time and use the shrink wrap butt connectors and then run the h/l ground to the steering head ground point. I removed that connector on mine when I put the HID's in.Connectors are just for ease of assembly. | ||
| Treefrog |
I just got my bike put back together for this same issue. It was caused by the pins in the connector not fitting tight enough together. With the bike vibrating/road bumps, it was causing the ground to be intermittent. Kinda sucks at night at speed and your headlights decide they want to start flashing morse code to the world. To fix it, I pulled the female side of the connector apart and just slightly squeezed them with a pair of needle nose pliers. If you look at one of the female pins from the end, you'll see how you need to bend them in just a bit. All you are doing is increasing the friction between the female and male ends to get good contact between the two. No more problems now. |
