Lighting issue

[snowhownd]

On a more dismal note to getting my first bike today, when I was coming home at dusk on my maiden voyage I noticed the lights on the bike (96' GS) were flickering.  Then halfway home the speedo light went totally out.  The headlight and tach light continued to flicker the whole way home.  It didn't constantly flicker, usually at steady throttle it would stay steady, but when accelerating/deccelerating it would flicker.  Also, it didn't seem totaly throttle related (like it didn't dim when accelerating, or dim while letting off, or anything consistent like that - it seemed totally random).  I was planning on just taking apart the headlight and guage assembly to search for a bare wire or something on Saturday... I just didn't know if there was any common issues with the GS's???  I did a search and didn't find much discussion on this, so?  Thanks!

[DMac]

Sounds odd man, I am not sure what it could be. But when ya check the wires be sure to do it slow and keep it all in order. Time and time again I see posts about how ppl will get their entire bike blinking and all that.
Sry, wish I could help

[davipu]

maybe a loose ground.  motorcycle vibrations and lightbulbs don't mix too well though.

[snowhownd]

Now that I think about it, the previous owner did say that he just put a new battery in it... maybe it is as simple as a loose battery connection, or would that have more far reaching affects than just flickering lights?

[starwalt]

Now that I think about it, the previous owner did say that he just put a new battery in it... maybe it is as simple as a loose battery connection, or would that have more far reaching affects than just flickering lights?

Assume nothing the previous owner told you is correct - unless he took this thing from a basket case and built it.   Check over the connections to the battery at the battery and then check the large and small negative connections that run to the bottom of the engine and that breaks off the battery end of the cable into the wiring harness. The engine end is bolted onto the case, the smaller wiring harness connection is just a plastic connector. Here is a shot of the negative end for the battery -

You may have just had a bad tach/speedo bulb filament that finally gave up and your headlight bulb connection may just be loose. Buy some of the bulbs at your favorite supplier of disposable auto parts and just change them all. That way you start clean and it only costs a couple of bucks (US) max.

If you go into the wiring to investigate, as Dmac said, take one connection at a time apart.
If you don't, you could end up with another post thread...

[rclz]

exactly what was happeneing with my lights except my tach lights didnt go out, i started it up and noticed flickering gave it a few hard revs and it flickered hard and then my aftermarket fake HID headlight blew out and shattered glass everywhere.

[Cal Price]

First check the battery connections.
Second if you have a multimeter check to see if you have a good circit from the batter positive to anywhere on the frame, if you don't its the ground / earth from batt neg terminal to frame.
Third check the bulb before you start checking the wires.
If you don't have a multimeter you soon will, they are pretty cheap and could save you hours of work.

[snowhownd]

I replaced the bulb in the speedo and it works, but tonight it was flickering again (da%&).  Probably was flickering all day, just couldn't see it.  I don't have an ohmmeter (dad lives too far away now!!!!), but have been wanting to get one, to the parts store tomorrow!

[snowhownd]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies so far.  I haven't gotten an ohmmeter yet, but I tore into the headlight to check the connections.  Everything looks good, the only thing I see is these two wires with no where to go... is this normal?  They don't go together as they are both female ends.  I took apart all the other connections and added some dielectric grease, so we'll see.  I also followed the ground off the battery to the back of the engine case... it seems to be in good shape, I loosened and retightened it just to move it around a little bit.  Thanks again!

[John Bates]

............. the only thing I see is these two wires with no where to go... is this normal?  They don't go together as they are both female ends.  ..................

The brown wire is ignition switched 12V.  It's hot when the ignition switch is either in the "ON" position or the "PARK" position.

The black-white wire is ground.

They are used on some bikes that have front "sidelights".

[scottpA_GS]

JOHN...


What kind of lights could you put on those two wires (BROWN, BLACK-WHITE)? You say side lights? Like marker lights? What kind of load will they handle??  :mrgreen:

[John Bates]

JOHN...


What kind of lights could you put on those two wires (BROWN, BLACK-WHITE)? You say side lights? Like marker lights?

Yes, the Suzuki service manual calls it a position light. It's similar to the tail light only on the front.

What kind of load will they handle??  :mrgreen:

The tail light is a 5 watt bulb, less than a half amp at 14 volts.

The wiring is protected by the 20 amp fuse so I would assume that it could carry 20 safely.  That would be 280 watts at 14 volts.  

But the charging ckt may be overloaded at this point.

[scottpA_GS]

AWESOME JOHN !!!  

Thanks for another GREAT answer  

[snowhownd]

A$$hat of the week award goes to: ME!!!!
Okay, if you guys kick me off the board, or come take my GS from me I will totally understand, I'm really not worthy, my question to my self:


Well I have three problem posts going, and driving myself nuts trying to figure these out.  First the lighting problem, second the starting problem (sometimes don't have power to the ignition switch), and third a miss which I attributed to a carbon fouled plug, which actually isn't that fouled up I don't think.  

Anyways, I bought a voltmeter and started fishing around today after my ALL DAY SUNDAY look-around-the-wires-athon resulted in the lights still flickering tonight when I went for a ride.  Anyways I was doing the battery positive to frame test with the voltmeter per Cal while playing withh the ignition switch on/off again issue when I discovered a loose positive connection.  With all the thoughts about ground and a bad wire somewhere on the bike I neglected to check the positive connection well.  The screw was tight, which I did go over quickly, but the terminal was loose underneath.  SO FRIGGIN A!!!!  I go grab a washer out of the toolbox, stick it under the screw, gear up and take the heap for a ride and she ran like a top, NO LIGHT FLICKER, NO STARTING ISSUES, AND NO MISS!!!  Let this be a lesson to all, DON'T ASSUME IT IS WORSE, CHECK FROM THE START THOROUGHLY!!!  On a positive note I did learn a lot about my new bike by taking half of it apart last Sunday!!!  THANKS SO MUCH for everyones posts, and again, if I wake up and the GS is gone with a note that reads: "You are an idiot and we took your bike to sacrafice to the GS500 gods" I will completely understand!!!