What ground wire goes here ?

[kballowe]

2009 CalVin.  The spots were in a box, and the electrical wires tucked neatly up underneath when I bought this bike.
So, I dragged them out and mounted them. 

It's a simple two-wire 'lectric, but there's that pesky ground-loop in the light bucket that appears to have been snipped.

The harness has two wires...... so, what goes there ?

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[guzzisteve]

So, what did you do? The factory high-def diagram I have shows the blue wire strait to terminal #87 on the relay. The black wire doesn't show a loop, shows it come from light to ground. I'd check continuity to ground on bike w/black wire and disregard the ring terminal on the rivet.

[canuck750]

This is a simple wire diagram for a standard CEV headlight with a three prong plug, this is for my Benelli 650 but they are all the same.

Blue is ground, there should be two wires (low beam and high beam) coming from the switch, your harness only appears to have one power wire, the Hi and Low beam wires go to the handlebar switch, power from the fuse box comes to the switch. If you have a city light (probably not) then you can trace the wires as per the diagram to power that. The lug soldered to the headlight bucket is another blue ground, it will connect the bucket to the main ground and when the signal lights are attached to metal stems on the fork ears and into the bucket this is the ground link for the signal lights.

[kballowe]

These are the side spot lights.

And, by the way - the bulbs are 55 watt.  I thought that I read somewhere that these will sometimes drain the battery unless the RPMs are kept above a certain level.

If that's so, would maybe 35 watt replacements solve this issue ?

Thanks,

Kevin

[Murray]

So, what did you do? The factory high-def diagram I have shows the blue wire strait to terminal #87 on the relay. The black wire doesn't show a loop, shows it come from light to ground. I'd check continuity to ground on bike w/black wire and disregard the ring terminal on the rivet.

I wouldn't do that tie the bucket into the ground circuit, assuming its not earth switched depending on the design of the globe holder the bracket that hold the globe may be the actual earth, any chance the reduce the possibility of floating earths should be used IMO.

[canuck750]

These are the side spot lights.

And, by the way - the bulbs are 55 watt.  I thought that I read somewhere that these will sometimes drain the battery unless the RPMs are kept above a certain level.

If that's so, would maybe 35 watt replacements solve this issue ?

Thanks,

Kevin

Sorry, should have looked closer!

[Kiwi Dave]

These are the side spot lights.

And, by the way - the bulbs are 55 watt.  I thought that I read somewhere that these will sometimes drain the battery unless the RPMs are kept above a certain level.

If that's so, would maybe 35 watt replacements solve this issue ?

Thanks,

Kevin

Better still, find an LED bulb that will fit.  More light for less wattage.

Try and get one with a color temperature around 3,000-4,000°K, otherwise they will appear too blue.

[Zoom Zoom]

These are the side spot lights.

And, by the way - the bulbs are 55 watt.  I thought that I read somewhere that these will sometimes drain the battery unless the RPMs are kept above a certain level.

If that's so, would maybe 35 watt replacements solve this issue ?

Thanks,

Kevin

That would be a good idea. I believe you can get a 30 or 35 watt bulb from a parts store. IIRC, it is the same size as lights on some farm equipment and possibly other stuff. Just take on in with you to get the right size. They'll likely not have it in stock but can get it in a day or two.

Getting an LED replacement would be a great thing, but you then need to get some kind of fixture for the bulb unless there is an LED that comes in an enclosure that would replace a sealed beam.

John Henry

[Wayne Orwig]

Ignore the snipped ground point. Look away. It doesn't exist.

As for the 55 watt bulbs, yes, that is too much for the alternator. If you are less then 3500 RPM or so, the battery is not getting a charge. Someone found some 35 watt replacements at one time. They are an odd bulb size though if I recall.

Add a voltmeter if you can.