Greetings
I have had my bikes a long time. i used to mess with them constantly and now I don't so much. I had something happen last night that I can't remember ever happening. My 1973 R75/5 left me dead in the water and I had to bum a ride home.
When i pushed the nail in, only the red light came on and not the yellow oil and green neutral light. I have no turn signals, no brake light, no horn and no starter. Kicking it didn't do anything either. I am sure the battery is OK. I have had low batteries give me starting issues, but I usually see the oil light at least.
If the fuse in the black cylinder, right inside the headlight shell, at the bottom, with a green wire and green/black wire is blown, would it do this? Since I didn't have the baby screwdriver to get that fuse holder open, I couldn't look at the fuse, nor stick a piece of wire in there to get me home. I was hoping that maybe someone had this happen before and could help me get what I needed before I go back to the church parking lot tonight to fetch my bike.
I suspect that whatever fuse might be in there isn't something I can get at autozone. But maybe I am lucky. What do you think?
BTW, I searched the forum and saw that Duane is a member. Hey Duane. Glad you're still dispensing the pearls of wisdom. I went and got old and now I'm not funny anymore. Sorry.
Boo
I hope it's a fuse
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Ken in Oklahoma
- Posts: 3182
- Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 5:10 pm
Re: I hope it's a fuse
Welcome to the forum boocephus.
I don't know much about /5 bikes, being an owner of /6 and later airheads. But there is a get you home trick that works on those machines that I reckon will work on yours. Simply run a jumper wire from the positive pole on your battery to the positive end of the two coils you have, which are wired in series. This "hot wires" the ignition but on the /6 and up bikes that also activates a lot of the rest of the electrical system. In effect you're coming in the back door to the electricals.
Your starter button should activate the starter and the engine will fire. The ignition switch (nail?) is bypassed. However the only way to then shut the engine off will be to remove the jumper wire.
Good luck to you.
Ken
I don't know much about /5 bikes, being an owner of /6 and later airheads. But there is a get you home trick that works on those machines that I reckon will work on yours. Simply run a jumper wire from the positive pole on your battery to the positive end of the two coils you have, which are wired in series. This "hot wires" the ignition but on the /6 and up bikes that also activates a lot of the rest of the electrical system. In effect you're coming in the back door to the electricals.
Your starter button should activate the starter and the engine will fire. The ignition switch (nail?) is bypassed. However the only way to then shut the engine off will be to remove the jumper wire.
Good luck to you.
Ken
____________________________________
There's no such thing as too many airheads
There's no such thing as too many airheads
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Deleted User 62
Re: I hope it's a fuse
Hey Boo, you don't need a screwdriver to change fuses, just push the two halves together and twist to remove. A 8 amp fuse is what you need, the white ceramic one like old VWs use, or a glass one as shown in this photo: 
Re: I hope it's a fuse
You did check the battery CONNECTIONS didn't you?
It was only a week or so ago that we had someone who was ready to tear into their starter only to discover the battery-post clamps were loose!
AND then there's the (in)famous broken lug issue that I recounted from my own experience. Yes, My red light came on, but nothing else happened...
It was only a week or so ago that we had someone who was ready to tear into their starter only to discover the battery-post clamps were loose!
AND then there's the (in)famous broken lug issue that I recounted from my own experience. Yes, My red light came on, but nothing else happened...
Clemson, SC
R100s, R75/5
R100s, R75/5
Re: I hope it's a fuse
the good news is that me and my bike are home. the missus reminded me that we have AAA.
i knew you could get those fuse things open somehow. first post derp, i guess.
i also know i have a stockpile of fuses in the garage, but i thought they were small. like as big as a tylenol. im gonna tear into it Saturday. This thing needs steering head bearings so I'm not going to waste a bunch of time. I have a 71 swb that has a little less wrong with it aside from a bad battery. I guess I can ride that.
I need to lurk for a while so I can remember what you call everything so I can search for stuff instead of the desperate first post thing..
i knew you could get those fuse things open somehow. first post derp, i guess.
i also know i have a stockpile of fuses in the garage, but i thought they were small. like as big as a tylenol. im gonna tear into it Saturday. This thing needs steering head bearings so I'm not going to waste a bunch of time. I have a 71 swb that has a little less wrong with it aside from a bad battery. I guess I can ride that.
I need to lurk for a while so I can remember what you call everything so I can search for stuff instead of the desperate first post thing..
double posts
Major softie is cool
Last edited by boocephus on Fri Jul 12, 2013 2:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Major Softie
- Posts: 8900
- Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 1:46 pm
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Duane Ausherman
- Posts: 6008
- Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:39 pm
- Location: Galt California
- Contact:
Fuses are not simple
Fuses are not simple.
Most regard a fuse as either "blown" or "good" but there is more to it. Our European ceramic fuses are more obvious when blown. The USA glass fuses are harder to know for sure when they are good. They do show "blown" well, but they may look good and even show continuity on a VOM, but still be bad. The VOM on resistance uses very little current. In actual operation the current is much higher and they can heat up a tiny bit. That can cause the conductor to have a slight stress. That can result it the conductor becoming disconnected inside the metal end caps. It may conduct for a short period, but actually be in failure mode.
I have seen "good" ceramic fuses fail due to moisture causing corrosion at the connections. This is usually quite visible, but it can be hidden. It is always a good idea to remove and inspect the ends of both the fuse and the holder.
Another failure is possible, although I have only read about it. The corrosion can act electrically like a diode and generate a radio signal. It would be a very small signal and not likely to be detected very far away. It may be enough to get into some of the low level microprocessor circuits.
I have seen glass fuses in snap-in holders with rivets holding them together. These can corrode too.
I won't go into the vagaries of fuses in high power applications. I have bored you enough. I am sure that this is far more than you ever wanted to know about fuses.
Most regard a fuse as either "blown" or "good" but there is more to it. Our European ceramic fuses are more obvious when blown. The USA glass fuses are harder to know for sure when they are good. They do show "blown" well, but they may look good and even show continuity on a VOM, but still be bad. The VOM on resistance uses very little current. In actual operation the current is much higher and they can heat up a tiny bit. That can cause the conductor to have a slight stress. That can result it the conductor becoming disconnected inside the metal end caps. It may conduct for a short period, but actually be in failure mode.
I have seen "good" ceramic fuses fail due to moisture causing corrosion at the connections. This is usually quite visible, but it can be hidden. It is always a good idea to remove and inspect the ends of both the fuse and the holder.
Another failure is possible, although I have only read about it. The corrosion can act electrically like a diode and generate a radio signal. It would be a very small signal and not likely to be detected very far away. It may be enough to get into some of the low level microprocessor circuits.
I have seen glass fuses in snap-in holders with rivets holding them together. These can corrode too.
I won't go into the vagaries of fuses in high power applications. I have bored you enough. I am sure that this is far more than you ever wanted to know about fuses.
Ask the Indians what happens when you don't control immigration.
Re: I hope it's a fuse
twas the fooz. i had like 20 of them in a plastic bag, too. If the red light is on but the yellow and green aren't. No turn signals. Won't start. Check the fuse!
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Major Softie
- Posts: 8900
- Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 1:46 pm
Re: I hope it's a fuse
Hurray! We just love hearing of a SIMPLE positive conclusion to a problem.
MS - out