Rewired using motofaccione's schematic... head and tail light blew

Here's the link to the schematic I used from Motofaccione's site.

http://www.motofiaccone.com/moto/39-cb360-cafe-racer/88-hiding-cafe-racer-batteries

Upon the multiple tests that I ran while the bike was not running but with ignition on, the lights worked fine, front and rear brake indicator worked fine.

Took it out for the maiden voyage and blew both the head light and tail light, although the brake light is still good as its not a continuous running light.

I am wondering if thereneeds to be some fusing or a diode put inplace to protest the lighting system based off the schematic shown. I wired this schmatic up specifically with no shortcuts or modifications other than running a single battery instead of the three.

Does this indicate that either a recitifer or regulator is bad?

I woudl appreciate any input that you may have as I'm currently lost on this. I am going to do a quick run down on the rectifier, I have not gotten my hands on a tried and true regulator test yet.

Thanks!

Justin

It sounds like it could be a regulator issue.

The quick and easy test is to attach the voltmeter to the battery terminals and read voltage. Turn ignition on and read it again. Fire up the bike and record volts at idle. Rev it up and note the highest voltage and revs. It should be less than say 14.5 at 3000 rpm and stops climbing at that point.

If it starts at say 12.5 and you rev it and it reached 15 or more volts, the regulator needs to be adjusted or replaced. If it goes up over 20 V the regulator isn't working at all and will burn everything out.

One thing I forgot to mention in my first post is that the head light is an H4 bulb. I am going to wire a switch in line so that I can turn this on only when needed. I believe it draws a bunch of current form some oehter posts I have read.

I am running a 12V 2.3Ahr battery, if this makes any difference.

Does anyone know if any other bulb style will fit in the H4 mounting format? I didn't buy the headlight for the bulb, just the look of the housing. I am not against going with a less powerfull headlamp. If there isn't a bulb that draws less current then I guess I will make something that will fit in the H4 format.

most reg/recs have built in diodes. putting one in-line would be redundant. It probably won't solve your problem, as it definitely sounds like over voltage, but I would recommend putting in some fuses. At least one on the 16ga light blue wire. Both filaments on an H4 bulb will draw about 8 amps if I'm not mistaken. So go with 10 amps. Anything with that much draw should be fused.

Note taken on the fusing for something with so much current draw.

Does anyone know if there is a H4 bulb with a lower wattage than 55/60? Or another series bulb that fits into the same footprint as a H4 that requires less power (wattage)?

I have not gotten a chance to do the testing mentioned above... hope to tonight or tomorrow night. In the mean time I'd like to know what I can do IF i have a bad regulator. I have seen grumblings of making a radioshack based regulator, done several searches and turned up nothing... only the rectifier. I have what I need for the rectifier and will be installing it after the testing.

Does anyone have do-it-yourself regulator details? From my searches the regulator is a black magic box that no one seams to fully understand.

OMP sells a regulator for these bikes. It ain't cheap ($92), but I can't say enough good things about the products from this guy:

VRRPM2-HCB
http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/VRRPM.html

Another option is using a "Ford" regulator (Duralast VR730 from Autozone) which is a lot cheaper:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/Duralast-Voltage-Regulator/_/N-9ci9t?counter=0&filterByKeyWord=Duralast+VR730&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=130187_0_0_

Personally, I'd go with the OMP product, but that's just me. Lots of people here have used the ford reg, and it works. Just do a search for ford regulator and you'll find it.


edit: here's a post from over at sohc4 about the vr730:


http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?PHPSESSID=b607fb52d865f81343ba54166d9e84f0&topic=47239.msg495890#msg495890

Oh, and get an Eiko 48220 35/35 bulb... Use an 8 amp fuse instead of 10.

Got the bugs ironed out, also got the LEDs bulbs mounted in the headlight bucket and Tail light. SuperbrightLEDs.com is where I went for the bulbs. Had a problem initailly with the H4 LED bulb for the headlight, clocked it 90 degrees, and it runs like a champ. The rear fits into the orginial offset post type old school connector that I have in my brake light assembly.

I know the H4 bulb is only a daytime running light bulb, I intend on riding during the daylight hours anyway and am not concerned about it.