1976 CB 360 Headlight always on, no key.

[GroovyAardvark]

Hey guys,

I have a 1976 Honda CB360, and this headlight issue is driving me up the wall.

First of all, bought the bike. Everything was fine. The rear light did not work, discovered there was an extra wire (brown) in the ignition.
After removing that, this bike worked perfectly for a year.

A few months ago, I put new handlebars on. The headlight and front running lights stopped working.

Looked at the wiring harness and it was a mess, at least 10 different splices, 4 into 2, 3 into 1 you name it, it was in there.

Go! holding my old wiring harness.

I ripped out this wiring harness and put in a new unmolested one. Still no headlight. Discovered that the wiring diagram was wrong, and now I plugged the white (headlight power) into the yellow (alternator)

Keeping in mind this wiring diagram is not 100% correct, but is the only one I can find online.

As it stands now, the headlight is ALWAYS on. I mean, no key in ignition, set to off, the whole deal. It is always on. I cannot turn it off. It has been months and I am losing my mind because I feel like we have tried everything.

Things that I have tried:

New left control switch (hi/low, indicator switch, horn etc)
New Wiring harness.
Replacing brown wire we originally removed to get the rear light to work.
New fuses.
New headlight.
New battery.
A CB350 ingition.
Continuity/voltage on all wires appears good.

The only thing that seemed to work was actually putting my own radioshack switch in. This turns the headlight off alright, but it drains the battery down from 12+ volts to 0 with in about an hour - Even with the headlight switched off, no key in ignition.
If someone can tell me how to install my own headlight on/off switch probably, without the battery draining I will consider it a success.
If someone can tell me the real problem I will be even more happy.

Other points of interest:
When I got the bike there was no electric start button.
So as of right now, I have not wired the electric start back up, because there is no point and it would need a few splices. It was never hooked up properly to begin with and everything worked fine then, so I don't see how that could be an issue now.
The front idicator running lights have not worked since the new handlebars either. Even after getting the headlight to come on, these still remain off.

I know there are some electrical wiz-kids on here and I would really appreciate your advice!

Many thanks!

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Because of this statement...

The only thing that seemed to work was actually putting my own radioshack switch in. This turns the headlight off alright, but it drains the battery down from 12+ volts to 0 with in about an hour - Even with the headlight switched off, no key in ignition.

I say the headlight staying on is only one symptom. Something else is on also... (but it is easy to see the headlight.) I'd suspect the ignition switch but here is how I'd verify it.
Pull the positive battery cable off and connect a 12 test light from the battery terminal to the positive cable. If it lights up there is current flowing. The brightness of the light gives you an idea of the amperage draw. First I'd disconnect the headlight , I bet the test light is still on. Then start pulling fuses / diconnecting connectors until the test light goes out.
I find it easier to start towards the battery and work your way out. When you find a connector that turns off the test light keep working away from the battery in that circut, all of it's branches one at a time to the source of load on that particular circut that turns off the light. That is your key off draw that is killing the battery even with the headlight turned off with the radio-shack switch...

 

[GroovyAardvark]

Thanks for your help, I will most likely end up doing that. I must admit I was really hoping it was something very simple I overlooked.

The kicker is that the battery remained fully charged over the past few days (headlight not attached) but then when i put the headlight and switch in it drained in an hour. Which led me to believe that headlight is at least the biggest problem.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Discovered that the wiring diagram was wrong, and now I plugged the white (headlight power) into the yellow (alternator)

Need a correct schematic, from this one it looks like that bypassed the headlight switch. Is the yellow alternator wire always hot (12+)?

It may very well be something simple you overlooked, and the headlight is the biggest draw on the system so it would kill the battery the fastest. But to drain the battery in an hour with an switch installed and turned off, you got more happening there. Does the tail light stay on? Are the coils always powered? With the key off see if you have power at the points when they are opened?
It sounds nuckin futts, no wonder you are frustrated.

I googled and found this free PDF service manual, at http://www.carlsalter.com/motorcycle-manuals.asp maybe it will help...

Honda CB250.360.CL360.CJ250T.CJ360T service manual

 

[crazypj]

If you wire headlight direct to alternator it will always be on when engine is running.
If you managed to wire it so it's on all the time when ignition is on, you will eventually screw up stator and battery as its getting battery power through headlight (and feeding AC to battery)
Not sure when exactly but headlight switch was removed so lights were always on (think it was 78?)
Honda soldered wires together in top pic, they all look like that when you remove insulation.
You probably short circuited the rectifier and it's feeding into stator, (if it was open battery wouldnt go dead in an hour or so))
You may need another bunch of new parts/
Also, regulators fail very fast if you wire them wrong
It's an incredible simple system, all you need is complete circuits, frame/engine is ground return, all wires (except green) will be 'live' at different switch combination's.
The only thing that should be 'live' with switch off is red wire, find out where you plugged a black or brown into it

 

[andoor]

Not sure when exactly but headlight switch was removed so lights were always on (think it was 78?)

I have two 75' Cb360's one with a headlight switch and one without. They both have the same harness, and the one without the switch just has two jumpers to keep the light on when the ignition is on. The jumpers look like they were done in the factory (very clean). From the picture it looks like your harness has been hacked up I would get a volt meter and retrace everything. I have the clymer and the manual posted above each are slightly different but it should give you the general idea.

Good luck!