Electrical help CB350 (headlight)

[mcampbell14]

I recently changed the handlebars on my 73 cb350 and upon rewiring the controls through the handlebars realized the headlight won't work. All other lights and electrics work but the headlight. I have a multimeter but I'm not completely sure how to use it to find the problem. All the connections are checked and are in the right places. Any ideas or tips on how to use the multimeter? maybe the a wire is shorting out somewhere.

 

[Sonreir]

Turn the multimeter to the DC setting (usually 20V) and then touch the red lead to something that should have power and the black lead to a bit of bare metal on the frame or engine.

The multimeter should then read 12V. If you're not getting a read, the wire has no power and so trace it back to it's next junction and test there. When you finally find something that does have power then you found where your problem lies.

If you find power on the first try (as in reading from the wire that plugs into the headlight) then the problem is either with the headlight or with the ground wire leading from the headlight.

 

[mcampbell14]

thanks for the quick response! I forgot to mention i bought a new headlight and tested that and it didn't work either. I will try what you said!

 

[Sonreir]

You can test the headlight, itself, by using a continuity test or resistance test (not all multimeters have continuity testing, but all should have a resistance reading). Turn the multimeter to a low ohm setting and read across the terminals on the headlight. You should get about four or five ohms.