Some guidance with evicting electrical gremlins.

Lurking for a long time finally jumping into posting.....
I have had an XJ650RJC for a year and have been tinkering, thanks to the great advice here on the site. I have reached an impass with the headlight which happens to be the last hurdle before roadworthiness.

The original 8" bucket had the glass cracked and I couldn't find anything economical on ebay (it started out as just a pet project). I sourced a 7" bucket and managed to get all the wiring bundled in the reduced space (which was no easy feat).

Bike fires and runs well now, tailight and indicators working but no headlight.
The fuse is good (I have replaced the fuse block), the headlight itself is working tested against the battery (for a very quick test) and I have 12 volts down to the relay. I tested the ground out of the relay with a test light (as described in another post) and when I tried to jump the red to the black fully expecting the light to turn on with the key instead I blew a fuse (well the bike did, once then twice (wasn't certain if the fuse was blown after starting it which is why I tried a second time...I am familiar with definition of insanity (trying the same thing and expecting a different outcome) at that point I blew a fuse.

The indicator lights (on the console) as well as the lights themselves work fine as do the brake lights. I am not seeing any backlighting on the instrument cluster (not sure if there is supposed to be any, but reading here leads me to believe there should be).
Tracing a few wires also leads me to believe there should be backlights but one seems to connect to the next and so on just befuddling me.

Any ideas what to poke and prod to try and determine where we might be going off?
I would be inclined to think the headlight relay but am reluctant to just replace it, something is causing the fuse to blow...Help.

 

You do realize the headlight and instrument lights are not supposed to come on until the engine's running, right?

The headlight relay gets it's "turn on" signal from the alternator; then stays "latched" so the headlight will remain on until the key is switched off, even if the engine stalls. But neither the headlight nor instrument lamps will come on until the engine starts.

Do you have a wiring and circuit diagram?

 

Just confirming the bike is running when I am looking for the headlight (or the instrument cluster lights to do their thing...shine).

I have a wiring diagram from the PDF manual, it is quite the sight. I almost thought I had sunk someones battleship or at the very least got a tic tac toe.........translation....holy crap.

Would it be at all possible to translate it to english for me?

 

Try these diagrams http://xjdiagrams.thundervalleypower.com/ and print out the two that relate to your bike.

 

These are similar to what I have now granted they are in colour so may prove to guide me a little better.
The more I read, the more I think it might just be the headlight relay. the FAQ section mentioned all kinds of tests but couldn't get specific about testing the relay (too many variations?).

Are there any garage tests that can be tried to validate rather than buy a new one, wait for delivery, plug in and pray??

I re-read another post that mentioned adding a jumper.
With the bike running and the headlight relay plugged in I tried to jump a wire from Blue to Black (didn't blow the fuse, but didn't light the lights either).

All guidance (and patience) is most appreciated.