Tail light question

My 82 xj650 was bobbed by the previous owner, and one of the things done was to change the taillight to one of those cheap round tail lights like you get at Northern Tool and to eliminate turn signals. The stock electrical pigtail which feeds the taillight and turn signals seems to be intact, with a brown, blue, yellow, green and two black wires. The taillight is connected by its two wires to the brown and yellow leads. If I wiggle the wires, either the taillight only lights when I apply either brake but has no running light, or if I wiggle again, the tailight lights constantly bright but has no brake light. Electrical problems mystify me, so if anyone has suggestions, I would appreciate the help.

By the way, since joining this site, I have learned a bunch. This is an excellent group.

 

tail light should be
black= ground
yellow= brake light
blue = tail light

turn signals
black = ground
dark green = one way
bark brown = the other

 

Thanks, Polock. I figured out that part of my problem was a crappy light assembly - since I don't have a stock fender, I'll have to pick up a better after market tailight than this thing from Northern Tool.

 

Translating from Polish:

one way=right signal (green)
the other=left signal (chocolate) brown according to Yamaha.

Or eBay one from a 550 Max; find a pic of one and see what I'm talking about...

 

hahaha... I laugh, cause I'm polish! lol

 

It sounds like you have either a bad bulb socket or a bad ground.
There's some great looking tail lights at Northern Tool that are LEDs. I have one I bought from them and it looks pretty good on a bobber. It's actually made for a trailer, but I made it fit on the back of my bike. And it's plenty BRIGHT!!



With the brakes on:

 

Damn, D, nobody's gonna miss that!

 

Thanks for the good advice! I think it was the bulb socket.

 

LED brake light like that require any modding of anything?

 

That a good looking light.
LED tail lights require nothing more than hooking them up correctly electrically, and mounting them securely.

 

And that LED fit perfect under that bobtal fender. Just a three wire hook up too. My signals also come on with the brake light to get attention (don't wanna be rear-ended)

 

So if I buy an led taillight for an 82 xj 650 and solder each wire rightfully so, it will not blow a fuse? This is the answer im seeking. I don't know much about wiring.

 

as long as it's hooked up correctly, you won't blow a fuse. LED's typically draw less current, too. If you're gonna go to LED turnsignals, then you'll most likely need to read the threads on that because you need to put in a resistor somewhere to create the resistance needed to get the flasher unit to work.

dave

 

there isa way to put led turn signals on your xj without the resistors. you get to keep the auto cancel, and it actually reduces the electrical load, unlike adding the load resistors.

http://xjbikes.com/forums/index.php...s-and-still-have-everything-work.14068/page-2

check the last post for a nice diagram of how it all works.

CN