electrical - lights out R69s -

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:45 am

Tim -

There was a few posts recently on lighting problems:

http://vintagebmw.org/forums/viewtopic. ... ight=light

I would try working on the simple light first, the neutral light. It grounds at the back of the transmission, but you could remove the wire and just touch it to the case for troubleshooting. Check the bulb. From the wiring diagram, it should be getting power from terminal 15 on the headlight circuit board. The brake light also gets power from terminal 15, routed through the brake light switch. You could put in the key and turn it on and check to see if you have 6v at terminal 15.

Looks the headlight gets power from terminal 31...same thing, see if there's power there when the key is on.

Kurt in S.A.

tebogue · Post by **tebogue** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:37 am

Kurt,

Very good, I'll start there. Thanks. Tim

tebogue · Post by **tebogue** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:18 am

Kurt,

Cold here - got the helmet but not the gloves. On the bike, almost home, sitting at last stoplight waiting for the light that wouldn't change, I noticed that the charge and neutral -- that were ON when I started this short journey were OFF. I'll take a look at the connections. I'll vote for a simple cure - they usually are (or not.)

Thanks.

Tim

oligee7275 · Post by **oligee7275** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 3:07 pm

Tim,
The simplest item to start with would be the battery. While the bike will run with a dead battery it does still have to be in the circuit. You have indicated that the battery is the original and quite dead. It is possible that the battery has degraded far enough that it is no longer even conducting current from the generator. This condition is also hard on the regulator because the generator is trying to charge a battery that will not accept any of the electricity that is being generated.
The generator is constantly making electricity when the bike is running. The regulator is simply a mechanical switch with contact points that turns on and off based on the needs of the battery. If the battery accepts none of the power the regulator is constantly in the "on" position possibly burning or causing the points to stick together and causing it to fail.
A six volt battery as used in exit lights works very well in our bikes. A case to put it in can be sourced from Vech. That setup looks very much like and old battery case.
The other "simplest" items to check are all of the ground conections starting with the battery ground and engine to frame grounds.
Kurt also has some good ideas but some of them only work with a good battery.
Let us know how it goes.
Dean

tebogue · Post by **tebogue** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 3:48 pm

Hi,

I'll get the battery. I've got the poor motorcycle confused.

Thanks all.

Tim

VBMWMO · Post by **VBMWMO** » Mon Feb 15, 2010 2:52 pm

The lights are out - though the bike has not been used, I did start it up (after the bike sat for 20 years) for the ride over to the rented shed. I didn't think about it at the time but the lights went out when I first started it - so vibration is a suspect - went over there without a brake light. I have given up the shed, put on some new tires and some grease - time to finish up so I can do some riding.

I think its everything that's lighting/horn related - it's stock wo/turn signals - everything is pretty much original (as far as I can tell - had the bike since 1984.) The charging light is working. I thought that I would go through and check all the connections. Unrelated (I assume) - the battery is (still) dead (never replaced.) I do have a Craftsman 3482139 MultiMeter. Thanks. Tim