My dad bought this 83 FXR brand new in 1983, I finally have the bike now, its been very well taken care of! I'm am having headlight issues, and some slow turn over issues. Ive blown 2 halogens in 6 months both of them were back to back. (pretty sure its cause i was using a reg car 9003 (H4), and was told to get Motorcycle lamp, so i did that and no issues after riding today. In the trouble shooting Ive been doing, found that the ground strap is breaking, so that ill fix tomorrow. Is that the root of the headlight problem im having, or was it the bulb?

Also there is a ground wire that goes from the starter relay and around the battery box to a screw that holds the rear brake reservoir, when i use my multimeter and ground the NEG side, and than touch the POS side to that ground i get a reading of like 1.2v(Vdc) but when i turn the key to the headlight position it jumps up higher and if i hit the HI-BEAM, even higher. Is this the signs of a short? if so(which I'm sure it is) is it the relay that's going bad?

Also when i turn it over for the first time of the day it wants to barley turn over on the first hit of the switch, 2nd time usually starts, battery is less than a year old and has been charged. When its warm there is no issues.

 

The ground strap could of caused the problem, but I doubt it. Most likely your problem lies with the "SHORT" to ground. As far as where the short is could be anywhere, I would suspect something in the lighting circuit (relay, switch, wiring). you should be able to find your problem using your multimeter in the ohm setting, remove the battery and check with the same as you did for voltage, record the reading, unplug the relay and recheck if it goes open (and it probably will) try jumping it out and recheck, do this with each component until you find the culprit, if no device can be found causing the problem than it is most likely in the wiring.

 

found this online at http://shovelhead.us/specs/wire/1980_83_FXR.gif

 

hey man thanks for the Wiring Diag... yeah ill just have to trace down the short, wherever it is, ill find it...

 

What is the factory wiring harness' IGN POWER wire?
From IGN SWITCH to IGN COIL? guage and length?