The first schematic shows the grounded shell and handlebar ground wire grounding scheme. The last schematic has an updated ground to the chassis (GRD1) that appears to ground the entire lighting system.
Given that, I agree the ground to the headlight is not needed.
OP...Do you have 12V volts on the yellow wire with the headlight in the normal position?
1. Measure between yellow and black.
2. Measure between yellow and chasis ground (or battery negative).
Something isn't right with the wiring...or the bulb is bad.
NP, we are in here to learn and share what we have learned.
I imagine HD does this to add a second ground, to the light, and would act as a second ground for all the front lights acc.
I think we lost the op, another one post poster:-)
Hey Guys I am also on the verge of the same problem...02 1200 custom...bucket is cracked. Now held together with 3m metal tape on inside and outside. So what is the verdict on the second ground wire riveted to inside of bucket...is it needed or not? I want to buy an aftermarket head light and it seems as though not one aftermarket light is set up with a plug that has an extra ground wire going to a riveted point on inside of the shell.
Hey Guys I am also on the verge of the same problem...02 1200 custom...bucket is cracked. Now held together with 3m metal tape on inside and outside. So what is the verdict on the second ground wire riveted to inside of bucket...is it needed or not? I want to buy an aftermarket head light and it seems as though not one aftermarket light is set up with a plug that has an extra ground wire going to a riveted point on inside of the shell.
Your headlight has a ground wire running back to a ground under the seat, extra ground is not needed but does not hurt.
Your headlight has a ground wire running back to a ground under the seat, extra ground is not needed but does not hurt.
Thanks cruiser. I am planning on one of those triangular style aris lights. So as long as I just splice the new light into the existing wires after I cut the oem connector off I will be grounded through the stock wiring(I am guessing somehow the ground wire goes through the wiring harness connection to a frame mounted ground after that). Just out of curiosity what was HD's reasoning in using a second ground inside the bucket?
Thanks cruiser. I am planning on one of those triangular style aris lights. So as long as I just splice the new light into the existing wires after I cut the oem connector off I will be grounded through the stock wiring(I am guessing somehow the ground wire goes through the wiring harness connection to a frame mounted ground after that). Just out of curiosity what was HD's reasoning in using a second ground inside the bucket?
I can only guess that they felt the headlight was important enough to warrarant it.
And think about it all the other assesories would feed back there and have a second ground in case the first wire was broke.
I had same proble.. I had to disconnect the negative battery first before starting any work... I spliced the earth and bolted it to the inside of the bullet bucket. It's the green wire on headlight. Then reconnect battery and off you go....but if you happen take the wires off again to re route or fix a join, you must disconnect the earth from battery and reconnect it again..it had me stumped until I did the battery disconnect and reconnect. Make sure you file or grind the paint fro. Around the new buckets earth point or it won't ground..
Originally Posted by dingodelgado
Hey guys, gals,
I bought a new, aftermarket, headlight assembly for my 2002 HD Sportster XL1200C. Excited to get this thing going and not wanting to pay almost triple digits just to get it installed I figured to do it myself. This new assembly has three wires (green = ground, white = low, blue = high). Now... The original HD headlight assembly has a yellow, white, and black wire. After reading a little I found out that the yellow = low, white = high, black = ground. Thought this would be simple... Boy, I was dead wrong. The ground wire to the original assembly has two wires! One straight to the connector and another from the connector to the actual shell of the assembly.
Here's where, for me, it starts to get a little saddening. I disconnected and cut the wires from the original to splice to the new... BUT NOTHING WORKS! I connected the wires as they should have been, minus that second ground wire because I have nothing to connect it to. Even then, I tried to connect the second ground wire to all areas of the brand new assembly! What's more saddening about this experience is that now no lights turn on at all. I can still use the turn signals, so that's good.
Can anyone help me bypass this wire problem to use the new aftermarket? Any and all info/help is greatly appreciated!!!
New assembly. green = ground, white = low, blue = high
Original wires, new assembly. Smaller wire is the second ground wire of the original assembly.<br/><br/>black = ground, yellow = low, white = high
Old assembly. The copper you see there is from the second ground wire.
05-04-2015, 07:30 PM
