Hi guys, I have very dim lights on the rear light a the front side light when the ignition key isn't in, any ideas? thanks 
Side lights/ ignition
- Thread starter bowie
- Start date
Have you tried pulling the load relief relay?
I'm not sure which oilhead you have? Possibly relay #4; it may be warm to the touch.
I'm not sure which oilhead you have? Possibly relay #4; it may be warm to the touch.
2000 r1150gs
Looking at the relays, you have several in a row, with the largest on the right being the starter relay. Moving left the next one is the load relief relay, which is the one I think could be the culprit.
Moving on left you have the horn relay, which is identical to the LR relay. Assuming the horn has been working OK, try swapping them over & see if it clears your problem.
Thanks, but is peeing down at the moment, I'll nip out and try it when I get chance ��
Sir, move your bike into the warm and dry immediately!
The load relief relay doesn’t feed the rear tail light or the front side light.
It’s a safety function that those two lights are always powered directly via the ignition switch and fuse 2. That’s why when the the load relief relay is de-energised during the start cycle, power is chopped to all other accessories apart from the front side light and rear light. (Think night time).
I’m guessing you have a fault in the ignition switch possibly giving a resistance across the park switch contacts that is causing your lights to glow dim.
Try exercising the switch through it’s full range OFF - PARK - LOCK - PARK - OFF - ON and repeat to see if this clears your fault. Some WD40 sprayed in the key hole may help.
Ian
It’s a safety function that those two lights are always powered directly via the ignition switch and fuse 2. That’s why when the the load relief relay is de-energised during the start cycle, power is chopped to all other accessories apart from the front side light and rear light. (Think night time).
I’m guessing you have a fault in the ignition switch possibly giving a resistance across the park switch contacts that is causing your lights to glow dim.
Try exercising the switch through it’s full range OFF - PARK - LOCK - PARK - OFF - ON and repeat to see if this clears your fault. Some WD40 sprayed in the key hole may help.
Ian
If exercising the ignition switch has no effect. Then pulling fuse 2 should turn the lights off. If this happens, then it could be that you have a short in the ignition switch harness. This is quite common and gives all sorts of problems depending on the nature of the short.
The harness goes from the bottom of the ignition switch to the headstock connector block under the tank and is designed to flex with the movement of the handle bars. This harness was cable tied at manufacture and this restricted the harness from flexing fully, leading to premature failure. Most people in the know have removed these cable ties early on in the life of the bike giving the harness more room to flex and thereby avoiding this potential problem.
Check and remove any cable ties on this harness if fitted, Try flexing the harness to see if your particular fault changes. If it does, you will know where to look.
Ian
The harness goes from the bottom of the ignition switch to the headstock connector block under the tank and is designed to flex with the movement of the handle bars. This harness was cable tied at manufacture and this restricted the harness from flexing fully, leading to premature failure. Most people in the know have removed these cable ties early on in the life of the bike giving the harness more room to flex and thereby avoiding this potential problem.
Check and remove any cable ties on this harness if fitted, Try flexing the harness to see if your particular fault changes. If it does, you will know where to look.
Ian
Even if you removed the cable ties very early in the life of the bike - check this.
On Rockster 3 I bought it with 1,200 miles on the clock and removed the cable ties almost immediately: the ignition loom started having issues 80,000 miles and 12 years later.
Thanks, but tried it but no change, also the connector under the ignition switch is not very old
Thanks, but tried it but no change, also the connector under the ignition switch is not very old
Then it has to be the switch itself.
One click past the steering locked position should activate the front parking light and the tail light - does that feature work correctly or are the bulbs only glimmering?
Have you got any after market electrics fitted that may have tapped into the rear light circuit.
Hi, just tested it, parking lights work ok, it has got "after market" electrics but they were fitted correctly and years
Hup 
Remembering the bike is now over 20 years old, what aftermarket electronics have been fitted?
Something is feeding back into the side light circuit - aux lights maybe. I was wondering if someone has tapped into the rear light circuit to provide a switched live that fires a relay or power distribution system for lights, aux power points, heated gear, satnav or whatever.
The simple solution is to disconnect temporarily anything aftermarket, so that can be excluded from your investigations.
Something is feeding back into the side light circuit - aux lights maybe. I was wondering if someone has tapped into the rear light circuit to provide a switched live that fires a relay or power distribution system for lights, aux power points, heated gear, satnav or whatever.
The simple solution is to disconnect temporarily anything aftermarket, so that can be excluded from your investigations.
The simple solution is to disconnect temporarily anything aftermarket, so that can be excluded from your investigations.
Thats my plan this weekend
Thats my plan this weekend
So what happens when you remove fuse 2.........
So what happens when you remove fuse 2.........
The front and rear side lights go off
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