Bike Electrics Honda 1100 Pan European

[chunkolini]

Hi guys.
I bought my Pan European a while back, had a few teething problems, I was bikeless for three weeks while they were sorted.
But the electrics are still playing up. Symptoms below.

Only one the head lamp bulbs is working, simples; but just to make life complicated there are some odd symptoms around the electrics.

Turn ignition on; turn lights on; it goes parking light, main light, turn lights off and they go off. Fine.
But if I turn lights on as before then go to main beam, then back to dip and turn lights off the dip beam remains on and the parking light. If I flick the starter button they all go off.

Occasionally when I stop and turn the motor off with the key I get this and the engine stays running, not nice. To kill the ignition I use the kill switch to stop the engine, then flick the starter button, and there is a click (solenoid/relay?) and everything is off.

Has anybody got a clue what is going on? I have tried WD40 in the switches. It went back to the dealer a few weeks back and they stripped the ignition switch, and did not find a problem.

I figure the best place to start is with a replacement bulb on the right, and move on from there. Or is there a better way to go.

Chunko'.

 

[the snooper]

well it cant be a bulb have you looked for any relays that could be sticking and check for earthing faults ie bad earths attached to the frame and so on

i think i would bet on the earth fault
if the earth is bad one circuit tends to use another as the return path which is what happens on cars people brake and the brake and side light are both lit but quite dim your problem could be a relay staying latched through an earth fault

 

[tigler]

I'd go with earthing faults and then look for any harness damage around the headstock and underneath the plastics.

 

[chunkolini]

Bulb? why cant it be a bulb? if one of them is not coming on at all.
(Did that sound argumentative?) I figure I should get a spare bulb and fit that while I am poking around.

So what am I looking for? do give all the relays a poke and prod, or am I just looking for shagged wires?
I confess to being a bit of an electrophobe.

Chunko'.

 

[madkayaker]

id start looking for a bad wire- connection in the loom. look near bits where the wiring moves like head stock and near locations of wear like near break lines etc. sounds like you have a bad case of electrical fairy's. also check if there is any lucas bits

 

[tigler]

also check if there is any lucas bits

I didn't know that Jo Lucas had Japanese family

 

[madkayaker]

no but someone might have replaced a reliable bit for a British made bit and the whole system is having none of it

 

[the snooper]

well chunko after your

Bulb? why cant it be a bulb?

i re-read it and found i head read it wrong due to the word of being missing after the word one

Only one the head lamp bulbs is working

 

[tigler]

no but someone might have replaced a reliable bit for a British made bit and the whole system is having none of it

I doubt there's anything on a Pan that could have had anything Lucas substituted, they never became that advanced !

 

[CKJDJK]

another possable, Check to see if there are any diodes fitted in the harness or behind the clocks/headlight. They are some times used to prevent one circuit being powered by another. used to happen on some metros where the electric fan continued running after the engine was switched off. It then generated enough power to cause the engine to run on for a while. I must admit its not very likely though.

 

[chunkolini]

Snooper, dodgy typing on my behalf.
I have just been and had another fiddle.
Ignition on, headlamp on dip, turn igniton off. everything goes off.
Ignition on, headlamp on, main beam, back to dip, turn off light; stays on dipped but a bit dimmer. Hit kill switch with igniton on, lights go off.

Ignition on, headlamp on, main beam. Ignition off, main beam goes off, then a pause and a click from relay behind the dash and dip goes off. Usually.

Does any of the above point anywhere in particular?

Getting at the relays and bulbs look like a royal PITA, so I will get a bulb ordered and start messing around.

Chunko'.

 

[octo0072000]

bulb

when you say bulb a bit dimmer it could be the bulb filament has gone and is causing both main beam and dip to come on at the same time overloading the relay
so change bulb first
then try cleaning up the earths just think of trying to MIG very rusty steel the Resistance may cause all sorts of back feeding problems
go for bulb change first

 

[pedrobedro]

I'd check the switchgear, it sounds like a fault on the right hand side. Trace the wires down to the first block connector and see if it has any green gunge growing out of it.

 

[scarecrow]

could there be water getting into some of the switches. you should get some of that electrical grease cant think of the name right now. it works wonders on atv also check the battery as some of the modern Honda atv start acting funny if it gets weak. not sure how modern your bike is. but start by checking all your earths including battery connections. then check your wiring harnesses especially if they're near anything hot

 

[chunkolini]

Good stuff to think about.
bike is 1998, 44000 miles, new battery.
Dip and main beam on the left bulb are both fine.
I reckons new bulb in the dead side and try swapping the relays around.

Typically the Haynes manual is full of useful stuff, but does not evern the relays. They are shown in the wiring diagram, but dont get a mention anywhere else.

Chunko'.

 

[Robotstar5]

If you have no luck, try posting on the bikerforum

 

[scarecrow]

Good stuff to think about.
bike is 1998, 44000 miles, new battery.
Dip and main beam on the left bulb are both fine.
I reckons new bulb in the dead side and try swapping the relays around.

Typically the Haynes manual is full of useful stuff, but does not evern the relays. They are shown in the wiring diagram, but dont get a mention anywhere else.

Chunko'.

all ways find Haynes manual to be crap just cut & paste from the shop manual with loads of stuff left out. buy the original shop manual if you can orget a Clymer manual they are excellent

 

[Wedg1e]

Just seen this Chunko.. do you need the ST11's wiring diagram? I have it somewhere.

Just a thought (can't find the diagram at the mo) and I can't recall how the '11 did it but on the '13 the lighting circuit is a bit unusual.
You have the main lights switch on the right and the dip/main switch on the left. When you put the headlamps on the switches feed one headlamp directly AND a relay coil which in turn fires up the other headlamp. The reason being, I suspect, thet neither switches nor wiring are rated to take two 60W bulbs. So you have Hi and Lo beam relays but they only feed one headlamp, the other getting 12v directly from the switches, if that makes sense.

The engine running-on problem does sound like it could be down to a relay staying fed when it shouldn't be.

 

[chunkolini]

Hi Wedgie
I have a wiring diagram in the Haynes book.
I figure that this is the place to start, relays and bulbs, I have ordered bulbs, there are two relays, I suppose I ought to order a spare as it looks like a right pain to get in there to have a look. I Have just had a look at the wiring diagram and as you say one relay appears to fire up the other. Occasionally I can look at a wiring diagram and make sense of bits of it. Glad I have the basic version of the bike, no fuel injection, no ABS, no traction control. The diagram for them looks a nightmare.

Chunko'.

 

[Engineer]

Is this a UK or US market bike? If its a US one there may well be a relay for daytime running lights, which comes on with ignition, and this may have been bodged or removed at some time, and might be causing problem.