Question for the sledheads

[Paul Waldowski]

I have a 1990 Indy Trail that keeps blowing out headlights. Is my voltage regulator bad? What else could be the cause of this?

[Macgyver55]

A couple questions about the lights. Do the get real bright any time you raise the RPM, or do they flicker intermittently bright and normal? How long does a bulb last? And lastly, is it only the headlight or do all the lights go out.

1. The regulator could easily be the problem, but many times a worn or cracked insulation on a wire can short out causing a voltage spike that can blow out bulbs quickly.

2. Another thing that can take out bulbs fairly fast is vibration. If the bulb is not installed right or if something is rubbing on or bumping the housing, or if the housing mounting is loose it can take out bulbs while riding.

3. Lastly, is there anywhere that snow dust or moisture could be getting into the housing? That will also take out a bulb fast, but is usually obvious (like a cracked lens) or the bulb itself will be cracked or cloudy when it goes out.

Let us know what you find.........good luck!

[hanson]

Is this deja vu or what??

2 weeks ago on URL, I was riding back to my shack (at night) when my headlight popped on me. Then I flipped on my high beams and thought I'd be good to go. 10 seconds later, both of the high beam lights popped also. Another 15 seconds and the speedo bulb went out and the taillight was glowing like a Christmas tree. I'm frustrated now knowing that I just burnt out 60 some bucks in light bulbs. This is on my 02 ZR600 EFI.

Took it into the dealer and they said it was the voltage regulator (or rectifier??).

[ChuckN]

I had mice that got way under my dashboard and chewed up the handwarmers wires once, and they shorted out the entire electrical system 10 miles out from shore on LOW, I had no lights, but luckily the engine ran. That was fun.

When it comes to electrical problems, it's a lot of fun isolating the problem without the proper tools.

Good advice Macgyver.

[Jim Hudson]

Had a similar problem as Hanson stated on my sled this year... I had to change the voltage regulator where it went faulty from a bad connection/prong on the headlight assembly... a small piece broke off on the prong where it caused the system to arc and them blow out my regulator.... I think if it is the regulator, all your lights would pop after awhile, the best way to check and to see if it is the regulator, is to run a test with a volt meter on your battery while the sled is running... see if the battery is being charged or not.. if you see that the battery is not charging or that you are getting huge fluctuations in your readings, it most probably will be the regulator... from the sound of your problem Paul, it possibly could be a bad connection or your shorting something out in the wiring directly to the headlamp.... try a voltage regulator on the headlamp connection to see what is happening and then just back track your wiring with the tester to see where the source of the problem is... but like stated earlier, a vibration problem could be the problem too... do a quick check with the tester to verify if it is something electrical and then go from there...