electrical problem please help!
 

Hi, my names Steven Petrucci. I'm a new owner of a 1998 cbr600 f3 and i love it! i bought the bike last week for 2k, after i got it i found myself having to popstart her everytime she sat around. I took my bike to work one day and when i was leaving at night i noticed the headlight was out.. but it was working the day i bought it, so i switched on my high beams and they cut out after a minute, the light on my dash turns on when put on my brights.. but they dont actually turn on i took the battery out and purchased a new battery online. ive ben starting her up everyday with her on jumper cables just to run some gas thru so i can get some clean gas. If the new battery doesnt work would it be the regulator rectifier? or would it just be a short in the headlights or something? blown fuse? i dont have access to a multimeter and dont plan on buying one unless i really get stuck. thanks for the help in advance!

The headlight being out is most likely the Start Switch on the right handle bar. The contacts in the switch get dirty and the headlight will stay out. Of course, I'm assuming that you've checked the obvious, the bulb itself.

Actually I haven't checked the bulb , I'm just noticing now the brake lights are out too, all other electrics seem to be working, how do u check the bulb

you checked the fuses too right?

yes all the fuses are in tact and in good health

Ok so I went out and bought a cheap-o multimeter, I hooked my bike up to a car that wasnt running with jumper cables(is this a problem?) and I wasn't sure what mode to use so I kind of used them all and none of them seemed right. I used dcv and put the dial at 50( out of 10 50 250 and 1000) and it went to around 5-9 everything else was pretty much off the scale or not on it

http://i39.tinypic.com/v8pj03.jpg

now that i actually got some sleep and some toying with a AA battery. I learned how to use this multimeter a little better, i think i was looking at the wrong measurement, i was looking at the black. Looking at the red i got a reading of 13.*-16. engine idleing at 1.3-5. revving at 3-5k it would bounce around and go near 16. does that mean my regulator rectifier is good and its possibly just a burnt bulb or corrosion at the connectors? maybe loose solder by the ignition switch?

OK, if this is what you're reading while checking the battery and the engine is reving up, then yes it would seem that your R/R is working fine. If your headlight is not working on either low or highbeam, then the most probable cause is the Start Switch contacts being dirty, or a broken solder joint in that switch. It's very common on Honda's, and certainly on the F3's.

Some constructive criticism. When describing engine RPM's use 3000 - 5000 RPM, or 3k - 5k RPM. For voltage, use 13v to 16v if you're using an analog meter (like the one in your photo). Or you can say it's 13.2v to 15.8v when using a digital meter and those are the actual readings you get.

Your photo is nice and clear, excellent job on that. Some information for your meter. That black screw you see there at the bottom, that is for adjusting the 0 (zero) position of the needle when the leeds are not hooked up to anything. There is usually a dial on the side of an analog meter that is used for zeroing out the meter when the setting is on the Ohm scale and the leeds are touching each other.

If you look at the face of the dial where you take the readings. When you look at it, position your eyes directly in front of the meter. You see that shiny part of the scale that looks like a mirror. You should position your eyes so that when you look at the reading, you don't see the reflection of the needle behind it. That way you're directly in front and that will give you the most accurate reading when looking at the particular range, like the 10, 50, 250 and 1000.

Thank you for the information! Tommarrow is my first day off so ill finally be able to get some work done. Is their a thread already you can link me to that will guide me through taking apart the start switch? I took it apart the other day before work and instantly got intimidated and put it back together :)

I'm not aware of any step by step instructions. Here is a photo of the switch though, showing a broken solder joint.

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