I'm very confused over this one. I took the front end of my 1998 918 to fix / check the horn. I now have real Gremlins in there.

The lights no longer work and the indicators are stuck on. The horn still doesn't work either. If I turn off the lights the indicators then work fine, but the horn still doesn't work.

Anyone got the slightest incling as to what is going on?

Any thoughts MUCH appreciated as I am well and truely stuck!

Many thanks
Craig

 

Right,

If the bike is running and then you turn on the lights the tacho stops working.

I therefore took one of the wires off the tacho and supplied a fresh earth to the tacho and it started working.

I measured volts from this wire and it turns out that the earth is becoming live when the lights are turned on.

Getting closer I think....

Any suggestions?

Thanks chaps.

 

that is a short to ground. When you played with something it probably got pinched or maybe a new connection you made is contacting a grounding wire or chassis. If you took apart the hand controls then it is easy to pinch wires when you re-install. Start with each circuit individually. The horn is easy, its power and ground. The blinkers and lights are a little more complex but still they are separate circuits aside from the common power they share. Just get in there with your power probe or DVOM and cross each circuit off one by one. Thats the beat I think anyone can offer because electrical problems can be anything there aren't any two problems that are ever the same unless there is a known bad part like a reg/rec. Good luck, just be systematic in your diagnostics.

 

This is a wiring issue. There should be somewhere a wire is pinched and might be exposed. Check out your horn too whether its really in working condition or not by connecting a new direct wire to the source.

 

Damn thing!!

Thanks for your replies guys.

I have now stripped back a large proportion of the wiring loom and can't see anything that is suspect.

I'm guessing it is something that is in the light circuit since if either the headlamp or sidelight/horn fuse is in then there are perculularities in the symptoms.

I would have guessed it to be the handlebar switch unit, but I didn't touch this when the problems started. To try to illiminate this I stripped the unit and cleaned all the contacts up, but nothing changed.

Just don't know what to do now. Have thought about buying another handle bar switch unit, but I really don't suspect that it's it.

These things are sent to try us!!

Thanks for your help.

 

By the way, horn works fine on a direct connection. But for sorting the problems I have had it disconnected. There seems to be a lack of volts at the horn and lights. Like I said before, indicators work fine until lights are turned on.

 

so the problems you are having now were there before you took apart whatever you took apart on the front if the bike? If it worked before you touched it then that should make things easier. If not then it would seem that there must be a junction in the 900's harness somewhere, maybe a reserve lighting unit, or a control box for blinkers and hi beams. I am not familiar because I have a 95' and I know your system is probably a little more sophisticated and I am just taking a stab at it. Look in your manual for this intersection and there might be an issue there. THats the best I can do because I only have a 95' manual and I know our harnesses are much different.