Hitchcocks Forum

hi / i am rebuilding a 1991 500 bullet and have changed the left handlebar control to the later dip main / beam type
ive replaced the headlamp switch with the off/l/ high type and have run the red/ black wire to terminal 3 and the brown live feed to terminal 1
the 3 wires amber and green are on terminal 5 and not 100 percent if blue wire from handlebar switch goes in the last post position or in the brass connector top of the switch
the other thing that in throwing me is i have a spare brown wire coming out of the loom that is a permanent live which does not go to the ammeter or rectifier
can any body help please
regards def

Can I just clarify, you've replaced the older Magura switch gear and the rotary headlamp switch in the headlamp casquette with the later Minda type for the 1999 and later Bullets?

The older set-up was basically the standard Lucas 12V system for a side-points single bike, albeit with a reg-rectifier combo instead of a Zener diode, and possibly switched from the old Brits' positive earth to negative earth. On later systems with the Minda switch gear the headlight was powered by AC straight off the alternator, so the wiring to the main left-hand switch cluster is a little more complicated, as you had AC and DC circuitry in the same switch body - isolated from each other, of course.

If you haven't already done so you can compare the wiring circuits for the different models, but it's fairly easy to adapt the Minda switch assembly for all DC use - the trick is DO NOT CONNECT THE RED AND YELLOW WIRE TO ANYTHING. Other than that, if you strip the Minda switch (beware little springs flying out, they love to land in piles of garage crud or roll under workbenches), you can easily work out which wire should connect to what.

A.

many thanks / I will give it a go
regards Dave