Hitchcocks Forum

Good afternoon everyone,
Hopefully this will be a simple question for some. Please be patient & understanding, I’m neither a mechanic or an auto electrician, so the issue I have has left me slightly stressed & probably at the point where I can’t see the wood for the trees if that makes sense.
I’ve been putting my Enfield back together this last day or so. I had to strip the front end to replace the headstock bearing & attend to a few other issues.
Now when I stripped it down, it all looked very straight forward & simple to put back together, but, as with most good plans, I got dragged away from it & it’s been over a year since I started. Consequently, that simple wiring setup now just looks like a plateful of spaghetti.
I’ve managed to get all the bits back up & running with the exception of the headlamp.
I have two, possibly three plugs spare that will fit the plug on the headlamp assembly. The obvious choice is a plug that fits perfectly & the wire colours match. However, when I plug this in, it does not operate the main bulb.
One of the other plugs does, but main beam on permanently (whether the lights are switched on or not).
I am not sure what electrical system I have on my bike so trying to refer to any wiring diagrams for a bundle of wires all taped together is very difficult.
The bike is a 500 cafe racer & from the pictures I received with the bike, I believe it may have started life as a 2003 ‘Sixty 5’. Electric start with points, not EI.
Does anyone know if this system needs the engine running for the headlights to work? It’s been so long since I rode it I really can’t remember!
That’s the only thing I haven’t done yet is run the bike up. I also had to repair a badly welded tank & horrendously fitted fuel cap, so I need to be 100% sure that I’m ready before I pour fuel in.
My concern with starting it up is that if I do have the wrong plug in that headlight, could I cause any damage (other than blowing the bulb) if I have it wrong?

Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated......

Regards,
Andy.

The sixty-5 does need the engine running for the headlight.

If it still has the original switches, the "flash" position should work the headlamp with the engine off.



If it's connected up incorrectly, you could potentially have a short-circuit which could cause the fuse to blow or the wiring to melt. Absolute worst case, a vehicle fire.

Thank you for your input guys.
I got the bike started & checked out the remaining plugs & worked out which one it was before plugging in.
I was pretty confident I had most of it right but couldn't remember if the engine needed to be running for the headlights.

Thank you.

Regards,
Andy.