[Undyingmortal]

I have recently bought an '86 Magna 700 and am having what I am thinking might be a short somewhere. The headlight and horn do not work, unless the bike is in neutral and the clutch lever is pulled in. And then I only have a low beam on the headlight. I have checked the fuses and they are all good, and I have taken apart the left hand control to clean the switches. I have tested the headlight and both beams work. Any ideas? I'm not too knowledgeable with electrical.

Thanks.

 

[Easy Rider]

Any ideas? I'm not too knowledgeable with electrical.

I am an electrical engineering tech. and your situation sounds grim.

Either you have a badly pinched bundle of wires somewhere or another amateur has really "screwed the pooch" and made a royal mess out of the wiring.

There is a safety switch on the clutch lever.....and on the neutral switch but neither of them should come anywhere close to having an impact on the headlight OR the horn.

I don't even know where to suggest you start.......except maybe finding the previous owner and giving him a swift kick in the ass.

 

[Aussie Steve]

Is this bike worth any effort or is it just a hobby type of thing?..Any Japanese bike more than ten years old is going to be a bugger to fix... they just build them that way...you know planned obsolescence. If you can trace the wiring harness totally, check out that all connections are good and make sure every component is to spec then you might be in with a chance but if I were going to go down that track and spend any money I would pick a bike that was worth it.

Good luck to you... if you are handy with electronic test gear and can rewire a bike then you will probably be fine.