Originally Posted by
Barrett
Sir: This situation is NOT related in any way to battery condition...headlight bulb condition......interrupted or faulty ground wire conditions. It is directly related to headlight bulb sockets...headlight bulb wiring...headlight bulb hi/lo switch...starter relay.... starter solenoid power feed wire. All XB starter systems in essence work as follows:
The headlight system is powered thru the 15A headlight fuse and runs thru the starter relay. The circuit is CLOSED at all times till you attempt to start the motor...then the circuit is OPENED so that the headlight, regardless of HI/LO beam switch position, is extinguished, until starter button is disengaged. The starter button itself also receives a few milliamps of current from the headlight circuit to function.
You'll need to run the following checks in this order to determine where your short-to-ground is and have a few spare fuses on hand till guilty culprit located:
1-Ignition key ON...kill switch ON....headlight switch LOW beam. Do NOT attempt to start motor. Now move the headlight switch from LOW to HIGH multiple times and see if fuse blows. If so, the fault is in the headlight circuitry and/or HI/LO switchgear assembly. If not, then move to step #2.
2-Locate starter solenoid feed wire behind front pulley cover. Color is GREEN. Trace to starter solenoid and unplug. Once unplugged, turn key to ON...kill switch to ON...and attempt to start bike. If fuse blows then you have either a GREEN feed wire short-to-ground...faulty starter relay....starter button failed and shorted or starter button single wire circuit short-to-ground.
3-If all wires...switches...starter relay...connections in above steps pass muster and the headlight fuse still blows, then you have a burned/shorted starter solenoid.
Those are the precise steps to follow to determine the exact problem. Once determined where the precise problem lies, report back for solutions.
NOTE: Typically what I do in this situation to expedite things, and have seen it a few times now....is start by simply checking all your headlight wiring and the headlight harness plug...GREEN solenoid feed wire for short-to-ground....replace the starter relay. Said relay crosses over to many Ford and Chrysler A/C relays...plus infinite still available thru H-D dealer system. That relay is what I always replace first.