Headlight issue

Hey all,
My 650 wants to die whenever I turn the headlight on. It has a new battery and is taking about 13.5 volts charge. When I got this bike about a month or so ago, the headlight didn't work at all and neither did the left rear turn signal. About 2 weeks ago, after taking a short ride, they both started working.:S So, I'm thinking, OK, a loose wire. I traced everything and the only thing I could find was an intermittant short in the secondary red wire from the battery. I assume this is the one for the ignition? Is this the source of my problem, or is it the voltage regulator?
Any advice would be appreciated,
Thanks

By saying it "wants to die" do you mean it actually dies or starts to stutter and stumble? A checklist:
Check the voltage at the coils, not running, running and with headlight on
If the headlight is shorting out you would be blowing fuses.
Check, clean and tighten the clips on the fuses,if there isn't a good connection you may be loosing too much voltage due to heat buildup at the fuses.
Check clean all connections at the battery, starter solenoid and grounds on the engine down by the kick starter.
Under the tank check for loose or corroded connections under the black cover where they all join.
This is a partial list but you can see where I am going with it.
Ride safe

I know I'll get hell for saying "if there isn't a good connection you may be loosing too much voltage due to heat buildup at the fuses."
:laugh:
should be,, you will get heat buildup due to resistance in the fuse connection, and voltage lose because of the resistance.

Post edited by: The Milkman, at: 2007/10/03 23:29

When cold, rpm's drop to barely running, when warm it dies. I did find the ignition wire (red) looks to have gotton very hot at one point. (looks melted).
I will look closer at the ground and fuse panel today.
Do you know what the voltage range should be with the headlight on? \
Thanks

put a volt meter on the battery while running with the light off, it should be charging the battery, then turn the light on, it still should be charging, prob around 13 volts, if it is not then start checking the charging system

If you haven't already, be sure to check the 3 connections at the voltage regulator. A couple years ago my bike had similar symptoms and I found one connection was not tight (the connector actually looked a bit cooked). I replaced all 3 connectors and yippeee, no problems since. Ed

OK,
I checked all connections and they seem to be good except for the ignition connection was a bit loose. I cleaned and crimped it a bit for a better connection...seems ok.
The charging voltage was about 12.2v, and when I turned on the headlight, RPM's dropped about 300, but charging voltage went up to about 12.75v.
It seems to me that the charging system is getting weak.
Any input?

rdgrnr wrote:

...
Any input?

I had a similar problem on one of my bikes. As a troubleshooting method, I ran a new power line with a fuse and relay, triggered from the old headlight power. This ended up solving my problem so I just left it. It's just old, corroded wiring....