in over my head

a few weeks ago on my day off i took apart the front end of my bike in a hurry in order to change out the steering stem. i had to take off the headlight housing and disconnect all of the wiring connections that are back there. naturally i was not paying much close attention to how it all came together. now its a few weeks later and i am feeling very overwhelmed. i have the proper Kawasaki service manual and i followed the wiring diagram as best i could but when i turned the key none of the lights came on. i have no experience working with wiring and i dont know how to diagnose the problem. any advice to how i should go about getting the wiring done properly would be greatly appreciated.

Step 1 - go to Radio Shack and buy the cheapest volt meter you can get.

Step 2 - Have the guy behind the counter show you how to do simple stuff like check for continuity and voltage.

Step 3 - Go back and start checking things.

Electricity is like the Ernie's Magic Bathtub game. Put electricity on a wire, and there's electricity on everything it's connected to. It fills the pipe at the speed of light, so just following the wires and use your diagram. Find out what has power in the headstock wiring and what doesn't. Take notes. Pretty soon, with the help of the book and secure in the understanding that the Brown wire is usually the main bike power and that black/yellow is ground, you start to see the pattern between what you see on the diagram and what you see in your hand.

You can do it: we all have the utmost confidence in you.

Other than "take it to a dealer" there isn't really anyone here can do for you.

I understand it's of no help now, but "next time" take the time to wrap a piece of masking tape around both sides of the connection and number both sides "1" "2" (same number on both ends!)etc. That way you'll know for sure which ones plug together. most of the home improvement type stores, in the electrical department sell books of labels for just this purpose both in numbers and letters, that way you can actually spell out what circuit it is if you need/want to. It can be done... and you can do it! Paul

quick snapshots with asmartphone are also good for NEXT time...

what model, etc? the big connector blocks are not hard to figure out

get a color wirng map form the net and you figure the rest

The first thing I'd do is make sure the battery is hooked up & good and then check the fuses.
Double-check the connectors at the headlight bucket to make sure they are pushed together.
I think it's kinda hard to mix up the connections, because aren't they different sizes n stuff?

A VC97 is a good, inexpensive digital multimeter. You can get one on ebbaayy for around $30.

What Martin said is spot on. The price range is about right-something in the $20 to $30 range is good for a shop meter. Don't get crazy and buy an expensive 3000 function meter with an PC interface. A two foot drop to a concrete floor can be deadly to any meter, and you are going to pull it onto the floor at least once.

www.radioshack.com/family/index.jsp?s=A-...tainProdsInSession=1 is the search page for Radio Shack. There are digital and needle type meters for $25.

I had been using an old analog meter, but I think digital is superior... no guessing where the needle is pointing.
The robotroom rated the VC97 a good one to keep in your toolbox.

martin_csr wrote: I had been using an old analog meter, but I think digital is superior... no guessing where the needle is pointing.
The robotroom rated the VC97 a good one to keep in your toolbox.

Same here. I still use my old analog meter when doing the static timing of the points because it is very easy to tell the exact moment the points break continuity because the analog needle reacts instantly - much faster than testing continuity on a digital meter. However, for measuring voltage, resistance, and on mine even amperage the digital meter is light years ahead of the analog meter. Ed

Totally agree - I use both as well. I use my $4.95 super cheap volt/ohm meter most of the time, since "about" is usually close enough.

ANY meter is better than not

i have made some progress. right now all the lights work and the horn as well but when i went to start it i just got a click and the lights went out. no fuses were blown and after i waited a few minutes the lights came back on. is it my wiring or is the starter bad? the starter worked fine when i began taking the bike apart so i dont see how it could be toast now. any advice would be very helpful. thanks

btw i love my older IDEAL test pro multimeter

and now the lights wont come back on. fuses are still good.