[3rdgentug]

i have an 84 vt500c shadow
after weeks of trying to figure out why the headlight wouldnt work i finally figured out the fuse panel itself was bad.
i tried to take it apart and soder it back but it just wouldnt hold the fuse tightly and the headlight would flicker or go out at the slightest bump.

so after looking and looking i finally found one. it was suppose to be off an 84 vt500c. once it arrived i could see there were some minor differences but the plug ends were the same and the actual fuse centers were the same. ( i beleive after much searching the one i got is off an 83 vt500c )
so i went ahead and started to install it. upon taking the old / broken one out there was an black with yellow stripped wire coming out of it, this wire was not on the one i purchased. it pulled out of the fuse block when i was disassembling the fuse panel. ( which might be why the brake lights didnt work correctly )
so heres my issue i could use some electrical guru knowledge on.

the black w/ yellow strip wire seems to operate the turn signals and brake lights please correct me if im wrong here im a noob at elctrical but did try to figure this out myself.

the wire comes from out of the wiring harness of the bike and
according to the break down book it does control both the turn and brake lights

with what i have now the rear lights stay on, i believe they are the parking lights and i have no brake lights at all, and my turn signals do not work at all.

how can i make this work?
can i route this wire somehow to make my turn/brake lights work is what im asking, sorry if its not clear but id rather give to much info then not enough.

 

[rchstar]

Do you have a shop manual or Clymers? I would start there first. I have an 83 VT750C and I'm sure its similiar but not exact. There is a copy of that PDF made available by Kathy in this forum that might give you some clues if you cant find manual specific for your bike. Best ~R
vt750c__.pdf link to VT750C Honda Shop Manual. IF used as reference, be aware of potential differences !!!

 

[3rdgentug]

yes i do, i have it, i called it the break down book.
thats how i figured out what it went to.

i cannot find one for a 84 anywhere , this on i got on ebay and it was suppose to be off an 84, but its not im 99% sure its an 83.

now im just trying to get it to work so i can ride

 

[ernie12b]

Looks like your bike is a bobber. the lights may have been rewired. the 83 and 84VT500 are mostly interchangeable but bike bandit does list a fuse panel for the 83 and none for the 84. I have 2 83s and an 84 but the 84 has the fuse panel relocated behind a front side cover and the wires are a mess. it would be no help to you. you may be able to compair the wires and get some idea what is diferent

1984 Honda VT500C SHADOW Parts, 1984 Honda VT500C SHADOW OEM Parts - BikeBandit.com

 

[3rdgentug]

when i bought it it was 100 percent stock.
i did all the customizing.

the turn signals and the parking lights worked befor the fuse panel switch.
the brake lights would flicker like there was a lose wire or bad connection. all the connections were taken apart and cleaned and it worked better but there was still something wrong, we belived the handlebar switch itself was bad, so its been replaced. i now believe that black with yellow stripe wire was lose inside the fuse box b/c as soon as i removed the fuse panel it fell out. ( the same wire that now is making both the turn signals and brake light not work )
my issue was the headlight b/c of the fuse panel .
the headlight works after the fuse panel change but that 1 wire difference is causing the brake lights and turn signals not to work.

im just wondering if there is something i can connect that wire to , anything to make it work. like i said when it comes to electrical im at a complete loss. and id really like to not have to take it somewhere and pay them $$$ to figure it out while on my $. the whole project is already over budget and ive gotten to ride the bike 2 times.

there seems to be a complete lack of 84 fuse panels for the vt500c anywhere
there are 83's and 85+ everywhere

 

[TorontoBoy]

In the future please add VT500 to the title so folks will come to help you. Otherwise I will gloss over this, thinking it is for some other Shadow.

The '83s and '84s have the same fuse panel, located on the steering column. You will need an electrical schematic to match them up. This is available on the VT500 forum. The wiring should be identical. Some riders have changed the glass cylinder fuses for automobile mini fuses.

 

[83Shadow500]

When I redid the fuse box in my '83 I had a **** of a time with my headlight. Turns out the wire that goes to the right handlebar starter cutoff was disconnected and hiding in the wiring loom. Highly recommend a meter. I also had turn signal problems which I traced to a loose connection at the turn signal switch. Re-soldered it and cleaned all connections with DeOxit. Also be sure and check all of your bulbs and clean the connections at your flasher (under the left side cover at the steering head on my '83). As an aside I fabbed my own fuse box from a Radio Shack 4 fuse box and used industrial strength 3m Velcro to attach it in the stock location. Interestingly enough I think the previous owner had taped that headlight connection to share a fuse with an adjacent fused connection. Only 3 fuses were on the bike and it ran and functioned when I got it.

Edit-The profanity filter makes me sound like a foul mouthed heathen! I only said H E double hockey sticks.

 

[3rdgentug]

ill do that from now on torontoboy, thx for the heads up

ok then maybe its not for an 83, but its definatly not a 85+, was there 2 different ones for the 84?

the 83 in my break down book doesnt have this black/ yellow wire. the 84 does. thats why i thought it was an 83. the one i got that was suppose to be off a 84 vt500c shadow fuse cover does not have as many spare fuse holders. the large green plug at the end was identical to the one i had. literally the only difference is the one wire which according to my book is for the 84 and controls the turn / brake lights.

id post up a picture but the online vt500c diagram i got off here completly skips chapter 22 on wiring for some reason.

83shadow500
all the connectors for everything on the bike were taken apart, inspected, cleaned. all wires checked. all bulbs have been replaced, tested and work. the flasher was replaced, with a new led flasher, it also worked. everything worked properly except the brake lights befor this fuse panel was replaced. now with this 1 open wire the turn signals and brakes lights will not work until somehow it is connected to something. thats my problem i have no idea what to do with it.

are you saying with your last setence befor the post edit that i can tie it into another fuse and then it will work? would i need to upgrade that fuse to a higher one if i try that?

 

[3rdgentug]

here is a picture of an 83 fuse panel, notice it does not have the black/yellow wire coming out of the back
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/vladicore/stuffs/83fuse.jpg
on the front it only has 1 spare fuse holder and 4 slots for fuses
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/vladicore/stuffs/83fuse2.jpg

my 84 has 2 spare fuse holders + this one extra wire and 5 slots for fuses
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/vladicore/stuffs/IMAG0014.jpg

here is the pic in my clymer manual for the 84 vt500c that shows the yellow/black wire ( Y/B ) and 5 slots, so the 83 and 84 are definatly different

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/vladicore/stuffs/IMAG0017-1.jpg




i appreciate all the responces

 

[3rdgentug]

anyone got any ideas i would appredciate it

 

[Schattenreiter]

You have 2 options here. Either follow the wire into the harness and see if you can find where it comes out. Kind of difficult but not impossible. The other is to hook the wire to one side of a fuse and hook the other to another piece of wire and touch that wire to the + terminal on the battery. Not absolutely safe if you are not sure where the wire goes but the fuse should help protect it. just don't use a large fuse. Better to blow a low amp fuse than to fry the wire.

 

[TorontoBoy]

I happen to have a sickness where I really like working with electrical schematics for motorcycles. I also have a VT500C, and the electrical schematic for both the '83 and '84. We can make this work.

Let me clarify your situation. You have an '84 bike, which had a fuse holder of an '83/some other bike. You bought an '84 fuse holder and tried the swap. Your turn signals and brake lights now do not work.

Is this correct?

 

[3rdgentug]

I happen to have a sickness where I really like working with electrical schematics for motorcycles. I also have a VT500C, and the electrical schematic for both the '83 and '84. We can make this work.

Let me clarify your situation. You have an '84 bike, which had a fuse holder of an '83/some other bike. You bought an '84 fuse holder and tried the swap. Your turn signals and brake lights now do not work.

Is this correct?

almost lol

my bike is an 84vt500c
the fuse holder on it now is from an 83 vt500c
the one on it befor was the original 84 fuse box, but it was messed up internally and i could not fix it.

i can trace the wire in the harness and this is how it routes:
it goes to the thermo switch, then the engine cooling motor, then ties into the turn signals and brake lights.

ive been looking for months for one off an 84 and NOBODY has one for some reason, oldbikebarn bikersplanet ive tried them all that i could find. ive kept a close eye on ebay which is where i got the one thats on the bike now the seller had listed as an 84 which now obviously i know it was not from, but infact an 83.

torontoboy: i appreciate your help, thank you.

Schattenreiter : i think i get what you are saying there, again im not very electrically savy even though i have been working on cars since i was in high school some 15+ years ago. electrical has always proven to me to be very diffecult. i even took a class for automotive electrical years ago at a community college and honestly i think it just made me more confussed lol

 

[TorontoBoy]

...i can trace the wire in the harness and this is how it routes: it goes to the thermo switch, then the engine cooling motor, then ties into the turn signals and brake lights...

You are tracing the ground side of the tail and brake lights. This is shown as black on the wiring diagram. Look at the other tail and brake light wires.

This advice applies to the stock wiring, unaltered from Honda. The horn/brake/tail light/turn signal circuit for both the '83 and '84 VT500C are identical. From the fuse box they both start out with a green/white wire.

There are 4 common circuits for both bikes. Starting from the fuse panel they are coloured: brown/black (instrument cluster), grey/brown, orange/black, green/white, all fused at 15 amp. The '84 also has an additional circuit coloured yellow/black, is a 10 amp fuse.

By using the '83 fuse holder you have chosen to go from 5 fuses to 4 fuses. If one of these fuses blows, more of your electrical system will be affected.

Connect the green/white wire with the brown/black wire. Both of these should go to the same fuse. If this fuse blows your indicator lights (brown/black circuit) as well as your horn/brake/tail/turn signal circuit will be affected.

Alternately use an additional stand-alone fuse holder for the green/white circuit. Alternately get a proper '84 fuse panel or some other 5 circuit fuse panel.

The black/yellow wire coming out of the '83 fuse panel provides direct power from the battery. The black wire goes from the fuse panel to your ignition switch, which when turned on, connects to a red wire which connects to the battery. This wiring circuit is identical to the '84 fuse panel as well.

 

[3rdgentug]

thx a million torontoboy im gonna try that asap

maybe i can be on the road with this thing by next week now!