250sx headlight burning out

[axeman24]

So here's the situation I bought my sx nonrunning

All wires look with completely dead battery still hooked up
missing the key switch just has capped wires
It had no headlight but had the OEM plug for it

I started feeling with a voltage meter
good power to the battery but nothing to the headlight plug on any headlight setting

So I hard wired an off-road light I kept from parting a jeep a big ass light
It bolted nicely to what was left of the headlight mount
Worked great lit up everything
Many dependable hours with that setup

Then I slapped a 350x front end on the big light didn't work well so I grabbed a spare sx headlight and bought a fresh bulb
I had the bright idea of wiring it so the high and low beam were on at the same time
I used a car battery to find out which would do so worked great on the car battery

So I mount up the sx light (hard wired to the dead battery)
Fire her up and the light looks great I admire it for a few minutes then take off for a spin
The light turns blue then yellow then blue then dies
Burnt out
Thinking the bulb couldn't handle high and low beam at the same time I buy another bulb and wire it to only one filament (not sure high or low my)
Fire her up and the bulb burns out again

So what is possibly the problem with this setup
I'm thinking along the lines of voltage regulator bad or bypassed
I'm reading 10-20 volts to the battery and much more when revved

I see two routs
1 can I put a simple inline voltage regulator
2 is there likely a reason the key was removed or is it possible everything will work with a key

I am no electrician I need some help here


Yes I made sure not to touch the halogen bulbs during installation

[axeman24]

holly tires in my text ill get better at formatting ...I hope

why are they there???

[MPDano]

So what is possibly the problem with this setup
I'm thinking along the lines of voltage regulator bad or bypassed
I'm reading 10-20 volts to the battery and much more when revved

I believe you answered your question already. A quick search on ebay showed them as low as $15. The Regulator is that square finned part on the left rear of your trike. It's plugged right into the harness so you can tell if it's been bypassed or modified. Download their service manual, just google it. They have a real good electrical chart anyone can read.

[axeman24]

ok so all wires look in place to and from the voltage regulator
I swopped the voltage regulator out with my other sx (wiring harness is chopped up but voltage regulator is intact)
I got the almost exactly the same voltage readings to the battery
is it likely that they are both bad in the same way
is there any way to test them to see if it is actually the problem

[MPDano]

ok so all wires look in place to and from the voltage regulator
I swopped the voltage regulator out with my other sx (wiring harness is chopped up but voltage regulator is intact)
I got the almost exactly the same voltage readings to the battery
is it likely that they are both bad in the same way
is there any way to test them to see if it is actually the problem

Does your other SX run? I would test the Regulators there.

[axeman24]

it runs (like ) and the oem headlight works fine but there is no power to the battery (or where the battery is supposed to be)
the wiring is messy

I haven't checked the voltage to the light but the bulb doesn't burn out so id assume its good


is there simple inline voltage regulator I can put on so I don't have to troubleshoot the wiring harness
if not where should I go from here

[MPDano]

Spend $23 on ebay and get an unmolested harness. If you look at the service manual, which has the electrical diagram, it's very easy to figure out to fix yours. Anyways, here's a harness on ebay right now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-ATC-25...9cU16Q&vxp=mtr

[axeman24]

I learned you really need studs to ride on a ice
(everyone likes ride pics right?)

is there any way to check the electrical components

I may go that rout MPDano I had to repair the harness to get it running it would be nice to replace that anyway even if it doesn't fix my problem but hopefully it does