76 honda cb 750-head and taillights don't work. HELP!

I'm new to the cb world, I just bought a 76 cb 750 on saturday and heres my problem...... The front turn signals just get brighter when activated, and the headlight and tailight do not work when switched on. The bulbs are fine, fuses seem to be intact, it has a new battery. Before I tear it apart I want to ask someone first before I possibly waste time. THANKS.  

It's not unusual for old bikes to develop electrical problems. Usually, it's corroded and loose connectors.

Turn signals from that era used a little heating element to determine the flash rate. The more current the lights draw, the faster they flashed. Corroded connections cause reduced current and slower flashing. A missing bulb in the rear light fixture will also reduce the current draw. It doesn't take much to reduce the current to the point that the heating element in the flasher never causes the lights to flash off at all. Of course, the flasher could be bad, too :-)

Headlight and taillight both fail to light. That points to massive corrosion in the wiring harness connectors or... maybe a harness connector just unplugged?

Of course, if a previous owner tried to rewire the bike, you might need to get a manual and rewire it to match the schematic in the book.

regards,
Joe  

Thanks Joe I'll try your suggestions. If I find corrosion, just use electrical cleaner? Or do you have something better? thanks for your help. Ben  

Most connectors are steel with a plating of tin over the steel. Once the tin fails and the steel is exposed, it starts rusting. The only fix for that is replacing the connector, unless you are experienced at electroplating.

If the tin plating hasn't failed, you can clean it up with a little neverdull or silver polish (the old DipIt commercials come to mind). A toothpick will get into the tight spots, but it's a slow process. Using abrasives, will do the job, but it will also remove whatever's left of the tin, so it's only a temporary fix until the steel starts rusting.

It's been my experience that most electrical cleaners are just solvents. They work fine to remove oily deposits that have attracted dust, but won't touch corrosion.

Once a connector has started corroding, it will always be prone to corroding more. The only way to prevent it from happening again is to isolate the metal from all moisture and air. Dielectric grease can do that.

regards,
Joe  

thanks again for the help Joe!  

I disconnected a green with white stripe wire from the tailight and jumped it to the positive on the battery and it functioned. I have yet to get to do the same with the headlight(there is alot more to dig through to do this) does this help us? I'm very ignorant when it comes to vehicle electrical!  

ok, I read some diagrams and different forums. My starter button is missing, so I have to kick it. I opened up the right hand handlebar controls and the guts to the starter switch are gone. some forums give reference to headlight and tailight problems due to a problem with the starter button. If my button is missing maybe the previous owner just didnt run the lights, I dont know. Is there a way to bypass this so the lights will work without start button, or is this even an issue? thanks, ben  

If you live in the USA, It's not an issue as long as you only operate the bike on private property.

It's always possible to connect the lights to the ignition switch, so they come on as soon as you turn on the ignition. You might even look around for an older model ignition switch, that has Off/Run/Run + Lights.

regards,
Joe