I recently purchased an old '82 XJ 550 to tool around with after having to sell my previous bike a while back.

It runs and starts fine, but I seem to be having some electrical problems. The Brakelight is permanently on, even w/o the brake depressed. The headlight worked fine when I picked it up, but it sat in the garage for two weeks because I had no time to work on it, and when I started it back up, there was no headlight. Charged the battery just in case, but still no power going the the front end of the bike. (headlights, turn signals, and all the indicators are blank) checked the bulbs and they were all ok. Im not much of an electrician and getting a crash course but the repair manual hasnt been very helpful. Any ideas?

Erik

I recently purchased an old '82 XJ 550 to tool around with after having to sell my previous bike a while back.

It runs and starts fine, but I seem to be having some electrical problems. The Brakelight is permanently on, even w/o the brake depressed. The headlight worked fine when I picked it up, but it sat in the garage for two weeks because I had no time to work on it, and when I started it back up, there was no headlight. Charged the battery just in case, but still no power going the the front end of the bike. (headlights, turn signals, and all the indicators are blank) checked the bulbs and they were all ok. Im not much of an electrician and getting a crash course but the repair manual hasnt been very helpful. Any ideas?

Erik

erm...tried the fuses? they could also be "furred up" so preventing power from reaching the front. If you have a multi tester go through each connector for power.

Check all earthing points

Check all your connections inside the headlight bucket also