Tear it up, fix it, repeat: Electrical problem fixed this time

I had electrical problems on the shovelhead awhile back. I thought it was headlight related, but I couldn't repeat it.

http://tearitupfixitrepeat.blogspot.com/2010/06/electrical-problems.html

So I put a bigger battery in it and I thought it was a bad ground so I fixed that.

http://tearitupfixitrepeat.blogspot.com/2010/06/bigger-battery-and-broken-oil-bag.html

Last Saturday the bike died on the road again, but I pulled the headlight fuse and it went home just fine.

So we're back to headlight problems and voltage issues.

I have been using the old harley push button to ground the VW Hi-Lo latching relay. I'm not sure if the relay is sticking or the button is sticking, but neither will be a problem in the future.

I bought one of these switches from Radio Shack. Rated for 10 amps at 125 VAC, so a 6 amp high beam at 12 VDC shouldn't be a problem. The center position is off, so I can kickstart the bike without the headlight on. Also if I something else is causing my issues then I can turn off the light without pulling a fuse.

I also bought one these to monitor my voltage and charging, too. If the bike starts running crappy, I take a look and see how the battery is.

Here's the dang the relay. It's going bye-bye.

Solder the wires to the switch.

Here a little info on how I do electrical connections on a bike. I take the insulation off the connector, then lightly crimp the connection on to a stripped wire that has rosin on it already. Then I solder the connection on and tug check it once cools a bit.

Then some shrink wrap.

I use these cover connectors for most things, too. I like them because I can take things apart if needed or bypass a switch if needed for roadside repairs.

.