I have a 1981 Honda Silverwing 500gl?

[wasaki]

I have a 81 gl . My headlight comes on sometimes, I have no dome lights on my tach or speedometer, and my tail light does not come on. Brake lights and parking light work. I just put a new ignition on the bike, I still have the same problem. Anyone have a ny idea what it could be? They all seem to go out at once, although my headlight does come on at times.

 

[ToddL]

You have a broken wire somewhere. Start with a test light at the source of power...switches...connectors. If there is power going to the bulbs, switches, and connectors, then you have a bad ground for these. When you are hitting bumps, you are causing the wires to connect or ground correctly. Wiggle the wires when testing to see if the lights flicker. You would be amazed how many times it is a wire under the fuel tank that got crushed.
Good luck, keep track of the wires you've tested.

 

[bikinkawboy]

Have you checked the headlight fuse? Usually brake lights are on a different circuit than head, tail and running lights are. Many times the headlight has its own fuse but that fuse comes after the fuse for all of the lights.

If everything there is ok, it sounds like you are going to have to start checking wire connections. If you have a wiring diagram, that will help a lot because you will be able to see which ones and if the different lights are powered by the same fuse, line or ground.

 

[Jancie]

Sounds like you have a broken wire in the wiring harness. No shortcuts to fix this. You will have to check each wire and section of wire and each wire connection. It will take hours and hours. The wire may be broken inside the colored plastic outer covering. Test light, continuity tester and a wiring diagram are gonna be your best buds.