Park Lamp/Light

[spydernz]

Hey all,
Quick question needing help.
Cannot figure out Park lamp issues, just gone to get bike cert and prob with headlights but resolved by terminal cleaner on connector,
the switch offers 3 positions Off and 2 on positions. The last position functions the headlamp, all good and working, the middle only functions the rear tail lamp,
from memory the head lamp did have a dimmed park lamp but now Im doubting my self.
Does this second position offer a headlamp thats dim as well as a tail lamp or just the tail lamp?
any advise correction or pointers would be awsome.

[alanmcorcoran]

I think it's just the tail lamp. A fairly useless feature as it mainly serves to accidently drain the battery to zero.

[Water Warrior 2]

The other position is just for the tail light when parked, no power is fed to the headlight and all other systems are also off. The actual run position powers up the entire bike for riding.

Oh yah, don't ask Alan how he found out about draining the battery. lol :lol:

[spydernz]

thanx for the replies, got the cert and all good, different guy this time and all good. I can stop destroying my wiring loom to firgure it out why something that doesnt exist doesnt work lol.
I know im mad but was hoping not that mad hahahaha.

[dannylightning]

i have left the tail light on a few times now, fist time i did it i thought something was wrong, did not know bikes had that feature. since the bike dosen't have emergency flashers i guess they think the tail lamp will make due.

[alantf]

On the European model, when you turn the ignition key off, there is an extra position for if you want parking lights on. This turns on the tail light & also an extra (small) bulb in the headlamp cover. Does the American model have only the headlamp bulb in there? Incidentally, the newer models don't have a separate switch to turn the lights on/off like the earlier models did.

[Water Warrior 2]

On the European model, when you turn the ignition key off, there is an extra position for if you want parking lights on. This turns on the tail light & also an extra (small) bulb in the headlamp cover. Does the American model have only the headlamp bulb in there? Incidentally, the newer models don't have a separate switch to turn the lights on/off like the earlier models did.
North American models only have the rear position light, nothing in the front end normally except maybe an exotic European bike. The separate headlight switch went away in the late 70's for most bikes in N.A. Had a lot to do with laws governing safety issues and cagers being blind.
Interestingly enough Greyhound Bus lines went to a headlights on rule in the early 60's on all of their fleet in N.A. Their accident rate dropped 50%. How the heck do you not see a bus ?

[dannylightning]

On the European model, when you turn the ignition key off, there is an extra position for if you want parking lights on. This turns on the tail light & also an extra (small) bulb in the headlamp cover. Does the American model have only the headlamp bulb in there? Incidentally, the newer models don't have a separate switch to turn the lights on/off like the earlier models did.
North American models only have the rear position light, nothing in the front end normally except maybe an exotic European bike. The separate headlight switch went away in the late 70's for most bikes in N.A. Had a lot to do with laws governing safety issues and cagers being blind.
Interestingly enough Greyhound Bus lines went to a headlights on rule in the early 60's on all of their fleet in N.A. Their accident rate dropped 50%. How the heck do you not see a bus ?

when i lived in phoenix az the drivers were terrible. i saw 3 incidents where cars had wrecked in to a buss, one of them was 3 cars and a buss pile up and i saw a buss come around a corner and smash up a car. i was driving the fedex truck out there and i would see numerous accidents every day. phoenix has the worst drivers. one wreck i saw was pretty crazy, people ejected out of the car and lying in the street. another one a car hit the center divider in the road, the front end came up off the ground went over the divider and landed on the hood of another car that was on the other side of the road

[Water Warrior 2]

Sounds like a city to avoid. I drove transit buses for 6.5 years and saw some really strange stuff happen. Watched a car hit a stationary bus head-on. The car driver had a good excuse though, he was busy having a heart attack. He lived to everyone's relief.

[alantf]

i have left the tail light on a few times now, fist time i did it i thought something was wrong, did not know bikes had that feature. since the bike dosen't have emergency flashers i guess they think the tail lamp will make due.

No, the idea is that if you park at night on an unlit road, other vehicles can see you from a greater distance. In England, the law says that if you park any vehicle within 5 yards of a junction, or park anywhere on a road that has a speed limit greater than 30 mph, at night, you must show front & rear lights. :)

[alantf]

How the heck do you not see a bus ?

I remember once , in the 1980s, when I was driving a bus (no electrical work around at the time, due to the recession). I was in an English double decker - 10 ft wide & 15 ft high, painted red and yellow - parked at the edge of the road,taking fares as the passengers got on, when I felt a terrific THUD. I looked in the mirror, & all I could see was half of a pick up truck. When I got out to see what had happened, the passenger side of the pick up was buried in the engine at the back of the bus. When I asked the guy how it had happened, he replied "I didn't see you". Nobody could believe that he hadn't noticed a 10' by 15' red & yellow object sitting by the kerb! :cry:

[burkbuilds]

Pretty much the same thing happened to me once Alan, only I was not driving a bus, but a 4 door F-350 Truck with a 9' flat bed with 3'high tool boxes mounted down both sides, a fairly large vehicle. A driver pulled out of a shopping center, crossed three lanes of traffic and nailed my truck dead center on the drivers side right behind the back door, she told the cops she never saw me. By the way, it tore the entire front off of her car, including the front bumper and the grill and mashed up her hood and both front side panels, it only bent my running boards a little and put a 1/8" knick in the paint on the corner of one tool box that was welded on under the flatbed frame just behind the cab.