I came back from a ride which led through a tunnel with concern that my lights weren't working. Proceeded to check things out, and found that the head/pilot switch was not quite on either settling. Once pushed to "head," the headlight worked, but not the taillight
I pulled the reflector off and found that the tail light filament in the bulb was broken. Off to auto parts store for new light. Installed bulb, but that didn't fix the problem. The brake lights worked, but not the tail light.
I started pulling the bike apart and opened the service manual to the electrical schematic. Could NOT find the tail light! Yelled for help on this forum. Someone was kind enough to post a schematic of just the tail light wiring, which is all brown/green. Back to the fray, I found that the tail light assembly worked, but that power was not getting to the tail light. Friend suggested I take a hard look at the "main switch" - the brown/green wiring goes to the "main switch." I had no idea what the "main switch" was but was eventually told that it is the IGNITION SWITCH. I looked at the schematic in the repair manual, and there it was, "main switch." The only purpose I can see for using this alternative terminology is to confuse amateurs like myself. Friend also said, "You know, maybe it's just a blown fuse."
I got a mirror and lights and checked out the bottom of the ignition switch carefully. Everything was tight. Earlier Mark III's like mine have three fuses in the headlight shell wiring, so I opened the headlight shell and found the culprit - one of the fuse holders had come apart. The fuse was fine, just not connected. I put the fuse holder back together, and the light worked. Buttoned everything up, checked the light again and left the garage with A Feeling of Accomplishment.
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