VF500: no headlight and missing 12V a few places

Put in a battery and turned on the key for the first time since I've owned this '85 VF500. I'm not getting power to the horn, headlight, neutral light or tail light.
I have brake light, but no tail light. Oil light comes on, engine turns over, dash lights work, turn signals and front running lights work.
I checked the fuses and they look OK. I swapped out the spare fuse for the headlight fuse and still no power to the plug.
Can you point me where to look next? I don't think I have any plugs taken apart on the wiring harness. I didn't go into the LH control

 

Check all your ground points for corrosion, in fact check all connectors too! High resistance connections cause heat, look for discoloration. Got to have clean ground to complete circuit.

 

Thanks. I'll check. It's odd, because lots of this stuff goes through the LH switch and shares that ground. But the turn signals and indicators work. I get 12V to the spare wires behind the headlight. I made a jumper for the thermo switch and the fan runs. The clutch switch works. I know the connector at the NEG terminal of the battery is clean because I just installed it.
I put my meter on the horn wires and could see the voltage take a slow but steady climb to 10+V at the horn wires, but the horn won't beep.

 

Pull the LH switchgear it may have melted..

 

For the horn, sometimes you have to turn the adjustment screw to get the horn working after storage. The headlight, make sure to check the starter switch, I recently found out about that my self.

 

Yes, I thought the same thing about the horn. I probably have a loose horn in the parts pile and can double check that.

If the engine turns over with the starter switch, how does that affect the headlight? Not arguing, just asking and trying to understand. I DID have the RH control off the bars to make getting the carb cables out easier.

 

Scott, when the starter switch is depressed, it kills power to the headlamp to save cranking power. Apparently the switch pin snaps off and the spring does not return the switch to it's normal position reliably.

 

I don't know what I did, but I just kept looking around and I got the headlight working. I do believe it was possibly start switch related. Though I couldn't access the start switch, I went back and played around with the RH control....mostly to get the throttle cables moving smoothly...and now I have Hi and Lo beam. Replaced the horn with a working one. Still no brake or neutral light. Where's the neutral switch? And both bulbs are on when brakes are applied. What to check next to get tail lights?

 

If the motorcycle will crank in neutral without the clutch applied, neutral switch is OK; check cluster bulb.

 

So you have foot and handbrake lights yes? But no tail, check the bulbs first.

 

FYI taillight bulbs can be swapped to LED no resistors needed. Cluster bulbs as well. Saves juice for the fan.

 

Will not crank without pulling in clutch lever.

 

Bulbs test good. I pulled the brown wire and cleaned the connections. Green is power, which I know I have. Green/yellow is brake, which also works.

 

The good new is, SHE LIVES!!!! And once it was running, all those weird electrical things started working. The headlight is still a little hinky. It's got something to do with the little switch inside that turns off the headlight when starting. The little spring/pin doesn't spring back as it should. I sprayed a little WD40 in there and I can make the headlight work. Hopefully, it'll get better in time.
The engine sounds smooth as silk with zero valve train noise. No smoke or leaks. I'll keep tweaking the carbs 'til I get them just right.
I had to bypass the fuel pump to make it run. I'm seriously considering leaving it bypassed and just unplugging it, unless someone can tell me why I shouldn't.
It feels good to have a few things go right!

 

Scott have you read the headlight thread further down the forum page?

 

I saw one where people talked about the starter switch. Is that the one you mean?

 

Yes. That is the one.