I took the dash on my xb500 apart because I had a some problems with the lights. The rear brake light is not working at all, and the high/low beam switch does nothing.
This post is about the switch.
Once I had the dash off, I found out why it wasn't working. There was nothing hooked up to it.
Well.... that made the diagnosis process much easier.... now the "What the hell do I do about it" problem is much worse.
So the question is... does the XB 500 have something that is supposed to fit into that socket, and if so, where would I find it... there are no apparent loose wires that obviously fit... so what's the deal...
HOWEVER...
I did find these two loose, unconnected suspicious looking things.
Here they are, up close - I am sorry they are blurry, If I can get a better pic of them today, I will try.
Anyway, these two grey connectors fit together perfectly... but nothing apparently happens when I do. So what are they actually for, and are they supposed to be connected....
I would have to assume since they look EXACTLY like the ones on xb-600's that those 2 grey wires as the "governer" or "limiter" wires. If they are connected they limit the bikes speed. If you follow the wires, one of them will lead to a set of wires that is wrapped in some kind of plastic that has tie wraps on it. Under there you will find a little circuit board with a screw dial on it. If the 2 grey wires are connected, moving this dial will change the top speed of the bike. Unless you are limited to a certain speed in your area to be legal, just leave them disconnected.
Unfortunately I dont have an xb-500 so I cant help with the switch... From looking at the wires in the pictures though, it may be a feature that may not have been installed. Normally there would be some kind of relay or additional wiring the switch between high and low beams. It would either be a voltage switching relay or a 3 wire lead to the actual bulbs that changes which filament is being lit. One being high beam and the other being low beam.
I would follow the wires coming from the headlights that connect on that yellow connector and see where they go. If it goes straight to the dc-dc converter, then it may be part of that. See if there are any wires from the converter that are not being used.
The tail lights normally are supplied power from the dc-dc converter as well. Since they are only used when the ignition switch is on. Try to find what wires run from the converter to the rear of the bike.
Use a multimeter to check that the bulb is even being supplied any voltage. It is possible that they previous owner replaced the bulbs with the wrong kind and will not work with your system.
hope this helps....
Dave ; Tennessee
XB-600.