Headlight laws '77 Yamaha | GTAMotorcycle.com

Headlight laws '77 Yamaha

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8111870

Member
Hey guys, need some help understanding the headlight requirements in Ontario.
Read that anything from 1970 on needs a running headlamp anytime motor is running. My bike is a 1977 and i am almost finished re-wiring it, there is no running headlamp. Light switch turns it off, engine running or not. There is no wiring for it. in 1979 there is a wire for that purpose.
Will i be able to pass safety, do i need to MacGruber a running headlamp? thanks in advance.
 
Do you have a high beam setting too? or just a low beam? If I were to see the bike on the road I would want to see a headlight operating anytime the bike is running, and the ability to turn on high or low. MacGruber... lol
 
Yes, high and low. The bike doesnt use perm magnets on generator, relies on battery to magnetize rotor. My concern is headlight drawing power when trying to start, otherwise i would just wire it into 12v power on.
There is no provision for plate lighting either.
 
8111870 said:
Yes, high and low. The bike doesnt use perm magnets on generator, relies on battery to magnetize rotor. My concern is headlight drawing power when trying to start, otherwise i would just wire it into 12v power on.
There is no provision for plate lighting either.
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Does the bike have a neutral gear light? If so, wire a relay to that so the headlight is powered only when the relay is de-energized when the bike is taken out of neutral. You would need a relay where the contacts are normally closed when the relay is not energized.
 
Thanks thats a good idea. However, do i have to do it? It came from the factory without it, do i need to retro fit it?
I plan on riding with lights on regardless, that is not in question. I dont want to get to the garage for safety and be told that it needs a running headlamp, plate lights etc.
I have the bike wired as it was in 77. would like to keep it that way.
 
8111870 said:
Thanks thats a good idea. However, do i have to do it? It came from the factory without it, do i need to retro fit it?
I plan on riding with lights on regardless, that is not in question. I dont want to get to the garage for safety and be told that it needs a running headlamp, plate lights etc.
I have the bike wired as it was in 77. would like to keep it that way.
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Run a feed from your neutral light wire to one of the relay coil terminals. Run a wire from the other relay coil terminal to ground. That will energize the relay when you are in neutral. Shift out of neutral and the relay will no longer be energized.

The following part will send power to the headlight hi-low beam switch. It assumes that the switch feeds 12v to the headlight bulbs. Run a feed from your battery to one of the normally-closed contacts on the relay. Run a wire from the other normally-closed contact to either the "power out" contact of your headlight switch or the "power-in" contact of your low-high beam switch, or the wire that connects the two contacts. When the relay is not energized (bike not in neutral), this will cause 12 volts to be fed to the "in" contact of your hi-low beam switch.

If your bike wiring is such that your headlight switch simply completes ground, then you'll need to make minor adjustment for that wiring scenario. Instead of running a lead from the battery to the "power-out" contact on your headlight switch, you would run that lead from ground.

None of this requires you to cut any wires from the original wiring. You are just inserting a jumper in the form of a relay around your light switch.
 
This is a commonly available relay, costs around $5 or so and another $5 or so for the socket it fits into or just use insulated spade connectors.
relaytextA2.gif
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Neutral light 12v feed wire to 85, and ground to 86.

Battery 12v feed to 30, and wire from 87A to your "power-in" side of your hi-low beam switch.
 
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Again thanks for the detailed info. But still need to know if i NEED to do it. if i do, that is the way i will go.
i would also tie in the tail light for more visibility.
 
Yes, you do need it. Also in response to the relay wiring above... many of the relays have an "anti-voltage spike" diode and the ground wire has to go to pin 85 and the switched 12v needs to go to 86. If there is no diode, the above wiring will work, but using 86 as the +12 v energizing contact is a good habit to get into as it will work properly with every relay I have encountered so far. I have run into troubles with relays having diodes but not being labelled as such.

Side note: for other applications where you are using a negative switching (or ground switching), the 12 v still goes to 86 and the - switch goes to 85. Even with the diode the relay will work.
 
The circuit described above would cause the headlight to cut out if you shift to neutral when stopped with the engine running, no?

Same relay as above, but connect differently.

On the coil of the relay, run one of them to switched ignition power, run the other one to an extra contact on the starter relay on the terminal that is switched "on" when you press the starter button. Feed the power to your headlight switch through "common" and "N/O".

Now, when you turn on the key, the headlight will come on (switched ignition power is on), and the relay will pull in due to its coil current "leaking" through the starter relay (the current has to be too small to actually make the relay pull in). When you press the starter button, the coil will have +12 on both sides and will switch off, thus switching off the headlight while cranking. Once the engine starts, the relay will pull in and the light will come back on again (and it won't matter what gear you are in). This circuit relies on the control relay having a pull-in current much less than the starter relay; make sure that's the case. (It should be.)

If the control relay current is too close to starter motor relay pull-in current, you could also wire it to the actual starter motor power terminal (or to the other end of the same wire, at the starter relay) ... the only thing I don't like about that, is that it's an unfused circuit, so try doing it on the control-signal side.
 
You could achieve a similar effect by wiring the coil simply to your starter button circuit in parallel with the starter motor coil. Light switch power has to go through N/C and COM in that case, and relay coil connects to ground on one side and to the switch circuit from your starter button on the other side.

I prefer option 1, because it redundantly switches the headlight off when you switch the ignition off.
 
No starter, kick only. I will use the wiring diagram from a 78 that uses a relay for the headlight and is the same otherwise. I think it uses an ignition coil for the relay switch. Thanks everyone.
 
If there is no starter motor and your battery is at all decent, I don't think you need to worry about this, even if the headlight is on all the time. If the bike was originally designed that way in '77 it'll still work the same today (if everything is in proper condition)

Does it use an AC alternator and separate rectifier? If so, it's more likely that the newer design uses one phase of the AC to operate the headlight relay, but it is likely a special-purpose relay to make this work because the voltage and frequency will vary. (Has to pull in at a low AC voltage and frequency so that it will work at idle, but it has to not burn itself up at high AC voltage and frequency ...)
 
8111870 said:
Again thanks for the detailed info. But still need to know if i NEED to do it. if i do, that is the way i will go.
i would also tie in the tail light for more visibility.
Click to expand...

There is no law that says you must have a daytime running light. Only that you must have your headlights on 30 minutes before sunset.
 
This is the law as written here:
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90h08_e.htm
Lamps required on motorcycles
(2) Subject to subsection (3), when on a highway at any time every motorcycle shall carry two lighted lamps in a conspicuous position, one on the front of the vehicle which shall display a white light only, and one on the rear of the vehicle which shall display a red light only. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 62 (2).
Idem
(3) When on a highway at any time every motorcycle with a side car shall carry a lighted lamp in a conspicuous position on each side of the front of the vehicle which lamps shall display a white or amber light only and a lighted lamp on the rear of the vehicle which shall display a red light only. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 62 (3).
Light requirement
(4) Any lamp required under subsection (1), (2) or (3) shall, when lighted, be clearly visible at a distance of at least 150 metres from the front or rear, as the case may be. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 62 (4).
Exception
(5) Despite subsections (2) and (3), where a motorcycle that was manufactured prior to the 1st day of January, 1970 is operated on a highway, the lighted lamps required under subsections (2) and (3) shall be required only during the period from one-half hour before sunset to one-half hour after sunrise, or at any other time when, due to insufficient light or unfavourable atmospheric conditions, persons and vehicles on the highway are not clearly discernible at a distance of 150 metres or less. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 62 (5).
 
Brian P said:
If there is no starter motor and your battery is at all decent, I don't think you need to worry about this, even if the headlight is on all the time. If the bike was originally designed that way in '77 it'll still work the same today (if everything is in proper condition)

Does it use an AC alternator and separate rectifier? If so, it's more likely that the newer design uses one phase of the AC to operate the headlight relay, but it is likely a special-purpose relay to make this work because the voltage and frequency will vary. (Has to pull in at a low AC voltage and frequency so that it will work at idle, but it has to not burn itself up at high AC voltage and frequency ...)
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Thats the thing, it was NOT designed to kick with any draw on the battery. Charging system is marginal at best, now with the added load of a headlight and tail light, i think i will have hard starting issues. and it does use an AC generator and seperate rectifier. Later models have a different generator and charging system parts number, presumably to account for the extra demand.
 
I don't see anything in the HTA that says daytime running lights are required. It merely states, "when on a highway at any time every motorcycle shall carry two lighted lamps in a conspicuous position, one on the front of the vehicle which shall display a white light only, and one on the rear of the vehicle which shall display a red light only". In that case, simply turning on the headlight when operating on the road should satisfy the requirement. Also, if the bike originally came without daytime running lights, then it should be grandfathered in not to require them to be retrofitted.

Back in the mid-70's I would ride my '69 BSA and not turn on the headlight during the day because it tended to drain the battery. The old charging system just could not keep up, could have had something to do with the Lucas electrics. This had the result of being pulled over regularly for operating without a headlight, but never resulted in a ticket because the bike was just beyond the date where a headlight was required during the daytime.
 
Correct your 69 BSA was built BEFORE 01 Jan 1970, therefore it was exempt, (see HTA section earlier in the thread). This bike is a 1977 which means it is not exempted from the requirement to have the headlight on when running.

People seem to be confusing the requirement of lights on a motorcycle as opposed to "daytime running lights" on a car/truck etc. They are completely seperate requirements under the HTA

OP your confusing two seperate issues. The HTA does NOT require the headlight to be lit, as you asked "when the motor is running" It requires that the headlight be on when "on a highway" Your bike can sit idling in your driveway all day long without the headlight being on. Once the bike is in motion and on the road then the headlight must be on.

As you eluded to earlier though you plan on running with the headlight on which is not just a HTA requirement but also smart from a visibility point of safety.

Malks said:
I don't see anything in the HTA that says daytime running lights are required. It merely states, "when on a highway at any time every motorcycle shall carry two lighted lamps in a conspicuous position, one on the front of the vehicle which shall display a white light only, and one on the rear of the vehicle which shall display a red light only". In that case, simply turning on the headlight when operating on the road should satisfy the requirement. Also, if the bike originally came without daytime running lights, then it should be grandfathered in not to require them to be retrofitted.

Back in the mid-70's I would ride my '69 BSA and not turn on the headlight during the day because it tended to drain the battery. The old charging system just could not keep up, could have had something to do with the Lucas electrics. This had the result of being pulled over regularly for operating without a headlight, but never resulted in a ticket because the bike was just beyond the date where a headlight was required during the daytime.
Click to expand...
 
So to expand with what you are saying, simply turning on lights when in motion will satisfy the HTA reqt, therefore having a '77 bike with no "auto" running headlamp will not cause the bike to fail safety?
 
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