Idiot lights

[Paul the Destroyer]

Right stupid question time

I've just been out on the Strada to blow a few cobwebs away and to get soem tropical fish medicine.

On the way back I errrr missed a gear an the red light came on and stayed on. I've checked the oil and that's ok.

I have 3 lights

Green which seems to be on all the time
Blue which I know is high beam
Red No idea

Did it light up as I'm an idiot?

or have started breaking it

The lights are laid left to right in the order above

All abuse welcomed

[72degrees]

What year is it? This thread may help you and/or depress you:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=601&start=0

[morini500dave]

Hi,green is lights on light,red oil light.Oil light should go off when the engine is running!
Dave.

[Paul the Destroyer]

OK I'm officially confused

Mines a '77 kick start only model.

The red light has never come on before.

It never ever lit when the ignition came on, so is it possiblr it's a charge light?

[Steve Brown]

Don't panic! If your bike is standard the red light was wired originally to come on all the time the ignition was on, running or not. So, if you are out at night you should be dazzled by a red light to let you know you turned the ignition key to on, a green light to tell you the lights really are actually switched on even if you can't see where you're going and a blue one to tell you that main beam is on. They were all usually brighter than the head light
Perhaps yours had a slightly dodgy electrical connection (yes, possible-really!) that was vibrated into life by the over-revving. Morini wiring is very imaginative and gives hours of entertainment when 30-odd years old and post a couple of dozen puzzled owners
If it has been fitted with an oil pressure light it will most likely be on the primary drive cover near the front, possibly underneath and looking like a typical car bit. Which it is.
Hope that helps put your mind at rest!

[72degrees]

The small bulbs used in the idiot lights sometimes come loose. My GFR uses a similar one for the instrument light in the temperature gauge. When I came to put a new bulb in recently I discovered the old one hadn't blown and a quick twiddle had it shining again. I can see that a good dose of revs might bring the red ignition idiot light back to life.

As far as I can see from the link I posted a 77 wouldn't have an oil pressure switch as standard. My 76 350 motor and the spare 77 one I have certainly don't.

[Paul the Destroyer]

Phew

Thanks all

Looks like I've got soem wiring playing to do. The idiot lights do flash as you turn the bars so It'll be out with the soldering ironat some point.

For a minute I thought I'd blown it up.

[dvhttn]

As Steve said, red light is always on ... Thought it was stupid idea, though I'm sure there was a good reason for it back in the Morini design offices in the early 70s (probably just after a couple of bottles of a nice Chianti ... ). I bought an indicator unit with separate connector for an 'indicator warning light' and a yellow plastic cover to replace the red (light) one and now have a flashing yellow light on my dash when the indicators are working.

[Got the yellow as, for the UK, I believe the red one could well have failed the MOT. It was only about £2 anyway].

Works for me.

[EVguru]

As Steve said, red light is always on ... Thought it was stupid idea, though I'm sure there was a good reason for it back in the Morini design offices in the early 70s.

It's a fuel on light.

[Steve Brown]

It's a fuel on light.[/quote]

So that's what they meant! I bought mine new in 1977 and I didn't even get an owners handbook (was there ever one?) to explain that. Morphy Motors where I bought it told me it was an 'ignition warning light'. Not sure what they thought the warning actually meant, but they were also the people who connected the battery back to front fried the regulator, demagnetised the flywheel and told me the hard starting and poor charge was how Italian bikes are. And their remedy? a new battery and electric fuel tap. It only got fixed after a visit to a little shop I'd never heard of before called NLM. Funny how that name keeps cropping up? Morphy Motors disappeared not long after I'd found them, so they obviously ran out of enough fools of the right calibre to keep them going. Good thing too, they also knackered Laverdas regularly as well, and they were built like combined harvesters by comparison!

[Richard A]

As Steve said, red light is always on ... Thought it was stupid idea, though I'm sure there was a good reason for it back in the Morini design offices in the early 70s.

It's a fuel on light.

I hadn't thought of that way of thinking about it before... I can make sense of that.

[3potjohn]

If it is wired to the oil pressure switch ,these either leak through the body of the switch or get crud in sometimes,causing them to stay on.What this crud is exactly is a matter of some interest perhaps.
Incidentally I used to find fish problems down to needing a water/filter sort out, being careful about the water quality and temperature.Bit like beer really.Anyway this is going off the point.