Lost high beams (m)

[J. Kidd]

OK, so the bike had to sit out in some heavy wind and rain the other night. I put her in the garage the next day.

Today when I fired her up, I had no high-beam. Low-beam worked fine but high-beam would not.

Possible places to check?? Is it the bulb, a fuse (and if so, where are the fuses), or something else?

[paradoxmd]

check the bulb. your fuses are under your seat next to the battery box. there are 4 fuses. three 10 amps, one 25. the 25 is the main. also check the switch on the handle bar. dirt and water can get in there. check to see if any wires have worn off insulation. good luck!

[md86]

Bulb .

[The CyberPoet]

Re: Lost high beams (m)

bike - heavy wind and rain the other night - no high-beam.

IMHO:
Either the bulb burnt out one of the filaments just by happenstance (and it had nothing to do with the rain & wind), or more likely, the wind caused driving rain to go into your selector switch (disassemble, clean out with WD-40 and if you can see the contacts, with emory cloth, then repack fully with dielectric grease before reassembly).
Good news: both are cheap fixes.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[J. Kidd]

Apparently it's just happenstance. I had a few minutes last night and took apart the hi/lo switch. It was dry, wires were in good shap, contacts looked good, etc. I sprayed it with some WD40 since I had it open. Still no high beams.

I just put the Silverstar bulb in last year. I pull that and put the original back in to verify that it is the bulb. Are these Silverstars prone to premature failure or did I just get a bad one (I know it happens)?

[The CyberPoet]

I just put the Silverstar bulb in last year. I pull that and put the original back in to verify that it is the bulb. Are these Silverstars prone to premature failure or did I just get a bad one (I know it happens)?

Bikes have extreme vibration issues and heat build-up issues that affect bulb life (usually resulting in shorter lives than cars). In typical use, a high-output filament can easily fail in a year, especially if you are running high-beams a lot in daylight... Not a big deal.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[J. Kidd]

UPDATE

Turns out it was the bulb. Bought a new Silverstar, brought it home, pulled the old bulb and sure enough, the high-beam filament was broken. Put the new one in and she's back to normal.

Per usual, thanks for the suggestions.

[rphazen]

I brought up this old post as the subject fit my situation.

I lost high beams so thought bulb, though both going at same time seemed strange unless I missed the 1st one. Very possible. The indicator light still lights so the switch must work.

Picked up new bulbs and when I came out to leave the bike was dead. Replaced battery rode home to change bulbs, checked high beams and they were working. Charging system putting out 14 volts so I think that’s O.K.

I took the bulbs back got my $47 dollars back.

2 days later (today) no high beams when I came out to ride to work. I’ll check it out tonight and let ya all know how this turns out.


P.S. I hate electrical problems.
Rod

[rphazen]

Well, I finally found the culprit to the lost high beams. It took alot longer to find than I would have liked. I ride it every day.

1. Bulbs were O.K. (but no power on the high side of the plug)
2. Fuses were O.K. (seperate fuse for high and low)
3. Dimmer switch was O.K.
4. The indicator light would light so it is O.K. (and a clue that it's between there and the headlight plug)
5. Time to start checking wiring.

There are two connectors that are easy to get to under the Center Upper Panel (the one above the headlights). It's not them! The headlight wiring goes through them so it would be good to check them for corrosion. The connector that fail for me was behind the Right Cowl and under the Instrument Panel. As you can see in the pic, the terminal was corroded and charred. Hope this helps someone down this same road.


And no extra charge for the Bee guts in the pic.