Where has my headlight gone?....
 

Usually ride my bike during the day but was put in a pretty tough spot over the weekend when I needed to drive home across town and my headlight was out high and low beams! Since I had no other alternatives I had to creep home borrowing the light from other cars. Crazy.

So I've had a little electrical drama before, about a month ago 2 wires touched the cylinder head and shorted out. Fixed the wires, replaced the fuses and I was good to go. Thought it would be a fuse issue again but... both high and low beam fuses are fine and took the bulb out and inspected and the filaments look great too. Is there a way to test the bulb straight off the battery or some other test to better diagnose the issue. ( I have a little voltmeter) I've traced the wiring as best I can and don't see any problem areas. Any ideas?

-James

Re: Where has my headlight gone?....
 

Check the ground....common - connection. That's about the only thing that will kill both .....unless the bulb is bad or both + inputs are bad for some reason. If you have touched the bulb with your bare fingers, you should get a new one anyway.....and don't touch the new one.

Do NOT try to test the bulb outside of a socket; they get VERY hot VERY fast.

Rather than tracing the wires, you need to trace the voltage.......and the ground....with your meter.

Re: Where has my headlight gone?....
 

You can also check the bulb with the continuity setting on a meter when it's out of the socket just to see if there is a break in the filament you can't see.

Re: Where has my headlight gone?....
 

Cool, i'll check the bulb continuity then the wires. I noticed the speedo and the high beam indicator light are also out. Does this give any more clues as to where the issue may be?

Re: Where has my headlight gone?....
 

Sounds like it MAY be a bad connector somewhere in the circuit. You DEFINITELY need to check if there is a voltage at the headlight bulb connector. If there is a voltage between bulb holder & the bike body, then the power source is o.k. Next, test bulb holder to bulb holder earth. If this doesn't show a voltage, then this neutral is your problem.

If you don't get a voltage between bulb holder & bike body, then it's a voltage supply problem. Start working your way back along the feed cable, disconnecting each connector in turn, & doing the voltage check each time (at the side furthest away from the headlight) Each time you check & get a voltage, re-connect the connector & try the headlight. Just opening & closing a bad connector MAY solve the problem. :)

Re: Where has my headlight gone?....
 

If you have touched the bulb with your bare fingers, you should get a new one anyway.....and don't touch the new one.

A minute deposit of oil from your skin will create a hot spot on the bulb, which will kill it. Wiping off the bulb with a lintless material will work well. Something like a tissue for eye glasses. I learned this the hard way.

Re: Where has my headlight gone?....
 

Alcohol is recommended.

Re: Where has my headlight gone?....
 

Turns out bulb WAS fine just another short. Gotta keep those wires clear of all those hot parts! Is the speedometer/odometer display supposed to be lit on these bikes? If so mine isn't........

Re: Where has my headlight gone?....
 

Yes, quite dimly though, you can only see it in the dark.

Re: Where has my headlight gone?....
 

And even in the dark you can't see the trip meter (or is that just on my bike?)