Topic: Headlight / tail light out

[Jul]

So I was riding home a few nights ago on a dark, winding road in Vermont and the headlight & tail light went out.  Luckily I was about a mile from home and the moon was full and bright.  I haven't been able to figure out what's going on though...

* 750K6 in very good shape.

* Headlight & tail light out- high beam indicator light out.

* Brake light works.  All bulbs inspected, tested & working.

* Everything else works normally.

* Checked all obvious connections & wires inside the headlight frame; likewise near the tail light.

*&^*&% IT FINALLY STOPPED RAINING AFTER 6 WEEKS.

Thanks for any suggestions...

[seaweb11]

I did a search for your post heading and came up with this. (Search function on every page at top)

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=10124.0

[Jul]

Thanks!  I did search before posting, but didn't come up with anything conclusive.  I do have the shop manual with the wiring diagram, but chasing wires hasn't gotten me anywhere yet.  There isn't an on/off switch for the headlights and the high/low switch appears to be operating normally...

[Jul]

Ahhh, just for the record...

It was... the starter switch, which was working normally as far as starting the engine goes but not working normally as far as reconnecting the headlight / tail light.  I didn't figure it out until I took apart the whole starter / stop switch and found that the switch itself had been 'repaired,' at some point, by which I mean duct taped together.  The plastic was totally friable and fell apart in my hands.  The contraption has worked flawlessly for the 6 or 7 years I've had the bike, amazingly.

Out of curiosity... how do you put those back together when the plastic *isn't* falling apart?  The little roller-ball looks like it has to be precariously balanced while the rocker plate is suspended and floating upside down in the little brackets.  Telekinesis?  WTF?

[cadaver]

im glad you found your problem ...i was having the same problem yesterday .and it was driven me crazy trying to find the flaw..and i just hooked up the starter button last week and was thinking that the botton was working just fine..but maybe thats not the case ..so ill look into that today ..

[TwoTired]

Out of curiosity... how do you put those back together when the plastic *isn't* falling apart?  The little roller-ball looks like it has to be precariously balanced while the rocker plate is suspended and floating upside down in the little brackets.  Telekinesis?  WTF?

Tenacious dedication, Perseverance, Stubborn will, and a little plastic safe grease to tack things together long enough for assembly.  Must also use gravity and specific part orientation.

I've rebuilt 5 of these switches.  4 of them successfully! 

Cheers,

[cadaver]

ok so what if you have all lights working on that circuit but the headlight ...the tail works blinkers ..i mean all are working ..than it still could be the wire that goes to your starter button ?

[TwoTired]

The starter button interrupts headlight power only when pressed, not any other lighting...by design.

Creative connectionism, on the other hand, can produce varied results.   

Are you losing instrument bulb power too?

Maybe scrutinize you left hand control?

Cheers,

[goon 1492]

Out of curiosity... how do you put those back together when the plastic *isn't* falling apart?  The little roller-ball looks like it has to be precariously balanced while the rocker plate is suspended and floating upside down in the little brackets.  Telekinesis?  WTF?

Tenacious dedication, Perseverance, Stubborn will, and a little plastic safe grease to tack things together long enough for assembly.  Must also use gravity and specific part orientation.

I've rebuilt 5 of these switches.  4 of them successfully! 

Cheers,

Now I know why your too tired, Man when I dove into taking mine apart it did the same thing but it was soaked on brake fluid. I just took it out, bypasse dthe wires and did what you see in the pic below, 12 15amp automotive push button switch from auto parts store, and a blue led on/off switch for the headlight to turn off when needed, and the led is nice because you can see from sitting ont he bike position if your head light is on or not. also forgot to mention the headlight switch is right in front of the horn button, I know I know they aren't water proof, the starter switch has dielectric grease all over it and I figured the brids nest of wires behind the head light really isn't very waterproof, I could be wrong though.

[Jul]

Yeah, I thought about rebuilding some kind of replacement switch to go inside the assembly... jeweler's skill set and all... I can probably do it.  I'll give it a try, but if that doesn't work it looks like I'll be buying a whole new starter / stop switch assembly as I don't think the little switch mechanism gets sold by itself.

In the meantime I just have to look cool and kick start the ol' girl.

P.S. Glad it wasn't just me thinking that thing was a bit of a pain in the ass to put back together.