Topic: No Headlight or light behind gauges.

[550cafe]

Alright, I'm a little confused as to where to look for this wiring issue. My head light will go on for a few seconds and then go out which makes me think its a grounding somewhere, but i really dont know where to look for a loose ground. the wires on the head light are fine. Also i have no light behind my gauges nor does the "highbeam" light come on when i do have the headlight on. Do you guys have any ideas of where to start looking for the fix? This is my last issue until i can do get my bike inspected. Or if there is a quick fix to get the headlight up and running (aka HID conversion) let me know please.

Thank again for you time guys. I searched for help with this one and was pointed to a couple wiring diagrams, but i have no idea where certain things are on the bike let alone what certain things are functioning as. I also dont have a multimeter to test out the connections so i'm kinda stuck.

[TwoTired]

With a cafe, anything could be different from stock.  However, stock 550's all have a headlight interrupter when the starter button is pushed.  If the switch in the control pod has *ever* seen brake fluid, it's plastic housing deteriorates, and the electrical contacts inside loose their orientation.  Vibration can make them intermittent.

Or, the connections inside the headlight bucket may have become loose.

If it began life as an F model, another place to look for loose connections is on the frame, left side, under the tank.

You can get a multimeter for around 10-20 bucks.  So, there is little excuse not to have one for probing electrical issues.  Without it, you're pretty much in the take-everything-apart-and-put-it-back-together-to-see-if-it-works mode.

Cheers,

[RedMavrik]

I agree...

Also check to make sure that none of your wiring is stripped or in dilapidated condition, sometimes the corrosion that forms in bad wiring can be troublesome without even being seen.

[Bob550four]

If you dont want to BUY a multimeter, although you should have one.  you can do like I do, and have a friend with all these tools that you can hang out with once in awhile to locate the source of such issues.

while you're looking at this stuff, it would be a good idea to clean all your wire connections and put some dielectric grease on them.
just to save time in the future.