A short time back I lost headlights, although high beams work fine. I finally got into the fusebox today, and the headlight fuse is fine. That pretty much exhausts my knowledge of electrical lighting systems. Any suggesions/help will be greatly appreciated.
A bit more research indicated that there were headlight relays, one for lowbeam and one for highbeam, so I thought this could be my problem. I removed both relays and switched them, and I still had high beams but no low beams. Now I really am at the end of my electrical lighting system knowledge. HELP!!!
Many have been having this problem lately. It is highly unlikely that you have had two bulbs go at once but it is possible. The problem is generally in the switch housings. Start with the hi/low beam switch. They tend to get gummed up or filled with gunk over the years. Take the switch housing apart and clean it with some contact cleaner or something similar then put it back together. You might consider cleaning out the switch housing on the other side as the starter button can do the same thing, although I believe when it does this that it cuts both hi and low beams from function so that more power is available for starting. If you don't want to go buy bulbs to test them, use a voltmeter. Just disconnect the plug going to the light and connect the voltmeter to the terminals and have the bike on. If you show voltage, your bulbs are dead. If you have no voltage it SHOULD be in the switch, especially if you swapped relays and still have no low beams but still have high beams.
and just fyi, you can get a voltmeter (or usually referred to as a multimeter) for about $5 or less from harbor freight. they might not be of "superior" quality but they work perfect for the average user that doesn't need a measurement within .05% accuracy. neither of mine have ever failed to tell me exactly what i've wanted to know.
So your relay is good. You can narrow the problem considerably at the point of the relay with a bent paper clip to short wires...a test light would be helpful too. Can you see the colors of the wires that go to the relay? If so, remove the low beam relay,turn the ignition switch on and with the bent paper clip, jump the black/red and white/black terminals...bet your lows will come on (don't let the clip touch a ground or you'll blow your headlight fuse). Next, find a good ground for the clip on your test light and with the bulb end probe the blue/white wire...with your dimmer in the low position it should light. If it doesn't, your problem is either the dimmer switch, or the starter button, or the wiring in between. If you get that far, report your results and I can help you troubleshoot the rest of it.
Hello, on my "new to me" 1999 VFR800, the low beam goes on/off as I press on the low side of the switch. Sounds like the contacts, but how do I open up the switch casing? It is not obvious to me.
