Intermittent failure of Head Light!

Dear Silverwingers,

I have another conundrum to put to you all

What I thought was a blown headlamp bulb (dipped beam), turns out to be some kind of electrical fault!

Occasionally when I start my bike, and sometimes even when riding, my headlamp (dipped beam) fails to work. When this happens, I have made the following observations:-

The 2 small sidelights stay on

The trigger switch for the full beam bulb works but the main trip switch does not!! In fact my friend watching from an upstairs window says that both headlamp bulbs come on when I apply the trigger switch!!! But he may have been mistaken ........

All other lights are operating correctly

Any suggestions?

SteVe

The obvious place to look is the light switch.

Now I will bow to more superior knowledge.

Try cleaning the contacts in the starter switch.

Same experience with mine. Final result was that the bulb was not making a connection in the socket. Vibration over time seemed to be the problem. When I went to replace it the bulb came on. Hope this helps. J.R.

My local (first class) spannerman recommended spraying WD40 over the switches, and then working them on and off a few times. Apparently it cleans off the contacts without the need for taking things apart. Quick,cheap fix, worked for me! Just remember to wipe eveything clean afterwards!

Graham

I'd go with the spray and wiggle routine before fiddling around with the bulb. Fiddling around in the confined space where the headlight bulbs are needs both patience and dexterity and a small torch and mirror are useful to have. I've found taking the rubber dust cover off rather fiddly if it's not been removed before, and spraying it with rubber lubricant makes it a lot easier to put back on and remove in the future.

Last year coming home in the dark my headlight bulb suddenly went out, the two sidelights were still on but no dipped beam, main beam still worked. in my case it was my recently fitted handle bar mitts which were somehow interfering with the trigger switch, which seemed to cut out the main dip beam. I would be looking at the trigger switch first if i were you.

Thank you so much everybody!!

Especially, Old Limey in Bolton who I think has nailed my problem!

I too use those excellent Italian muffs and my trigger switch has become sticky to the point where it almost stays on!!

Now where's that old can of WD40 ......................................

SteVe

Nice, it sounds like an easy fix and thanks for letting us know.

Would it be worth spraying the switchgear once a year as a bit of preventative maintenance?

WD40, liquid maintenance in a tin.

Thats what this site is all about. Helping each other, if possible from our experiances, i'm glad my contribution helped someone, just as Bigbird, Jeff and many others have helped me in the past.

RArch wrote:

Nice, it sounds like an easy fix and thanks for letting us know.

Would it be worth spraying the switchgear once a year as a bit of preventative maintenance?

Can't see why not, certainly wouldn't do any harm.

Quick update: A quick squirt of WD40 in and around the switching gear on the left handlebar seems to have completely cured this problem

Thanks guys!

SteVe

steveonfarm wrote:

Quick update: A quick squirt of WD40 in and around the switching gear on the left handlebar seems to have completely cured this problem

Thanks guys!

SteVe

I refer to my answer above!!!!

'maintenance in a tin'