intermittent Headlights

Again, the forum delivers ... just wish I had read this one prior to having my issue.

Took off on a night ride home and all seemed fine until I got on the freeway and noticed that my lane was dark. I peeked over the front of the bike and saw light (turns out it was the running light), but figured I had better check this out. Took the next exit and ended up in a Target parking lot. Sure enough my headlight was out (both low and high beams).
Checked: The fuse and bulbs all looked fine. After starting the bike a couple of times the head light came back on, so I headed home. Once home I figured that I had a short and opened my manual to start figuring out where the short might be. After about an hour I jumped on the forum and guess what I found!...Thank you again. I have since sprayed the starter contacts and all seems good.

Symptoms that I noticed when the head lights were out and I activated the high beam, no (blue) indicator was displayed on the panel. So now when I am riding (during the day) and curious if the headlight is on I just flick the high beam and look for the high beam indicator. (and yes, I am much more vigilant about checking the headlight before riding away).

Figured I'd post so that some of the newer riders (like me) might see this and keep it in mind should they run into this problem.

axamax said:

Spray some contact cleaner in the Right hand switch gear. It's the starter button causing the problem.

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Agree.... It's the starter button. I had same problem and started letting it go every time I start it so it pops out quickly. Haven't had any problems since. If it does it again, flip the starter button a couple times. You can do this while riding in gear, do not pull the clutch or put in neutral, just hit the starter button and it will clear it up. It does not work the starter when you are in gear and clutch lever not pulled. I use this method to flip lights at oncoming traffic to warn them of hazards. ( Former 10 year Honda Technician ).

PS: If it continues you will need to replace the starter button. It has contacts in there to turn off the headlight (all beams) when starting.
PPS; sorry didn't read all the posts if someone has already answered this...

DJ

Good tip. Thanks

WV Rider, awesome tip. Had to go look at the schematics....yup that should work. Tried it.....yep it works. It's still a little unsettling to push the starter button at speed, trusting that another switch contact (clutch) hasn't failed and engage the starter motor. Thanks, really great idea for flashing the lights.

I've got the exact same problem now that i hit 30k miles. Would anyone be able to post a pic of what I need to do to fix my problem? Clean my contacts? Where are the contacts located?
thanks,

ddornier said:

I've got the exact same problem now that i hit 30k miles. Would anyone be able to post a pic of what I need to do to fix my problem? Clean my contacts? Where are the contacts located?
thanks,

Click to expand...

Y'know the button you push to start the bike? The contacts are under that button. I've had good luck just spraying in some De-Oxit from outside, and pushing and wiggling the button. Try that, before you take things apart.

If it still gives you trouble, you can unscrew the screws and carefully open that housing, and clean the parts from inside. Inside are small parts including springs, so if you open it, wrap a towel around it first and go carefully so as not to have parts fly away and get lost.

I have this problem now, will spray tonight and report tomorrow.

I've had the problem too and just wiggled things.

Surprising to me that Honda is still using these cheap switches. Talked to another rider with one of the newer Gold Wings and they even use the cheap switches in those. Guess the extra $5 for water proof switches is too much for mother honda.

Well, tomorrow never came for me, but I did spray the switch and the lights are back 100%. Thanks.

So glad for this thread. I had seen it before and just had the same issue. A couple of shots of wd-40 and its back to normal.

This worked for me today, too. Thanks for the tip!

spraying contact cleaner in the switch worked for me also.... Thanks..

on a side note, is there a purpose/function for the 'position light'...?

dlb said:

on a side note, is there a purpose/function for the 'position light'...?

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it is required in Europe for parking... Honda left it in when they stripped some of the other European features for the NA market...probably so we wouldn't ask what the "hole" was for...:rolleyes1:

I really appreciate all of this info. My headlight would go off, then come back on and I had no idea of what was causing this.
Thanks -John

For what it is worth regarding headlights! I had my mech replace the standard original headlight bulb with a higher powered super white bulb tht fit correctly and did a great job, but about two weeks ago I lost low beam, Went to ddealership and ask service manager if he would change it out for me, He said fine , go to parts and get a new bulb and biring it to me. I did and when I got back to service he had gotten into it and found that the connector going into the headlight was burned and had fallen off of the light bulb. He accomplished a temp fix and put the stock Honda bulb into it. He is ordering a replcemen tfor that piec of wire , I ned to check on how that is going .

I would suggest if you have done this type of upgrade to your head light you might want to check it out for damages!!!

Eldon

The WD-40 on the starter switch solution worked for my intermittent high beam problem.

The most common reason wires melt, or burn through, is too many amperes of current on a wire not correctly gauged for the load. A "standard" 55 Watt headlight uses approximately 4.5 Amps of current. An EBay high powered replacement 130 Watt bulb uses almost 11 amps of current. Most manufactures do not use a wire gauge that can handle twice it's OEM specified current to keep costs down. And in most cases they fuse the circuit to only support the OEM designed load plus small overage. An overloaded wire, in a contained space like a headlight housing, will "cook" that much faster... You should also consider the headlight switch amperage rating the load is going through, I've seen melted headlight switches on cars and motorcycles...it ain't pretty, or cheap, if you have to pay to have wiring issues fixed.

If you are going to run bulbs that are much more than the OEM recommended wattage it pays to either rewire it yourself or purchase a wiring kit with the correct gauge wires, fuses, and relays to control the circuit. As a side benefit the lights will work better and be brighter as well....

Worked for me, too. I bought the bike understanding I'd have to replace both bulbs and lo and behold, a little WD-40 and I'm golden. Thanks for this, everyone!

I would clean the kill switch. I bet that'll fix it. Also, make sure that the battery connections are clean and tight.

Hey you guys are life-savers! I've been having the intermittent headlight issue for about a week or so, it was driving me crazy. I was at the point of trying to decide to take all the fairings & panniers off to try and find the suspected loose wire, or pony up the dough to my shop and have them do it and finally thought to check here... and lo and behold it turns out it's the starter switch contacts sticking. Picking up some contact cleaner from Amazon today... thanks for saving me tons of $$$!!