Light goes off. It’s not the bulb or the fuse ?

[Fredo]

I had a weird thing happened tonight. I was riding then I realized that the low beam was off so I tried to turn the high beam to realised they were was off Too. Only the parking light so the orange turn signal was on. I stop to Auto-zone shop thinking I m going to get a new bulb. But then realized the hig beam and low beam are to different bulbs. So I’m thinking must be a fuse. Checked all of them to see their were all good. Start the bike again and all the lights work again. then drive a mile and the light goes off again. Stop the bike restart and the light go back again. Happened an other couple times. Anyone would have any idea what is happening here. Could it be a relay ?
Thanks in advance for your expertise.

 

[seagrass]

This is a common problem and it is caused by the engine starter switch (not the ignition key switch). When you activate the switch it turns off the headlight to supply full power from the battery to the starter motor.

Other members have fixed the problem by spraying the switch with WD40 or similar.

Seagrass

 

[DirtFlier]

Just for clarification, the switch mentioned by Seagrass is on the right side of the handlebar.

 

[Fredo]

Wow thank you so much guys. Not something that would have Come in my mind.
i m going to try that.
I’m thinking spraying silicone instead of w40. What’s your thoughts

 

[DarylCincy]

Both previous Honda's I had cleaning the starter switch helped but I did have to replace both in the end.

 

[RedLdr1]

I’m thinking spraying silicone instead of w40. What’s your thoughts

I'd use WD-40 to get the grunge out of the switch first. Silicone isn't a very good cleaner...

 

[Fredo]

thanks again.
do I have to take it a part or just spray in the switch space ?

 

[NewTo700V]

 

[RedLdr1]

thanks again.
do I have to take it a part or just spray in the switch space ?

I just put the "pipe", like the yellow one above, in to the assembly and blast away from both sides. Make sure you have a shop rag handy to wrap around the switch as it will drip...a lot.

 

[DirtFlier]

I would remove the two phillips screws that hold the assy onto the handlebar, split it open slightly then spray electrical cleaner into the switch. And be sure to put something over the tank and plastic to protect it from all the grunge.

 

[Rand soper]

I had that happen, but it turned out that one of the wires attached to the starter switch had come unsoldered. Weird freak thing. I soldered it back in place and haven't had the problem since.

 

[zzouriparts]

I agree with seagrass, the same thing happened to me on my 2007 Suzuki Burgman 650, Took apart the switch and cleaned everything and worked fine. I did use a little dry graphite grease just on the plastic parts that contact one another, not on the actual contactor.

 

[Warren]

The first time the lights on my NT went out while I was riding I just hit the starter switch a few times while I was riding and it cleared up. It takes some courage to this as you think the starter motor will engage but of course it does not.

 

[Fredo]

So what I did was blow some of that electronic spray (I had one Can handy) through the cracks of the kill switch like some of you suggested. It’s been few days now and so f so good. Thank you guys.
I do ride a lot at night. So Light means a lot to me.
Cheers,
Frédéric

 

[Woodaddict]

I ride do alot of night riding too. the main headlight went off, but I had 2 aux (900 lumens each)LED driving lights that got me thru before I had time to clean start switch

 

[Fredo]

Yeah I should get some myself.

 

[Brillot2000]

The headlight cutout switch has been in use on all Hondas since the 1975 Model Year and onward. This came about from a Federal Safety Standard that required all motorcycles to have their headlight to be on when in operation. This was to improve the visibility of the motorcycle to all drivers.

There are a few Honda models that did away with the headlight cutout switch. NaNCy my 2013 NC700X is one of those models. The headlight is on while cranking the starter.

 

[Fredo]

Thank you for the info Brillot2000.
interesting

 

[ARKNT]

It seems this failure is common knowledge to many Honda riders since it is used so much. It was news to me the first time it happened on the NT.
Other manufacturers use other schemes to leave the headlight off (and thus full battery power to the starter) until the bike is running such as a headlight relay that doesn't pick up until the engine is running. All designs have there positives & negatives.
Places like this forum sure are nice to give the info and fix in a very short time.

Brad

 

[Brillot2000]

It seems this failure is common knowledge to many Honda riders since it is used so much. It was news to me the first time it happened on the NT.
Other manufacturers use other schemes to leave the headlight off (and thus full battery power to the starter) until the bike is running such as a headlight relay that doesn't pick up until the engine is running. All designs have there positives & negatives.
Places like this forum sure are nice to give the info and fix in a very short time.

Brad

Both Yamaha and Kawasaki used what was called a "Reverse Lighting Unit" that kept the headlight off unit the engine was running. It was a "Black Box" electronic module installed between the headlight and wiring harness. These units were quite expensive to replace if they failed to work as intended.

Typically relays were not introduced into the motorcycle wiring harness until the late 1990s or early 2000s. Prior to that time period, everything was hard-wired and went through the ignition switch, and then the control switches. This added additional contact resistances as these components aged or became oxidized. Thus reducing the current-carrying capabilities and inserting voltage drops and reducing the applied voltage to the lighting. A yellow headlight was a telltale of this condition.