Jump to content
CBR1100XX.org Forum

headlights out


wr0ngway

Recommended Posts

My headlights went out, both of them :icon_think: . Its not the fuse and not the bulbs. From the wiring diagram it looks like it must be in the starter/kill switch (i don't think so) or a relay. Is there a headlight relay (and part number) or related, i couldn't find this part on ronayers.

Thanks,

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem could also be in the left hand switch (bright/dim).

TY. I'll look at that because that is when the lights went out, when I was switching the high beam on for broader lighting pattern at highway entrance ramp.

click. nothing. uh-oh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.... because that is when the lights went out, when I was switching the high beam on for broader lighting pattern at highway entrance ramp. click. nothing.uh-oh.

Need more stickers?

yea, exxpecially Goofy and Tigger, but whatever you have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My headlight went out also not long ago. The turn signals were also affected. I added a wire to the green lead the goes to the low beam and attached it to the fairing stay. Solved both the headlight problem and the signals. I must have had a poor ground somewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem could also be in the left hand switch (bright/dim).

TY. I'll look at that because that is when the lights went out, when I was switching the high beam on for broader lighting pattern at highway entrance ramp.

click. nothing. uh-oh.

It happened to me on a recent trip. My XX is still pretty darn new - a 2003 bought as a close-out with zero miles

in 2005 - it only has 17000 miles on it. This was the first time it acted up.

I don't know what if anything I did to cause it. We pulled into our dinner stop and the guy riding in front of

me said "y'know, your headlight is out." I was surprised, but we'd ridden a lot of bumpy back roads that day

so I figured the lowbeam bulb filament was broken. Tried the highbeam, nothing. (nor did the blue highbeam

indicator go on.) I checked the fuse, it was OK; swapped in the spare fuse anyway - no joy. Someone did

suggest the switch but I wasn't in the mood to disassemble that at the restaurant, 400 miles from home.

After we ordered, and were waiting for our dinner, I went back out to the parking lot. For some reason I

decided to trace the switch wire harness into the fairing. Reasoning that it plugged into the electronic

instrument board, I reached up under the instruments (hard to do with big hands) and traced the wires

up to where they plugged in. I wiggled the plug a bit while pushing it toward the board.

Surprisingly, this seemed to do the trick - and the headlights have been working ever since - all the

way home, and for several weeks of commuting and multi-hundred mile weekend day trips. I'm not

unhappy that the problem went away, but I wonder if/when it will happen again. It may be that the

plug was just a tad loose and I fixed the problem... I dunno.

Oh, the turn signals worked fine while the headlight was out - I would have noticed sooner if they

weren't working.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FWIW, this same thing happened to Brandon from Illinois (Red '01 Bird - can't recall his forum name!) last weekend on a trip to the Smokies. He had no high or low-beam, although they would intermittently come on from time to time. We checked the wiring and fuses (all seemed A-ok) and eventually fired up a lap-top to search the forum.

I had remembered that there IS a relay that kills the headlight circuit when the starter is thumbed on most modern Hondas (the XX included), and between that and what he found in the searches, we narrowed it down to a loose wire in the RIGHT switchgear. Went back to the bike and bingo!; that was it! Basically a wire had come loose inside the housing, such that the headlight relay was keeping the headlight circuit turned off, even when the starter wasn't being activated. Touching the wire back to the proper point had the headlights come back on. Now getting the wire to STAY there was another story (we didn't have a soldering gun), but at least we knew how to fix it when tools became available!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FWIW, this same thing happened to Brandon from Illinois (Red '01 Bird - can't recall his forum name!) last weekend on a trip to the Smokies. He had no high or low-beam, although they would intermittently come on from time to time. We checked the wiring and fuses (all seemed A-ok) and eventually fired up a lap-top to search the forum.

I had remembered that there IS a relay that kills the headlight circuit when the starter is thumbed on most modern Hondas (the XX included), and between that and what he found in the searches, we narrowed it down to a loose wire in the RIGHT switchgear. Went back to the bike and bingo!; that was it! Basically a wire had come loose inside the housing, such that the headlight relay was keeping the headlight circuit turned off, even when the starter wasn't being activated. Touching the wire back to the proper point had the headlights come back on. Now getting the wire to STAY there was another story (we didn't have a soldering gun), but at least we knew how to fix it when tools became available!

I just went out the garage to experiment. When I read what you wrote, I thought maybe the starter button had

somehow been jammed in a little bit, enough to disable the headlight. But the headlight doesn't turn off until the

button has been pressed in a few millimeters, then the starter kicks on in just another millimeter or so. So my

problem wasn't caused by a jammed starter button.

But next time I'll know to check the right-side switchgear, because when I had the starter button partly pushed in,

the headlights did just what they did when I was on the trip. So it probably was related to the right switchgear,

the headlight relay, or the wires/plugs in between. Thanks for the tip.

I'm thinking that I should investigate this weekend, instead of taking the chance that the headlight will decide to

blink out again while I'm in a tight corner on a dark night! Both high and low beams go away so no backup!

Years ago, the headlights completely failed on my old Kawasaki because the fuse blew. It was a dark and

rainy night - but luck was with me, it happened at the LAST streetlight on the way out of town - I was about to

head up the twisty mountain road back to our camp!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.... because that is when the lights went out, when I was switching the high beam on for broader lighting pattern at highway entrance ramp. click. nothing.uh-oh.

Need more stickers?

yea, exxpecially Goofy and Tigger, but whatever you have.

I was thinking along the lines of more Special Edition XX stickers in view of your activity when the lights when out, and the presumptive conclusion.....

So we've established that in the relatively unusual occurance of the situation, it could be the left switchgear, the right switchgear, or a plug behind the instrument panel, as well as the obvious bad fuse/bulb/headlight connection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was thinking along the lines of more Special Edition XX stickers in view of your activity when the lights when out.....
Glow in the dark stickers, I presume.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have ahad a few instances which my headlight would not go on after I started the bike too. My situation was a little different I think though. What I had to do was just "tap" the starter button once for it to come back on. It seems as if it's a multi-contact switch (shooting in the dark here, not looking at a schematic ) and it sticks. Anyway, when that happens to me, I just tap the starter button super quickly and it always comes back on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had my low beams cut off when I switched from high beams to low beams. I checked the bulbs, I checked the fuses but nothing was going to change out the high/low switch but after talking with Craig,(redxxrider) I thought I would check the wires from the switch to the lights with a meter. When I tracked the wires back found the connector under the fairing with scorch marks on the plastic where the low beam wires are. Cleaned the connections with alcohol and reconnected them bingo it worked fine but when I redid the lowers and put the wireing harness back up under the plastic it would cut off again. I found some tie wraps tie wraped the harness up securely and it now seams to be working fine.

It sucks if during the day you don't know the light was out and worse when you are riding to work in the dark and you loose your lights.

Good luck. Check all the connection and clean if needed.

Just my 2 cents.

Anita

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use