Headlight Out

[APDDave]

I am on day two of a 12 day road trip and I noticed that my low beam headlight is out. I got a new bulb at an auto parts store and put it in thinking it would be fixed. Still no light. I checked the fuse by switching it with the highbeam fuse and the fuse was good? I have not changed or added any wiring for a long time, so I dont think I messed anything up. I still have my high beam and fog lights for visibility in the day time, but I think it would be dificult seeing at night. Any thoughts on anything else simple that I can check myself, dont want to take the time out to find a dealer untill I get home. Bike is an 04 1150rt.

[Quinn]

I'd try another bulb again. If that doesn't work, then panic. Was the first bulb blown? If so, the wiring was most likely working up until it failed.

 

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[APDDave]

After I figured out it probably was not the bulb, I took a good look at the original bulb I took out and it looked good?

[flars]

Headlight connectors are known to get funky and not provide a good contact, and sometimes they outright fail.

Make sure the connector looks clean. If you have a meter, check for good contact.

Interesting - I was pretty sure there wasn't a 'fuse' on the light.

[Dallas]

The ground on the headlight high and low beam seems to be a weak spot on this era RT. If you could, I'd try creating a path to a known good ground from the headlight socket and see if that fixes it. If it does, the check the ground connection on the high beam. I had a problem there on mine. Took out both the high and low beam for me.

[APDDave]

Well I just got back from my trip and here is the update on the headlight. It started working again a day or so after I put the new bulb in. I thought that since I had ridden through quite a bit of rain that it may have caused the problem and when it dried out it started working. Then I noticed the headlight out again the next day. It continued to work intermittenly over the course of the trip, working most of the time towards the end. It is only the main headlight, the high beam and fog lights always work. I called the dealer today as I am in need of a service and tires and told them about the headlight problem. I was told that there has been some problems with "the headlight ground ring on the headlight assembly", and that the whole assembly would need to be replaced? It only cost $600 for the assembly! What do you guys think? There has to be an easier fix.

[chrisz]

Now that the problem has been pointed out, I'm sure you could add a decent gage wire and make a ground strap. Worth trying.

[boatzo]

I have to say that I do not think the whole assembly has to be replaced. As others have posted, the ground wire has been a problem. All you gotta do is find another spot to ground the ring with 14ga wire.You will have to improvise a bit.

 

I also am a strong believer in installing relays for the lights to keep high current draw off the hi/lo switch, but that won't help the ground problem.