Valkyrie Riders Cruiser Club

First of all I have a 99 I/S and here's short timeline leading up to my problem.

Been riding for a little over a month now since getting out from winter. Had no trouble with low/high beam. Washed bike yesterday, this a.m. on way to work when I switched from high to low....no headlights. High beam works fine, all other lights work fine. When hitting starter the highs will cut out as they should.

When I got to work I tore apart the left side housing with the light switch and used some contact cleaner on all the underside surfaces of the switch. Contacts look good, still no low beam.

Got home this evening tore apart the starter switch cleaned and greased the contacts there, STILL NO low beams. Checked fuses under rightside panel. 5A relay and 15A headlight fuses are good.

I have done searches and am not having any luck beyond what I have tried.
Any and all help appreciated. TIA

I know this defies logic, but did you check the bulbs?
-RP

 :2funny:

RP, yes they are checked, not the bulbs they are good. I was thinking same, what are chances of both going same time.?.?.not the case though.

When I first got my Valk the low beam didn't work. I cleaned the switch, no change. Bent the contacts up (or down, don't remember exactly. In the direction they looked like they wanted to go), like in a battery powered game, and it's been fine ever since.
Fred.

That happen to me and I fround a broken wire down by the relay It was out of the mount and was just hanging with one wire broken off 

I've heard about this sort of problem before.
On the IS, I think there are two relays that control your hi/low beams. If you can find them swop them over and see if the problem jumps from your low beams to your hi's. If it does, it's a faulty relay.
Also bear in mind that sometimes just the act of pulling connectors apart and putting them together again sometimes lets everything make contact again.

You are correct there is a relay for low and a seperate realy for high.  From the battery to the hi/low switch there is one common line.  If the high beams are working the problem cannot be before the hi/low switch but from the switch onward.  Looking at the wiring diagram it shows the headlight circuit going through a green 14 pin connector in the L inner fairing. The low beam relay (under seat) connects to a brown connector/base and the High beam realy connects to a black connector/base.  For meter measurement purposes.... >> Low beam relay 12v input on the white/blue wire and output on the white/black wire.  The high beam realy output for lamp is blue/black.  High input is color is same as low,(common source)

Just to muddy the waters a bit.....I had no low beams a couple of days ago and it WAS the bulbs!!  Both went at the same time.  New ones fixed it.  Stan

Did they both go out at the same time, or did you just notice after the second one went out, and you had no low beams? ;)

Thanks Cliff for confirming what Chippy01 mentioned. I will check out the relay's as well as what Chippy suggested about unplugging and plugging all connections hopefully tonight after work. Will let you know what the outcome is.

i'd second that one about cleaning the high/low switch on your left handle bar.  my lights will stay off sometimes when i hit the high beams, not a big deal during the day, sucks at night!!

tarheel
Last time I rode, low beams were on.  Next time I started it, no lights.  Gotta be a fuse.  Nope, fuses good.  Didn't check relays, just went to the bulbs, pulled them, both low beams out.  Guess it CAN happen.  Stan

OK here are results:
Bulbs good
fuses good
disassembled and cleaned light switch
disassembled and cleaned starter switch
pulled all four relays under seat in front of battery box and not knowing for sure which one was for low beam found the one that works on the high beam and switched it to the other three and still no go, then put all three other relays on high and they worked, so all 4 are good.

HELP...WHERE TOO NOW

Keep in mind from original post, was working for the month I had been riding since getting out and when I washed the bike Tuesday evening I had no low on Wednesday morning.


I should have paid more attention to Cliff's post he did tell which was low and which was high. Either way I switched relays for each other and still no go.

OMG
RP & Stan you were right. BULBS

After my previous post I was really stumped and went looking for old original bulbs I thought I still had from a Silverstar swap out I did a few years back, found them and they work.

I REALLY DID CHECK THE BULBS

After the old ones worked I took a really close look at the filaments and lo and behold there was a very slight distortion in the dumb things. When I pulled them the first time all I was looking for was the tale tale dark spot on the glass you usually see when one goes.
As small as the change was in the filament I would never have imagined that both had gone. The alignment of the filament was just a fraction off.
 They may not have gone at the same time tho, will never know for sure, but they both did go since I got the bike out from winter, cause I always check all my lights when I first start riding in the spring.

Thanks Cliff for the input, as always, learned a little more than I knew before when digging into a fix on the big girl. Seems to always be the case in the 12 years since buying it and visiting this board. Usually limit my time on here to just taking evryone else's advice and experiences. 

Thanks again all for the input.

The moral is........ you can't always tell a bulb is bad by looking at it.

Before anything else, put in a new bulb to see if it works; if it does, your repair is finished.

Well Jess you got that right. Luckily I kept, and could find, the old bulbs and was able to try them and as you say repair finished.
At least having the old bulbs saved me any cost for now until I get a new set of Silverstar Ultras.
All I was out was time but with that time as said I gained new info about the old girl.
Also gave me a chance to service the starter button and headlight switch.
So alls well that ends well.   :)

F6V, I always check my lights before leaving the house.  While the Valk is warming up I do a walkaround checking for light operation then turnsignals, brakes and hi/lo operation.

Marty

This is the BEST practice!  Taking a look at the tires, which I am sure you also do.  :cooldude:

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Marty

I'd get a new set of bulbs, the old ones are likely lackluster and not a longevity proposition. 

One thing to consider,,, a good multimeter (even a cheapo one) is a very good friend when diagnosing electrical issues.  You could have metered the power at the lamp socket and saved your valuable time  :)  .. glad you have it all working now so you can go out and RIDE!!!!!!!!  Be safe .  (BTW,,, I don't try checking the headlight bulbs for continuity instead check for supply voltage and good ground on other pin of socket.  Continuity readings on these bulbs can be confusing.)

What relays are the ones that control the headlights?  I think the one for my low beam might be bad cause I have issues with getting the low beam to work after switching from the high beam.

You do know that regular bulb filament can go out (burn out) for the dim, but the bright still works?  

That is how all my regular halogen bulbs burn out (dim only), since I never run my brights (only flash them once in a while).

headlight relays are only on the I/S not the standard or tourer. Just checking.

Had an issue 3 seasons ago. Turned out to be the switch was dirty I assume. Sprayed it with WD40 and worked back and forth. Fortunately my LED spots worked very well for low beam until I got home that night.

I have a I/S.

As for the Bulbs I have LED replacements.  The low beams will work....but when I switch to high then low, the low don't always come back on.

 Get a can of WD 40 and use the red straw to spray into the openings around the high/low switch. Work the switch while spraying. I know it is not a cleaner, but in 5 minutes you'll know to look elsewhere. Quick, easy and cheap. I do both side yearly.