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Head lights went out/starter button issues

14K views 22 replies 16 participants last post by  J_Bone 
#1 ·
while returning from my Key West trip, last spring, i replaced my battery because i thought it was dying & wouldn't run the starter

WRONG!!!

last weekend, while at the Lone Star Rally in Galveston, my starter was acting up, again

wiggling the button did the trick & i was off & riding

UNTIL...

after a late lunch, i started the bike but the HEAD LIGHTS DIDN'T WORK

i made it to the motel & the safety of the trailer, where i looked, in vain, for a blown fuse

all the fuses were in tact & i just shoved the bike up in the trailer for the drive home

THIS FORUM linked me up to Black Lab Adventures & a special thread about just this issue

Start Switch Maintenance « Black Lab Adventures

the starter switch/button turns the head lights off & re-routes all the electjuicity to the starter & once the engine is running and you release the button, the electjuicity goes back to the head lights

SIMPLE ENUFF, RIGHT???

well, the little contacts, inside the switch get corroded & worn after time & things begin to turn brown & start smelling bad

Black Lab's description, along with excellent pictures, walked me right thru the problem & i came out on the other end w/ HEAD LIGHTS WORKING PROPERLY & THE STARTER BUTTON DOING IT'S THING, LIKE IT SHOULD

since i had had a good 2 days at the rally & made it safely back to the motel before sun set, i don't think things could have worked out any better :hurray::hurray::hurray:

MANY THANKS TO THIS FORUM & TO BLACK LAB FOR GETTING ME BACK UP TO SPEED W/O SPENDING ANY MORE MONEY :thumbup:

shiny side up

sw
 
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#2 ·
!

Another thing you might want to consider. In Black lab's first picture you'll notice the two pronged metal contact point, that the sliding black part with the four contact points slides over , has an issue sometimes too. Press down on it and it should move up and down freely to make proper contact, due to a small spring under it. If it doesn't move freely, you need to pry it out and slightly bend the two sides to make it move freely .
 
#12 ·
The real answer...
RichardD has part of it.

Another thing you might want to consider. In Black lab's first picture you'll notice the two pronged metal contact point, that the sliding black part with the four contact points slides over , has an issue sometimes too. Press down on it and it should move up and down freely to make proper contact, due to a small spring under it. If it doesn't move freely, you need to pry it out and slightly bend the two sides to make it move freely .
Did you push down on the part with the two contacts to see if the spring under it pushes it back up for proper contact ? I talked about it in my post above. My friends bike started acting up and he's a motorcycle mechanic. His wasn't popping back up. He pried the part out and either pushed the metal taps in or out, I can't remember which, to make the part come back up and make good contact. It fixed the problem on his bike of the lights cutting out.
The rest of the story is, remove (break off) the plastic tit that fits inside the spring, and slightly relieve the plastic grooves that the contact prongs slide into with an exacto knife or something.

All this info was here, but got deleted.
You won't find this on the other referenced site. When the problem came back, his solution was to (unnecessarily) bypass the switch altogether.
 
#3 ·
Light Switch

Yep happened to me exactly as you stated. Lights quit 20kms outside Golden this summer, just before dark. Wiggled the wires at the starter switch and got lights working to Calgary. Pulled switch apart and cleaned contacts. Yippee all is well for one more day. Lights crapped again. Now its the connector block behind the rad. Cut wires out of block and put straight through. No more trouble after that, but to on the safe side ordered the Eastern Beaver kit to take the load off that starter/light switch.
 
#4 ·
A million thanks to the information on this and another thread or two, I spent last evening taking apart , cleaning and reassembling the starter switch due to the same intermittent headlight issue.

Unfortunately, the solution didn't seem to be something a simple cleaning and buffing of contacts would cure. The contacts did look a bit worn, but not unduly, and not unduly dirty either. Certainly there was no evidence of burning or melted bits that some have reported. All was buffed clean, sprayed with contact cleaner, and dried before reassembly, but still no joy. In fact, there was no power getting through the switch at all. The lights could be made to flicker with some wiggling of the switch though, so problem still lay within the switch and not one of the other connectors in the fairing.:confused:

Turns out that with the main housing apart, I could squeeze the plastic cover over the contacts and it would work fine. The little contact nubs that slide across the contact points seem to have worn enough that they wouldn't make good contact any more. Squeezing the cover puts enough pressure to establish good contact. Solution: -Found a bit of foam weather-stripping and slipped it under the aft part of the white plastic cover, (clear of the wiring), before installing it over the switch contacts. It should help squeeze the two parts of the switch together. This was better, but not quite enough to keep the contact consistently reliable. Another bit of weather-stripping added to the underside of the handlebar before reinstalling the lower half of the outer housing put enough pressure on the switch inside and all seems good.:hurray:

Now I am left with another concern. The problem with the switch appears to be from wear. As the copper contacts wear, (or maybe its the plastic parts), the fit gets sloppy and headlight/starting problems appear. Applying a bit of extra pressure to the switch assembly may fix the problem for now, but I fear the contacts will just continue to wear down with use and before long the entire thing will need to be replaced. Admittedly, it has taken 6 seasons for problems to appear, but with the extra pressure and friction now on those contacts from the added bits of weather-stripping, I doubt it will take another 6 years for the problem to start up again.
Can we buy only the push-button portion of the switch with the raised nub contacts and if anyone has done this, did it solve the problem? Parts fiches only show the whole assembly that is fixed to the handlebar. Seems crazy to have to buy all that, just to deal with a couple of interior bits.

Oh, and before the suggestions to get the Eastern Beaver fix come in; I am still considering it, but the electrical load through the switch doesn't seem to be the issue at this point, so I don’t think it would do anything to fix this particular problem. The switch will still wear(out), from the sliding action. Seems like it isn't the best design to me.
 
#7 ·
hey Rob

Black Lab indicated there is a need to KEEP the contacts clean w/ regular maintenance & lubricating them @ the same time

i used BULB GREASE from O'Reilly's($1.29), on the tip of a tooth pick

my wee is an '05, which means it took 7 years...

i think i'll add a diamond nail file to my tool kit

i've book marked the relay kit, just in case

i've got my fingers crossed

sw
 
#5 ·
When I first started hanging out at stromtroopers I read similar posts complaining of starter button/headlight switch issues attributed to the high current flowing through the switch contacts due to the lack of a headlight relay. It made sense to install the relay to eliminate a weak point in the system. Easy fix and one less thing to spoil your day. Of course one has to do it before the damage is done.
 
#6 ·
Likewise - When I got home with the new bike I took it apart in the garage and added EB's H4 headlamp relay and fuse panel (as well as a slew of other farkels). I figured I'd build on a solid start. I thought of it as a monthly payment towards peace of mind.
 
#8 ·
?

Did you push down on the part with the two contacts to see if the spring under it pushes it back up for proper contact ? I talked about it in my post above. My friends bike started acting up and he's a motorcycle mechanic. His wasn't popping back up. He pried the part out and either pushed the metal taps in or out, I can't remember which, to make the part come back up and make good contact. It fixed the problem on his bike of the lights cutting out.
 
#9 ·
No doubt that Black Lab is right about periodic cleaning, and I had never done it before now. -Wouldn’t have even thought to try without BL’s excellent tutorial. The thing is, in this case, cleaning solved nothing. Once the cleaning was done, nothing worked at all. I even bought some conductive grease for the occasion, which I ended up cleaning off again for fear that I had just shorted it in some way by applying too much. In hindsight, I think dialectic grease is better for this part. The conductive stuff could possibly drag the grease back and forth with the sliding action of the switch and effectively short it out. -Could be over-thinking this though.
Anyway, the problem seems to be due to wear within the switch, either of the copper contacts, or of the plastics which loosen up allowing the contacts to not actually contact. Somewhere I read where a poster thought the heat build-up at the contacts caused the plastic to shrink, pulling the contacts away from each other. Sounds plausible. Would Eastern Beaver’s relay kit solve this, (or keep it from getting worse)? -Dunno, but I think I have just talked/typed myself into placing an order for Christmas...

Richard; I read your earlier post but somehow didn’t absorb it the first time...Slow learner. Nope, I didn’t notice the spring-loaded feature of that part when I had it apart. Sounds like if the weather is half decent I will get it apart again on the weekend to see if that might be part of the issue. -Hope it turns out to be that simple!

Thanks for the feedback. All pretty helpfull
 
#11 ·
I have had these same issues recently. 2011 with hust over 10,000 miles. I hadn't seen this thread but I did get directed over to black lab and he was, as you all said, extremely helpful.

My bike had some Eastern Beaver extenders on it and the one that came out of the connector behind the radiator fried. I should have bought their relay switch to start with. I checked and cleaned the starter, hi-lo switch, connector behind the cowling, under the hood, and finally got to the connector behind the radiator.

I think the real answer is it install the relays as the original system seems to create issues in 1 of the 3 places sooner or later.
 
#13 ·
Bingo!
Can people here get tired of hearing "Thank-you's"?
Found the little spring under the sliding contacts of the switch and it was indeed a bit stuck. Searched through multiple pens but no substitute springs on hand would fit, so satisfied myself with slightly bending the contacts up a bit and applying a bit of grease to aide movement.
Removed the weatherstrip packing inserted previously and all is working again.
Glad to know were to go if the problem crops up again and that it is fixable without purchasing a whole new assembly.

Cheers All!
 
#15 ·
I also have the Eastern Beaver headlight relay to possibly avoid problems down the road. I believe I picked this tip up from Greywolf a while back. When starting my bike I press the starter switch, then turn the key on & pull the clutch lever to start the motor. This way the headlights only come on when the motor is actually running.
 
#16 ·
Thank you all!!

Long time lurker here...thank god for all of you that post this wealth of knowledge!! After changing the coolant, oil, rerouting fairing power (for my USB & heated grips), tightening & oiling my chain, I took her out for a test ride.

Smooth as butter.

However, when I got back, my headlights wouldn't come back on putting her in the garage. :furious:

After removing the fairing and troubleshooting (fuses all ok), I started playing with the starter switch. Low and behold, they flickered on. I plan on applying some kind of fix tomorrow...none too soon either!! In 19 days I head out with my buddies for our annual trip.

Thanks again everyone for all of your contributions! Oh, curious about my annual trips (including the upcoming one)? Check out my site www[dot]kupo[dot]club (I can't link because I don't have 10 posts yet :mod2_surrender: - I totally get it though).
 
#17 ·
Hmm. I hope I didn't find this too late.

Same problem as everyone else but after applying BlackLab's maintenance procedure, still no joy but when I pressed down on the upper switch plate the lights came on. Not having read the part about checking the spring and movement of the dual raised contact points, I applied some solder to raise the contact points a bit. I've now done the off-starter-release cycle about 6 times and the lights come on every time.

I also installed the Eastern Beaver relays system last fall and have a replacement switch just in case. Guess I'll just monitor it and see how it goes.

Ride safe.

Tom
Richmond, VA
VXRA 007
'07 DL650 +89,000 - Silver
'90 VX800 +53,000 - Maroon
'06 DL650 +07,500 - Silver (totaled by Bambi)
'01 R1150GS +27,000 - Silver (Sold)
'93 VS800 +34,000 - Red (Sold)
'72 RD200 ~15,000 (Sold VERY Long Ago)
Read the VX FAQ @ vx-faq.thevuelta.com
 
#18 ·
So I've just had this problem, but the switch internals have disintegrated. On dismantling today it fell apart. So have ordered a new switch block and an Eastern Beaver relay kit. Hoping the switch block arrives in time for the Quorn trip, but I know the Eastern Beaver stuff wont.
 
#20 ·
There are many online suppliers. Supply year, and model and we can supply a part number for the right side handlebar switch. Do an Internet search on the part number and a whole list of sellers will be found. Your profile only says Wee and different years had different switches.
 
#22 ·
Your brake lever side handlebar switch part number is 37200-11J00 so do an Internet search on that. When comparing prices, include shipping cost as that can vary widely. Install headlight relays and that won't happen again, neither will failure of other weak points in the headlight wiring system.
 
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