No headlight only flash to pass working

[Big_B]

My headlight stopped working last night, only the flash to pass works. Took the switch apart to see if there's any damage and everything looks ok. Put it back together and only the flash to pass working again. Someone mentioned something about the power being fed from the right hand switch for low/high beam and flash to pass being fed directly from the left. How do I test if there's power coming from the right hand switch or is this not true?

Any ideas on what else it could be?

Thank you in advance for any help, the members here have saved me countless hours and thousands of dollars!

[Scott_]

Well, the European market bikes came equipped with an actual on/off headlight switch that was mounted on the right side bar control.
The US wiring harnesses are wired for this function, but the switches are not standard equipment because of the 1985 fed requirement for full time headlight.
There should be some kind of a jumper at the multipin connector of the right side controls under the fuel tank that would complete the headlight circuit. It's possible that this jumper could be bad.

Are you sure it's just not your low beam burned out? The "flash" function only turns on the high beam.
Does you high beam work when you put it on high?
Are you still running the standard 55/60W lamp? Or have you upgraded to a higher wattage.
Sometimes a higher wattage lamp using only the standard bike wiring(no extra power relay's) can cause overheating problems with terminal connections and cause melting of the hi/low switch body where the electrical contacts are.

[Big_B]

It's all stock. Another symptom I remember is that the headlight would go out while switching between low & high beam a couple of times in the last month, but only very briefly. Then I felt a different type of action/crunch in the switch, but the low & high beams came back on. This convinced me it was the left hand switch, so I expected to see to something really wrong inside. When I disassembled the switch, everything is worn, but still making contact at all points & looks "ok".

No my high beam does not work when switched on, nor does my low beam. Only the flash to pass works.

I did see another post where the guy heated up the plastic and pushed the contact bumps out to make them contact better on the metal u shaped thingies. But I'm trying to rule out everything else before possibly messing up this expensive part totally.

I do have a multi-meter just not sure which wires to test to trace the issue. Do you think installing relays will fix this issue?

[Scott_]

If you currently have circuit issues with the contacts in the left bar switch assy, relays wont help at this point.
Once this issue get fixed/resolved relays will help prevent this from happening again and the main lamp power will flow thru the relay and aux wiring harness instead of the factory wiring.

If you have cleaned the switch contacts then it sounds to me like you just need to replace the left combo switch assy.

I've seen them available on fleabay as low as $25 some average $50 - $70 and as high as $99 for an LT version with the windscreen switch.
Duck may have some too, can contact him thru his kbikeparts.com site. He lists some on his site, but can't say how current the postings are.

That would be my recommendation at this point instead of trying to disassemble and modify the switch.

[Big_B]

Yes it gets scary quickly scooting along in the twisties and the light goes out.  :falldown:

Thank you for taking the time to try to help me out though!

[Inge K.]

It have been some issues with LHS and RHS switch assy connectors under the tank, check those ones also.

And while you're down there measure the voltage at the yellow/white wire..if OK, the problem is at
the LHS switch assy (or connector)........if the voltage is low, the problem is at the RHS switch assy (or connector).

[Big_B]

Ok after thinking about what's going on, I decided to inspect the switch better. I found several photos of what it's supposed to look like and discovered that my switch had only 4 contact points showing. Of course the missing contact was the one that goes to the white wire with yellow stripe (which I think provides the power to the switch).

I ended up heating up the "missing contact" bump enough to soften up the plastic and push it back out just a little bit. My switch now has 5 contact points and I'm assembling it now. I'm fairly certain that my headlight will work now.  :2thumbup:

Once again I've learned more lessons with the help from Motobrick and the awesome members here. Thank you for taking the time to reply to my thread and help my solve yet another issue with me Beemer guys!  :clap:

[KCinSB]

Curious if it had worked before ?  I had the exact same problem on my K1100, with the Euro type on/off head light switch. The IBMWR site had a tech article on it, and the issue was dirty contacts.  I took it apart, the contacts were HORRIBLE! hard to believe it was ever working, and how does that much crud ever get in there anyway? In the photo, you can see that some of the contacts are not even visable !!    :hehehe   Cleaned it all up, and it works great.   :clap:  The job is a bit tricky, and I'd recommend reading that tech info if you do it, but it's not a big deal really.

The Dirty Contacts


Cleaned up

[dhanda]

ok this may sound a bit far fetched but have you tried changing the bulb , as in UK we have double element.
one for high , one for low.

[KCinSB]

Wow,  I jumped to conclusions myself !!   If only Flash works, that is the Hi Beam.  So the easy answer would be that the Low beam is burned out!   ( I always go for the most complicated answers...........  )

[mystic red]

Worth checking but it doesn't sound like the bulb to me. Reread the OP.

[kioolt]

If only the low beam were burnt out then the high beam would work.  Not just the flash to pass.

[mystic red]

If only the low beam were burnt out then the high beam would work.  Not just the flash to pass.

Bingo

[KCinSB]

Isn't the Flash to Pass, the upper rocker position, using the Hi Beam?  It sure is on My bike! I ride in the dark morning way too much to be confused about that.

[kioolt]

Yes, the flash to pass uses the high beam.  The original poster said he had no headlight except when using flash to pass.  There are three positions on the switch.  High, low, and flash to pass.  The corresponding bulb filament are,  High, low, high.  Since his only works on flash to pass, his high beam is not blown.  If his high beam was blown it wouldn't work with flash to pass.  His low beam filament could be blown, but that is not his only problem.  Why does he not have high beam in the high position.  We know his high beam filament is good since his flash to pass works.

[KCinSB]

Guess since he only said his Headlight didn't work, I wasn't thinking the Brights position was a problem. Did he say he can't get brights?  I give up, it's just too complicated..............    :eek:

[kioolt]

First sentence in original post. Quote - My headlight stopped working last night, only the flash to pass works. - End Quote

I read this as low beam position not working, high beam position (brites) not working, flash to pass position working.

[K75RT Keith]

Happened to me.  The left hand switch was toast and the grounds under the tank were corroded.   Rebuilding switch didn't help.