R6 - no lo-beam

Hi guys,

I've got a 2001 R6. Yesterday the lo-beam headlights stopped working.
Hi-beam works fine. There is one globe on either side - both globes are
fine. I can't see anything in the fuses which might cause this - the
headlight fuse is ok.

Why is this happening? Is it the switch?

cheers
Steve

 

This is a general comment (I've no idea about your particular bike), but IMO
it's most likely the switch.

Many years ago I had a Nissan Nomad van, and it developed a similar fault
with an additional twist - I had no low beam, and with the headlights
switched on I also had no left indicators.

I sourced a wiring diagram from a friend who worked at a Nissan dealership
at the time, and sure enough the line powering the low beam relay was also
the one running to the left-hand indicators. Took the switch apart, gave the
contacts a clean, and everything came good.

Assuming you haven't dropped the bike (not likely to drop it onto the switch
& still be able to write about it here), I'd say it's most likely to be dirt
build-up on the contact(s) rather than anything broken internally. I just
hope for your sake it's relatively easy to (1) get to the switch and (2)
disassemble/clean/reassemble it.

--
Bob Milutinovic
Cognicom - "Australia's Web Presence Specialists"
http://www.cognicom.net.au/
telephone (0417) 45-77-66
facsimile (02) 9824-2240

 

(snip)
This is common with people who fit higher than 55W bulbs to their
headlights.
A 120W bulb is running 10 amps through those skinny wires and small contacts
in your switch and that's gonna' cause a lot of heat if there's any
resistance!

 

Ok - thanks guys, you pretty much confirm my thoughts.

I suspected the switch assembly might be a surprise waiting to happen -
thanks for the warning.
Bike hasn't been dropped - well, not recently anyway :-\
Haven't noticed any flickering of lites indicating imminent problems.

the annoying thing is I walked outta work yesterday to a flat - oh joy - so
i went to a shop in the city where they very kindly got me a tyre & fitted
it straight away. Good on ya Yamaha City service centre here in Melbourne -
very obliging. The problem **seemed** to happen right after that (but it
coulda be earlier in the day - I can't see the connection btwn rear tyre &
lites anyway...). So I had it in the shop but didn't notice the problem (it
was daylight). It's always the way.

steve

 

Many older small bikes, especially road/trail, with direct AC lighting ran
35/35 for the headlight.

Theo
Now waiting for somebody to say "AC lighting?"

 

Good call, GB !

It always takes just one person to spot the obvious problem.

 

Someone told me about the Yamaha 35W low-beam H4 bulbs (from a TDM I think)
and I thought that'd be the answer to the starting problems I was having
with my headlights-always-on Triumph Sprint so I went to Repco but it took
me yonks to convince the bloke they might exist and then I had to justify
why I wanted them before he finally looked in the Hella catalogue and told
me "nope".
Grrr.

 

Steve

I've had bulbs that looked just fine, but when you put a meter across
them the show open circuit.
Check the bulb thoroughly before you rip the switch apart!

SteveB

 

OK; after doing some Googling it seems like the lower-wattage Halogen is a
HS1 bulb. They range from 35/35W to 60/60W.
It was launched as the new standard headlight bulb for motorcycles but it
seems it didn't really take off.
The base is designated PX43T and differs slightly from the standard H4 which
is a P43T.
<http://www.lighting.philips.com/ass...sumer_lighting/car_lighting/s_prod_h4_ed.jpg>
<http://www.lighting.philips.com/ass...umer_lighting/car_lighting/s_prod_hs1_ed.jpg>
The piccies here seem to show that both have GB's two-little-tabs but the
HS1 (35W) bulb has a fatter middle (top) locating tab (and no dent) so it
actually looks like the H4 high-wattage bulb would fit into a HS1 receptacle
but not the other way around?!!?

 

You're right; I stared at those two photos but missed the fact that the tabs
are further apart on the HS1.
I see there's dents inside all three locating tabs on the H4 too; not just
on the centre one.

I betcha' the combination of those slight differences has caused some major
swearing from bamboozled bikies over the years......

 

Probably crushed the wire when they put the bike on the hoist to change
the tyre.

 

Ah, yes, that's the Jesus spring. True believers already know about this.