Scary moment with my light switch.

[Alexio]

So, I was riding from Brighton back to Hastings last night at about 1am. It was a nice ride in many ways because there wasn't any traffic around.

Anyway, I put my high beam on, as you do, and it works really well. The only problem was when I saw a distant car coming in the other direction, I turned it off and was suddenly riding in complete darkness

The CG is made so that a light is always on, so the dipped beam should have turned back on immediately, but it did not. So, I put my brighter light back on (which isn't really going to blind traffic coming in the other direction) and once the car had passed I tried it again.

Complete darkness at 60MPH on a windy road is not fun! So I held my breath and after a couple of seconds the dipped beam finally came back on. So, basically, I think the metal connectors on the inside of the switch aren't conducting very well. It's still acting a bit "sticky". The high beam always works but the dipped beam is still sometimes taking it's sweet time to turn back on.

What shall I do?
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will never give up his CG. I look at my fuel gauge more as a progress bar than a fuel gauge.
G: With my GSXR I do often effectively use it as a scooter with a clutch in town.
ms51ves3: why does it need 500 miles? Are you teaching it how to be a piston?

[nowhere.elysium]

The switchgear should only be held on with two screws - take it off, and have a look. Could well just be some gunk in the contacts.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[0l0dom0l0]

spray some wd40 or simular in it and click it up and down a few times . should work.

[Paxovasa]

I should read the whole post
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Suzuki GSF600 K3 (in the fastest colour, black).

[neil.]

It might be a few things. Clean out the switch, spray some WD40 in there and switch it quickly loads of times. Or take the switchgear apart and do it properly with contact cleaner then give it a coating of ACF50 to stop it corroding.

Also try respringing the bulb contacts in the headlamp shell (bend them forwards carefully), clean them with a wire brush and contact cleaner too, and also do the same with the back of the bulb where the its contacts are. Other than that, it may be a break in the wiring loom somewhere, but seems unlikely based on what you've said.

HTH.
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CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)

[Alexio]

I can understand how WD40 and ACF50 would stop corrosion, but don't they insulate metal from conducting as well?

Thanks for the help anyway, I shall have a look inside and possibly take pictures
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will never give up his CG. I look at my fuel gauge more as a progress bar than a fuel gauge.
G: With my GSXR I do often effectively use it as a scooter with a clutch in town.
ms51ves3: why does it need 500 miles? Are you teaching it how to be a piston?

[neil.]

They're not conductors but in the case of WD40, it will clean crap off the switch and displace water, whilst the motion of rocking the switch back/forth will displace WD40 from the points of electrical contact. It won't stay between the conducting parts as it's 'rubbed' out of the way, as it were. Remember, the conductors of a switch should be 'sprung' so they are pushing against eachother anyway and the pressure between the parts will also push the liquid away from the point of contact.
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CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)

[Frost]

I had this on my bike once, i had to ride across the whole of wales to get home though. I put full beam on to get me back to civilization, then swapped the connectors around on the bulb to give dipped beam only the rest of the way.

[stonesie]

I re-built my light switch tonight, if you take it apart be a bit careful as on my CG there are 4 springs and a ball bearing in there but it's not overly complicated to put back together

Hint, get the 3 slider's started then insert the ball bearing and have a cocktail stick handy to make sure the slider's are sat straight...

[Alexio]

Thanks for the replies. What I don't understand though is this:

https://www.bikechatforums.com/download.php?id=73928

Do I have some sort of secret internet fan club that read my adventures?
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will never give up his CG. I look at my fuel gauge more as a progress bar than a fuel gauge.
G: With my GSXR I do often effectively use it as a scooter with a clutch in town.
ms51ves3: why does it need 500 miles? Are you teaching it how to be a piston?

[Artur]

For a couple of times now, my brake light would not switch on when pulling the hand brake lever, on those two occasions, sprayed WD40 on the lever and bazinga, problem solved.




What a scary moment you had there...
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- Honda Hornet 600cc '04

[MonkeyKnuckle]

[Alexio]

[stonesie]

Scary moment with my light switch.
11 Alexio 20,258


It's still going

[Phoenix]

It's found it's way onto google, type in scary light switch and it's the top result, no doubt it's appearing in certain searches and attracting visitors, if you were googling for something and saw this thread title, you'd be intrigued too.

[Noxious89123]

[Artur]

[Vincent]

I had a similar problem ages ago and it took me a very long time to sort out - I'd tried the switch, wiring fuses etc but the problem turned out to be the bulb itself. The fillament had snapped but when I turned the switch on the surge in current was welding it back together. It would work for a while and then suddenly go again, probably when I went over a bump. If all else fails, change the bulb.