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No Headlights, No ignition...crappy day..

2.5K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Jonathan-m  
#1 ·
Hey Guys,
Today I was on a cruise on my '05 vlx 600, about 45 miles from my house, when I ran into some electrical problems. I stopped at a gas station to fill up, and when I put the key back and hit the starter button nothing happened... I pulled it off to the side to check all the fuses, both the ignition and the 30 amp starter assembly fuse were just fine, but still I got no power to the starter when I hit the starter button. I also noticed that I had no headlights at all, high or low beam. All of my other lights work just fine. Luckily another biker saw me and stopped to see if he could help, we ended up push starting the bike so I could at least make it back home without a tow (thank god for kind people!)

I read through a lot of old posts using the search, and lots of problems seem to stem from the starter button itself, but I'm not really clear on if that would cause both the headlight and the starter button to go out. Neither had been acting finicky before, they just went out mid ride. The bike only has about 20k miles on it, and has always been garaged, so I wouldn't think the switch would have corroded badly enough to stop functioning already, unless they really are just that crappy.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what might be going on?


Jon
 
#2 ·
Jonathan-m said:
unless they really are just that crappy.
Any thoughts or suggestions on what might be going on?
Yes, they really ARE that crappy. You definitely should check out the switch and associated wiring first. If the headlight and starter are the only two things that don't work......it's pretty much a slam dunk.
 
#4 ·
It really has nothing to do with exposure to the elements, although that can accelerate the process. It has to do with a switch that really isn't designed to take that much current, AND do two things at once (turn off headlight, engage starter).

Installing the relay and rebuilding the switch will pretty much insure that you will never have to worry about it again. Even if that isn't the problem, it's a good thing to do.

The only other thing I can suggest is to check your solenoid and ground wire connections, and have the battery load tested.