I can't find my low beam.

[wingin' it]

When I bought "Brown Honey" the PO told me that the low beam on the headlight was inoperable when he had purchased the bike and that he ran the bike using the high beam and the driving lights. He said it was no big deal to him because he did not ride at night. I decided to fix the problem and removed the bulb earlier this evening. The bulb is marked "Candlepower H4 12V 60/55W"

There are no other markings or brands on the bulb. It appears to be in perfect shape. No discolorations, broken filaments, etc. The bulb appears to work fine, but only when the light switch is set to high beam.

Am I missing something?

Is there a high and a low beam setting in this bulb or does it have only one setting?

Is this bulb solely responsible for low and high beam lighting on a 1985 Aspy?

Again, I don't notice any lighting deficiencies while riding at night, however, I don't want to get ticketed for riding w/ highs on constantly. I would also add that when the headlight is on it does not seem to be as bright as you would expect a high beam light to be.

Anyone familiar with this bulb?

Is there another bulb somewhere in my headlight assembly that I overlooked?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

wingin' it

[Guest]

"The bulb is marked "Candlepower H4 12V 60/55W"
It is a dual element bulb 60 watts high, 55 watts low.
Check the bulb connector and the switch contacts.

good luck
Douce

[wingin' it]

Things always seem to make sense once someone gives you the answer. Thanks for the lesson. Will take a stab at the fix on tomorrow (rather today), if time permits and report back to you later.

wingin' it

[William_86]

just wanted to say Congratulation for ur new bike and welcome to the forum.. as the previous guy said. the first shoot would be to check the hi/low beam switch, then follow the wiring colors and continuity maybe the lead is broken somewhere. also check the fuse ( not sure if there is one for each beam, like on my friends 1500 ) you can get the full manual here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://goldwing.soylentgeek.com/">http://goldwing.soylentgeek.com/</a><!-- m --> get the 1200 manual, its a lil big but it worth the time it will take to downoad, at the end pages you will find the wiring setup

[rcmatt007]

if, and I mean IF, you know the bulb is good.... try using a test ligh to see if you have power to the low and also to the high side.... ground off the frame doing this.... if both work, then ground off the ground side of the connector, if they both still work you do not have a good bulb.... if only one side works both times you have a poor connection somewhere to the low beam.... if they both work whilst grounded to the frame, but only one side works (or neither works) your problem is probably in the grounding wiring

[admin]

Does it look like someone has messed around with the wiring? Perhaps they just ran a wire up to the high beam to get a headlight working? When you're diagnosing don't forget that the power for the headlight comes from the start button and if the start button is dirty or corroded the headlight will not work.

[Guest]

Is there not also a relay for the high and low beams?

Im not well versed in the headlight system yet.

Jim

[wingin' it]

Thanks for such warm welcomes and insights into my headlight issue. Unfortunately sub-zero temps have prevented me from making practical application of your recommendations. Sub-zero temps: good for frozen foods, bad for me.

Vic, when I removed the bulb from the headlight assembly, including replacing two (2) blown marker lights, I did not see any evidence of "bootlegged" wiring. The wiring and harness all look factory. All of the connections at the bulb looked clean and intact. Will put check start button in my fix protocol.

I have a suspicion that William86 may be on to something concerning the hi/low beam switch, because at the end of the riding season, I experienced several episodes where I had no horn and then w/o any explanation, it began to work again. I had intended to pull that switch and follow the wiring as necessary to detect the problem. From this site I have learned that there could be some correlation between the horn going in and out and the loss of low beam, since they are housed in the same unit. Will put check contacts at this switch and its wiring in my fix protocol.

If the problem still persists, then I'll move on to rcmatt007's suggestions.

Thanks again for all of your help and as soon as the weather permits this "soft city dude" to stay in the garage for 15 continuous minutes, I will perform this fix.

wingin' it

[William_86]

I'm not sure but the starter button cuts out high and low beam so "maybe" if it is the fault you wouldn't have any beam..

i believe the energy comes from the fuse block to the starter switch, and then it goes to the low/high beam switch and there it splits in two wires. correct me if I'm wrong :oops:

[admin]

You are correct William, my theory only applied if there was a jumper wire on the headlight. The circuits would need to be traced to determine where the power loss is located.