High Beam Issue

BelloStrada · Mar 10, 2015

This morning I was riding my brand new Hyper to work (still dark out), I exited the freeway onto a twisty country road for the last mile, flicked the high beam switch, and....pitch black! Flicked back to low beam to keep from riding off the road. Tried the high beam again...totally black, and noticed the blue high beam indicator flashing.
Got on the bike this afternoon to ride home, tried the high beam before rolling out, and it worked just fine.
Anyone had a similar experience or know the cause? I can't find anything in the owners manual about it.
Any input is appreciated!

zibbit u2 · Mar 10, 2015

try changing the bulb..

BelloStrada · Mar 10, 2015

The high beam worked fine this afternoon. I don't believe the bulb is the issue. The fact that the high beam indicator was flashing on and off when I flicked the high beam switch must point to something, just not sure what. The bike has 180 miles on it. I'll probably just take it to the dealer and let them deal with it.

carib821 · Mar 11, 2015

High beam + tag light blew @ 6k miles or so. Dealer was kind enough to change out headlight bulb, but it did take two attempts to get the install right.

Bruder · Mar 11, 2015

Where is the Bike staying inside or outside?

Gruss Steffen

BelloStrada · Mar 11, 2015

Always garaged, in southern California. My garage never gets below 60F (15C), even in winter.

kuksul08 · Mar 11, 2015

Make sure the electrical plug is good on the back of the bulb itself and on the back of the headlight housing.

BelloStrada · Mar 11, 2015

Good point, @kuksul08...thanks. I'll check the plug for a dangling or broken wire. Access looks easy enough.

NewRider · Mar 11, 2015

I've been told by my mecanic that light related flashing indicator mean an electric misconnection. I had this for the rigth turn indicator. The bulb was fine but the contact with the socket was the issue.

BelloStrada · Mar 11, 2015

You're exactly right, @NewRider. I discovered the headlamp bulb was rotated in the housing just enough such that the 3 tabs on the bulb weren't nesting in the 3 corresponding slots in the housing, resulting in a poor ground. I jiggled the headlamp connector and the headlight would flicker on and off. I rotated the bulb so that it nested where it's supposed to, jiggled the hell out of the connector and no issue...both low and high beam worked perfectly.
For now at least, problem solved.

wheelieboy1 · Mar 12, 2015

I had a similar thing happen on mine. My turn signal indicator light would intermittently blink fast when I signaled right. I found out that whoever put the bulb in did not line up the offset prongs which allowed the bulb to vibrate out of the socket just enough so it wouldn't make contact at times. You have to push the bulb in pretty hard to get it to rotate to lock. Glad you found your issue. It's a shame that that was missed during the build.

zippy49 · Mar 12, 2015

Hmm, this is starting to sound a lot like my 1965 Sebring 350...the Veglia electrics on it made the Lucas stuff on my Dad's Velocettes look positively modern and reliable!

Some things never change, I guess...

BelloStrada · Mar 12, 2015

Has anyone switched out the stock Osram headlamp bulb with a PIAA Xtreme White Plus? I have one in the garage and thought about swapping it for the stock bulb when I was fixing the stock bulb issue, but due to the short wire harness length, etc. access to the bulb is very limited. In order to unclip the crappy banjo clip securing the bulb, you're essentially doing it by feel since you can't get the headlamp/fairing rotated away enough to see what you're doing. I'm extremely paranoid that if I pop the banjo clip loose I'll NEVER be able to re-attach it. I wonder how the dealer pulls it off? My guess is the mechanics just do enough of them that they can do it by feel without even thinking about it. When I schedule the Hyper for the 600 mile service I'm going to ask them the price for yanking the stock bulb and installing the PIAA. I installed one one my 2013 Monster (easy access) and it made a huge difference in nighttime visibility.

gatdammit · Mar 13, 2015

There was a member who did a full HID lamp swap. That was really involved and there were some lens clearance issues to overcome but worth it. It was probably over a year ago so do a good search. Really in depth with lots of step-by-step pictures.

appliance821 · Mar 13, 2015

LED replacement

This might be of interest: H4 LED Headlight Rev2 - ADVmonster

I'm considering it - in the meantime I carry a spare.

I'm also thinking of a pair of yellow fogs. My thing is I want to see the edge of the road and the center line. I think the broad spread of a fog will help with that.

One of the issues with a bright white light is that if it's raining or foggy that light is coming right back at you.

NewRider · Mar 13, 2015

BelloStrada said:
You're exactly right, @NewRider. I discovered the headlamp bulb was rotated in the housing just enough such that the 3 tabs on the bulb weren't nesting in the 3 corresponding slots in the housing, resulting in a poor ground. I jiggled the headlamp connector and the headlight would flicker on and off. I rotated the bulb so that it nested where it's supposed to, jiggled the hell out of the connector and no issue...both low and high beam worked perfectly.
For now at least, problem solved.

You are most welcome. Glad to have been some help.

BelloStrada · Apr 1, 2015

This past weekend I swapped out the stock headlamp bulb for a PIAA Xtreme White Plus. Access is easy if you simply remove the top handlebar clamp, which allows the fairing to be pulled far enough out so you can see what you're doing after removing the cap that encloses access to the bulb. The Xtreme White does make a bit of a difference, but not huge. Compared to my 2013 Monster 796, however, the headlamp on the Hyper is far superior!

High Beam Issue

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