So all of a sudden last night when I got on my Hurricane to ride home in the dark, my headlight wouldn't turn on. It starts fine and I have turn signals, break and instrument lights, but no headlight and no hi beam indicator when the switch is flipped either.
I first checked the fuses, they all looked fine, then I checked the bulb, it looked fine, replaced it with a new bulb to no avail, and even checked the wiring where the bulb plugs in. I was using a friends volt-meter and it's getting juice, but I wasn't paying attention to how much and from what wires. I ended up having to get a ride home and I'm go get it a drive it back home in the day.

I'm looking at the service manual and I guess the next step is to actually measure the voltages and check ground. It seems odd that the high beam indicator doesn't go on either though.

Has anyone else had something like this happen? I did a quick forum search and found some related stuff, but nothing specific.

 

Check your starter button, as it cuts out the headlight when you push it to start the bike.
Either the switch is stuck or it's broken.

 

Thanks for the advice, I didn't have time to get back to it last weekend, but when I got home form work last night I just tried mashing the starter switch a few times without the key in, then put in the key and hey, whaddaya know? the light works again. The switch must have just gotten stuck.

Thanks again CBRForum!

 

If it's like my F4i you may want to pop open the cover around your start switch to be sure you're not developing a loose connection. I lost my headlamps awhile back too. First I noticed a delay in the high beams coming on, then occasionally, they wouldn't come on at all until I tried the switch a couple more times. Then one night I started up the bike to head home from the theatre and I had NO lights. High beam or day running
Checked the fuses first (they were fine) and the voltage went right to the lamps, bulbs were good too..

Turns out the wire had come completely disconnected inside the cover. It was dangling in there waving at me...so I had the little bugger soldered
All good now!

 

Hurricanes are old, thus their wiring is old. Most F1s have corroded wires and it's even worse with the switches. You may need to open up the handlebar casings and give them a good sanding and grease.

 

I had the same thing happen while riding. Open up that cover and make sure all of your wiring is still good. Like the other guys were saying, that wiring is old, and corrosion can cause a bad connection. Water and baking soda!

 

The return spring behind my starter button doesn't push back hard enough to activate the headlight again. If I give it a little flick it comes back on and stays on. Sounds like a common problem on most bikes this age.

 

Give it a little shot of WD-40. Should help!

 

this happened to mine which was all. even my turn signals stopped work and no lights on the dash came up when you turned any of the lights on. Now everything is working bar the dipped beam, full beam work but cant drive round with full beam on.

i dont know whats wrong, maybe dipped beam bull has blown?

 

You said "dipped beam bull has blown"...in NA English are you asking about the high/low beam switch?
What a colorful language...
The low beam filament may also have failed. Is there power there?