Hey guys, recently my headlights stopped working on my 1997 CBR600F3. They won't even flicker or turn on temporarily while the bike key is inserted, and the bike turns over. (Like I have seen others on this forum say happens). I didn't bother changing or checking bulb because like I said earlier the brights work fine and the F3 only uses one bulb. Checked fuses and they were all fine. So then I did what seems to work for everyone else and took apart the kill switch compartment and checked the solder of the wires next to the starter and kill switch. All soldered connections seem to be perfectly fine, I even tried pulling the wires gently to make sure it didn't just seem that way. My question to you guys it what is next? Should I unsolder and re-solder the joints just to be sure? Or are there other things I can trouble shoot? thanks in advance!

 

Measure and test start button. It actually is DPST switch controlling 2 separate circuits. One is sending power to starter solenoid when pressed. Other disconnects low-beam power when pressed.

1. power goes in on blk/red wire from headlight fuse

2. power goes out blu/wht wire to dimmer switch (which is normally connected to low-beam)

When you press start-button, contacts are separated for headlight circuit and lights go off to deliver more power to starter. Disconnecting & reconnecting each time you push start button can wear out or burn contacts. Or soldered connections or wires may break.

One permanent fix for this is to use relay to control low-beam. This reduces power going through headlight contacts of start-button to minuscule amount, no more burning! Kinda tricky because relay will have two input triggers to process: start button and dimmer switch. But it can be done with a diode.