Modern Buddy

My low beam works great, no problems there.

High beam works in 1st, and then goes black in N, 2, 3, and 4. I've read something about the headlight cable rubbing between the headset and clutch. I'm thinking, "what?" Has anyone done a self-fix for this problem? Does anyone know of an online walk-through (maybe a long shot, but there are so many self-help Stella videos online it's worth a try).

Finally, if I lost my bright due to cable chaffing, do y'all think my low beam might be at risk now too?

Thanks a lot,
Sverre

High beam works in 1st, and then goes black in N, 2, 3, and 4.

If you remove the dimmer switch on your right handlebar and look at it's back, it's probable that you'll find that the hi-beam's wire connection is loose from it's terminal on the back of the switch. This happened on my 2009, I just reconnected it and tightened the screw - as well as tightening all the other connections too as a prevention.

Ooops, make that the Left bar ..... the "other" right ... LOL ... sorry.

If its not the switch then I would definitely check the cable in the spot between the headset and the clutch case (the part you rotate to shift). Since there isn't a lot of space cables are known to get pinched by the shifting motion and short out in specific gears. Remove the headset and the clutch cover and you should be able to inspect the cable for damage.

I have not fixed it in person but my dealer said they used a dremel tool to create a little more space for the cable, alternatively I would try to wrap the specific section of cable with electrical tape to provide extra padding (although this is likely to wear down with time if you decide not to dremel so it might be only a temp fix.)

fisher1 wrote:

High beam works in 1st, and then goes black in N, 2, 3, and 4.

If you remove the dimmer switch on your right handlebar and look at it's back, it's probable that you'll find that the hi-beam's wire connection is loose from it's terminal on the back of the switch. This happened on my 2009, I just reconnected it and tightened the screw - as well as tightening all the other connections too as a prevention.

^^^ AND a small dab of blue loctite on the screws threads to keep them from loosening up again

So I was having a similar problem where my headlight was shorting out in third and fourth gear, so I took the switch cover off to have a look at the wires to see if any screw heads needed to be tightened down and my headlight wires (purple and yellow) simply snapped.

Any suggestions, or am I just going to have to bite the bullet and take it in somewhere? I don't have a Genuine dealer near me, so could this even be something I could take to a different bike mechanic?

You should be able to have the cables spliced back together by a shop or do it yourself if your feeling up to using a soldering iron.

Alternately you can order the switch + wires from Scooterworks and just swap the whole thing out.

I had a similar issue
I posted my fix with a photo here
topic21881.html

@John and @scoot


Thanks for the tips!!

I had the exact same issue, except mine went out at 2nd or 3rd. Was fixed under warrantee!