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dl650 lights gone out! dl650 lights gone out!
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Photo by George Guille, It's going to be a long 300km... Bolivian Amazon

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Photo by George Guille
It's going to be a long 300km...
Bolivian Amazon



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  #1  
Old 13 Sep 2014
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dl650 lights gone out!
On a recent trip to a hot place the headlights failed on my wee strom. It's not the bulbs and not the fuses. All wires appear ok. main and dip beam on both lights are out. All indicator bulbs went out at various stages too but they were just replaced and are fine. Something somewhere has come off/broke? There were a couple of falling down incidents and a small crash but no damage to the lights or anything other than the front indicator stalks getting broken ( again)
All other electrics are fine.

Anyone had this happen on a Vstrom?

I think it may be caused by the vibes from the road as some stretches of paved road were were terrible, the off road bits were smoother! They were resurfacing with golf-ball sized granite chunks in liquid tar spray, horrible to ride on.
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Old 14 Sep 2014
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If not the bulbs or fuses, double check the connections. Could be a short in the wiring to the headlight, sometimes hard to find as the wires can look fine but can be hard to inspect in full length as they are wrapped up at least for part of the run. Look for wear areas where the wire sheath may be rubbed through or pinched. Meters are also useful for trouble shooting. Good luck.
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Old 14 Sep 2014
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Broken earth is where I'd start looking.........otherwise, re-light the candle
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  #4  
Old 17 Sep 2014
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headlight power goes through the start switch which is notorious for burning out on vstroms. disassemble start switch and check for burnt ends (no, not the brisket kind )

http://blacklabadventures.com/2012/0...h-maintenance/
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Old 17 Sep 2014
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I have done the starter switch thing. It all.works as it should. Power is goind through it fine and stoping when pressed. I now need to pull off bits to get at all the conectors. There are some behind the radiator will check them next. Also the hi/lo beam switch ......

sent via tapatalk on the road.
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Old 21 Sep 2014
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poor design?
After going to the shop to buy another box of "angry swear words" I have managed to trace and fix my lighting fault, it was a corroded connection block behind the radiator ( yellow one)

It has been a good exercise as I now feel I know the electrical system and bike insides much better, but can't help thinking it is all too over complicated on the light circuit and asking for trouble. The power to the lights goes through several switches, many connectors, 2 fuses and meters of cable going back and forth all over the bike. But no less than any other bike I guess?

I've decided I am going to do a relay mod for the headlight circuit to help reduce the loads on switches etc. So hopefully simplify things and build in some secondary "get me home supply" should the OEM wiring fail again on the road. Also I think a bolt spot or something might be a good idea too!
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Old 23 Sep 2014
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Glad you're sorted. It does make one wonder if suzuki hasn't intentionally created this nightmare to drum up business for its dealers. I welcome anyone to explain a valid purpose for the ridiculous way these headlights wires are run, aside from the headlight/start switch which we already know, even if it is a worse ideas than the EB relay system.
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Old 9 Oct 2014
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A Solution
Eastern Beaver makes a relay kit that fixed these problems - draws power from the battery through high quality relays directly to headlamps.. I've had both the yellow wire and starter switch problems and they suck when you're traveling. FYI, when the starter switch fails completely you can start the bike by jumping the posts on the relay under the seat.

VStrom
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Old 9 Oct 2014
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I rewired my using relay etc all hard wired in with solder joints, using a separate circuit for left and right light. This way if one fails I still have light. also left the OEM wiring untouched so if all else fails I can re-plug it to the bulbs.

AND if that fails I have made a lead which plugs into my power outlet socket with a H4 bulb connector on.

AND .....I now own a small gas soldering iron!

I am not getting caught without light again in a hurry, A torch duct-taped to the forks is not that much fun!
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