Inverted Highbeam...?

[KillRamsey]

I can't figure out how this one came to be.

- 1981 GS1000G, 27k miles, 1 owner til me.
- Headlight isn't stock, it appears to be a 6" chrome replacement required by (I'm guessing) a big Windjammer etc fairing it used to have sometime in the past 40 years.
- Headlight bucket is, of course, on correctly. Opening pointing down.
- Sealed beam bulb is in correctly, not upside down. Text on the fresnel lens is not upside down.
- Low and high beams function as they should, by which I mean they come on when switched at the left control.
- Low beam is aimed correctly, lights the road up well.
- High beam is tighter pattern, brighter light, but aimed much closer to the front wheel.


Any hints on where I should look for this? I can usually hazard a guess as to how something got bunged up, but this one... I don't know how I could do this to a headlight if you paid me.

[Steve]

Take the plug off the back of the headlight bulb. Hold it so you can see it as if it is mounted properly and you are viewing it through a clear bucket. The terminal on the RIGHT (throttle hand) should be the ground. If the connector itself has been replaced, there is no guaratee what color wire is there, but stock is black/white (black wire with a white stripe). The TOP terminal will be the LOW beam. Stock wire color is WHITE. The LEFT terminal is the HIGH beam, stock color is yellow. Less than a minute with a test light or a voltmeter will tell you if it's wired correctly.

If it's NOT wired correctly, it will take a bit more than a minute to find and fix the problem, but take one step at a time. Verify proper operation at the plug. If that's OK, you might have some sort of mongrel bulb.

.

[KillRamsey]

So I thought about that. And I didn't test it, not because I'm too lazy, but because I didn't think it COULD be what's wrong. My reasoning:

- Low on the control switch activates a nice wide beam, aka Low beam.
- High on the switch changes it to a tight, bright beam, aka High beam.

...it's just that the high beam is aimed 15 feet in front of the front tire, when the low beam is aimed out right. So... bulb? And if so, could someone point me at the best site for finding replacements with modern bulbs? Just want to narrow it down some.

[Steve]

Have you owned this bike since it rolled out of the Suzuki showroom with nubs on the tires?

No. You already stated in your opening post that you haven't.
Might have only been one other owner, but that's enough.

You also mentioned that it has a non-stock headlight. Possibly due to having a fairing attached. It is distressingly common for well-meaning "mechanics" to cut wires to fit the new doo-dads, then someone else has to try to re-wire back to (almost) stock. They are not always successful.

So I thought about that. And I didn't test it, ...

I have offered suggestions on how to remove some of the doubt, but you are now refusing them, because you are guessing that it couldn't possibly be so. Until I (and maybe the rest of the crew) see some test results, it's not worth my time to keep guessing from over 2300 miles away.

$3 at Harbor Freight for a test light, a cross-point screwdriver to remove the headlight and about 2 minutes of poking around will probably tell you exactly what is wrong, but until you make the effort, ...

.

[KillRamsey]

Take it easy, Steve. I'm not "refusing" anything. Just trying to figure it out, using my brain AND a test light. I'm incredibly grateful for the help. When I was an electrician, I found that if I dove into an old house and just started tracing everything from one end to the other, I would 100% find it, but it would take a loooong time. If I stopped and thought for a minute first, I could often figure out what some well-intentioned hack was -trying- to do, and thus figure out what they then accidentally -did- to that circuit back in 1982 or something, and then I could fix it a lot quicker without all the time.

I'll shut up and go take the headlight bucket apart like I know I should.

[Guest]

If I am understanding you correctly you have a damaged headlight (may have been dropped?) and Steve is talking about correct wiring of the headlight. I vote for the mongrel bulb.

[KillRamsey]

No, no damaged. Not dropped. Looks and functions totally normally, with one odd twist: High Beam is lower than Low beam, aim-wise. Much closer to front tire. But bulb isn't in upside down.

[KillRamsey]

And yes, Steve is urging me to go make sure the wiring is correct.

[jlyon40]

This may sound dumb and not work. But did you try flipping the light bulb upside down. Probably won't work but you never know.

[BigD_83]

This may sound dumb and not work. But did you try flipping the light bulb upside down. Probably won't work but you never know.

I'm having a hard time imagining anything other than this, or a poorly designed reflector...

[KillRamsey]

^ Meeeee too. Should get time to monkey with it this weekend.

[BigD_83]

I'd be curious to see where the low beam is actually pointing. It could be spreading nicely, but aimed way too high. If that is the case, then the light (or bulb) is upside down, and you could just ignore the writing on the lens.

[Who Dat?]

Like Steve, I am a big fan of a test light. To me, it sounds like somebody switched the white and yellow wires that go to the headlight plug when they installed that "non-stock" light.

[KillRamsey]

I'd be curious to see where the low beam is actually pointing. It could be spreading nicely, but aimed way too high. If that is the case, then the light (or bulb) is upside down, and you could just ignore the writing on the lens.

Low beam is exactly where it should be. Lights up the road pretty well, good spread, not in peoples eyes. Perfect. High beam is much tighter, therefor much brighter, and about half the distance from the front tire .... ie, way too low. Switch isn't backwards -- pushing down for the marked "Low" position activates the low beam mentioned above. Going up to "High" activates the high beam described above (much lower aim than Low beam). Bulb is not in upside down.

[bwringer]

Look at the innards of the bulb. The filaments or that wee reflector within might be damaged or out of place. That happens sometimes.

It's a bog-standard H4/9003 halogen bulb, available pretty much anywhere. Visit the nearest store of any type and they'll likely have one.

Many here are partial to Silverstar if you're sticking with incandescent. Others (like me) have also upgraded to LED replacements, but that's a whole 'nuther topic.