I have been fighting headlight issues for a few years now. When I first bought my bike, someone had placed an aftermarket headlight on it as well as aftermarket handlebars. I would blow headlamps from time to time but when I would check voltage, everything "looked" ok. Then, I decided that I would connect the ground wire back to the harness instead of just terminating the ground at the headlight. This also did not solve my problem. So, I changed voltage regulator since my old one did not show any difference in out back to the battery at idle, 2500 (or so) rpm, or wide open. As luck would have it, I had to change the battery about the same time. Since then, I have been "exploding" bulb free.

My newest problem started the last weekend after I had gottne back from Sturgis. My headlight just did not come on. Then it lit up like I had flipped a switch. It did this a couple more times so I started hitting things to see if I had a loose connection. I decided that I would check the fuse. I had the bike's ignition switched on and this time the light came on. I then decided to pull the fuse any way to see if it had a loose connection or something since I had gotten it fairly wet cleaning it after Sturgis. Well, when I pulled the fuse, the headlight stayed on.
So, I am thinking that someone decided that they needed to bypsss the fuse for some reason. I have not had any other bulb problems (taillight, turn, etc) so I am thinking someone just screwed up. Where do I need to look first? If you were an idiot, where would you jack up the wiring first? I don't want to pull everything apart since I pretty much am an idiot when it comes to soldering and I have little patience for this part of fixing stuff.

Thanks
Adam
2005 Softail Nightrain

 

Does your high/low switch work? Check for pinched wire(s) in the handle bar. Follow the wires from the bars to harness and H/L bucket. Crossed wire(s) or grounding out some where is a great possibility.

 

The H/L switch works. I will check the wiring in the handlebars and hopefully find my problem.

 

Wiring in handlebars looked perfect and I could not find a crack in the insulation. Yanked the tank and I am slowly pulling a few wires at a time. One thing I noticed that tonight when the light was on, I could pull the fuse when the light was on High and the hign beam would go out but the low stayed lit. Tomorrow I am going to put the switch back onto the harness and test each circuit.