Headlight bulb won't turn on

[thecdn]

Going to work early last week I quickly realized I had no headlight. I turned on high beam and that worked so I carried on. This morning I went to replace the bulb with one of several I have left over in a drawer. After taking out the old bulb I plugged in different bulbs and none worked. I even put the old one - where high beam had worked, back on and nothing worked on that either.

I checked the fuse, it seemed ok. Then I took one of the bulbs from my V-Strom 650 that I knew worked and plugged it into the FZ headlight socket and it didn't work. I tried the bulbs that hadn't worked on the FZ on the V and they all worked fine. I tried swapping fuses that were obviously working on the V to the FZ but nothing worked either.

I hooked up the trickle charger to the battery but I know that's just desperation as the turn signals/running lights work so there is no reason the headlight wouldn't.

I guess the next step is to check the headlight bulb socket? I have an OTC 550 multimeter but I'm not sure how to use it. It was my master mechanic son's, as was the FZ. But he passed in 2023, I could use his expertise now

Any thoughts on why the headlight bulb won't come on?

Thanks for any ideas/feedback.



Edit to add

I truly am an idiot. The headlights on the V-Strom will come on when you turn the ignition on, the bike doesn't have to be started. The headlights on the FZ won't come on unless the bike is started. I guess I just hadn't paid attention to that till now.

Sorry for stupid post

 

[Midori]

Going to work early last week I quickly realized I had no headlight. I turned on high beam and that worked so I carried on. This morning I went to replace the bulb with one of several I have left over in a drawer. After taking out the old bulb I plugged in different bulbs and none worked. I even put the old one - where high beam had worked, back on and nothing worked on that either.

I checked the fuse, it seemed ok. Then I took one of the bulbs from my V-Strom 650 that I knew worked and plugged it into the FZ headlight socket and it didn't work. I tried the bulbs that hadn't worked on the FZ on the V and they all worked fine. I tried swapping fuses that were obviously working on the V to the FZ but nothing worked either.

I hooked up the trickle charger to the battery but I know that's just desperation as the turn signals/running lights work so there is no reason the headlight wouldn't.

I guess the next step is to check the headlight bulb socket? I have an OTC 550 multimeter but I'm not sure how to use it. It was my master mechanic son's, as was the FZ. But he passed in 2023, I could use his expertise now

Any thoughts on why the headlight bulb won't come on?

Thanks for any ideas/feedback.



Edit to add

I truly am an idiot. The headlights on the V-Strom will come on when you turn the ignition on, the bike doesn't have to be started. The headlights on the FZ won't come on unless the bike is started. I guess I just hadn't paid attention to that till now.

Sorry for stupid post

haha. This is a good opportunity to put in a nice new LED light!