i was riding home last nite,turned on my high beam,and every light went out,i turned on the low beam,and everything came back on,what could be the cause of this,bad switch,bad fuse,or relay ,anyone had this happen to them?its a 96 sporty if that helps

 

The obvious thing to check is the headlight bulb. Probably a burned out high-beam filament.

 

it was a new bulb,maybe 2 months old,why would every light on the bike go out?

 

Is there a pinched wire in the headlight bucket? It didn't do it before. But it does now?

 

i will take it apart when i get home,just seems wierd that all lights quit,and when i flipped back to low beam,the lights came on like 15 seconds later,when i got home i tried the high beam switch 50 times and NO lights at all,each time,i will check the bulb but really doubt thats the problem.

 

I'd suspect the switch itself first, then the wiring.

 

recently change bars or move any bolts in the control housings? it very easy to pinch the wires when re assembling the control housing. Definately have a short somewhere if everything goes out.

 

no i havent made any recent changes

 

Do you have a voltage meter on it? IF so does it fluctuate unusually when you switch to highs and all your secondary lighting goes out?

My best guess is the high beam of the bulb has become shorted and when turning it on it grounds / shorts the rest of the lighting.

It could even be in the wiring. The high beam supply wire has rubbed the frame and is grounding out.

Take out the bulb and see if the secondary go out then, when on high beams.

BTW the high / low beam switch is not directly connected to the secondary lighting. I don't thinks it the switch. But it could be where the short has developed.

 

thanks johnny c i will start with checking for a chafed wire or short