Headlight goes out when wheel is turned.

[dianageorgina]

Took my first night ride, and low and behold my headlights goes out when I turn the wheel to the right as far as it will go. THe lights come back on when the wheel is straightened.

I looked at the breakdown and I can get to the wiring, is there anything more specific I could look for other than loose connections?

Thanks for your help, I know someone has some good info that will make this an easier fix.

Thanks a bunch.
Di

The scooter is a Phantom, motobravo, Leike manufacturer 2008 model

[david3921]

Sounds like it should be just loose connections. When, found, see if you can crimp the female end slightly to hold the male plug better then tape it up to be sure.

Hmm..wondering here if a lock-tight type of compound is made for electical connections just to help them stick together better.

[dianageorgina]

Hey thanks for weighing in Dave. I'm gonna tackle it this weekend.

Di

[davidqc]

There is something loose in the wiring department somewhere. Try the switches as the wires can tug a tad when ya turn. I hate elec probs cos they're sooooo tedious. So's it's fairing off and be methodical and take ya time. You'll find it. Please post when ya do. :-)

[andres357mag]

dianageorgina, I had a similar problem, just in my case the motor turn off.

I found that the steering column chafe the wires and that made a shortcut that turn off the engine. So start looking for that before grabing a voltimeter (I start with the voltimeter and didn't find anything couse that moment no shortcut going on)

good luck.

[CrazyCarl]

Sometimes the wiring under the scooter plastics is a little tight and can cause these kinds of problems. Take the plastics apart carefully and see if there isn't any extra slack to give!

CC

[dianageorgina]

Thanks for all the tips. But oh my god I started to change the oil today and the spring is so tight i can't get the plug screwed back in. So I'm working the spring trying to make it less stiff. That's all I can think of right now. My smart ass neighbor said "now I bet you wish you could curse in chinese." haha.

[dianageorgina]

Boy do I feel stupid. I looked at my scooter info and realized I was trying to put the oil drain plug, screen and spring back in the wrong order. Duh. China Moto save me from myself.

[dianageorgina]

It's probably tacky to keep my own thread going but I'm doing it anyhow. I've been pretty quiet, it's just a lot going on, and I'm just now getting my scooter fixed and back on the road. After I got the oil changed and dealt with the electrical thing, I got the tool I needed to change the gear oil. The scooter developed a starting and running problem. It quit on me and I had to push it a ways. My neighbor helped me trouble shoot the thing and I was comfortable that we had narrowed it down to the vacumn fuel pump. I ordered the part from County Imports and the new part has four ports where my part has only three ports. The extra port is called a vent which poured gasoline when left unplugged. All right new part, same problem. I began looking at the vacumn line and discovered it was dry rot. All the other lines look new, but this one piece was dry rot and leaking air. I replaced it and 27 dollars and one week later I fixed my scooter myself. I'm proud of myself for doing the work, getting dirty, and not giving up. That's all I got.

[jape]

Thats all good going, congratulations! I am renowned for leaving mechanical problems until I am totally stuck with no vehicles at all, usually when I am flat broke. I am not mechanically minded or very logical in my thinking and I am very easily put off by cold, dirt, grease etc. - but after decades of having to do it myself I also find it is often something small and obvious like a loose wire or pipe, and even more often by something I have done wrong myself, so I now use a digital camera a lot when taking things to bits! The mechanical mindset is not easily obtained for some of us - but you will have gained confidence now.

If you ever get the time and energy, it is a great trick to strip a vehicle down almost to component parts and see what goes where and then to do your own regular service. You get an eye for how things should connect at least and with some basic reading, how they work. You sometimes spot things that just don't look right and catch it before it fails or it might get you going one day when you are alone and remote. Try and find 'Zen in the art of motorcycle maintenance' to read, I am sure you will empathise!