The Day My Headlight Almost Got Me Killed
So yesterday I’m riding back from the grocery store, sun’s going down, and BAM – my headlight just quits on me. Pitch black country road, man. Almost ran into a ditch. Scared the crap outta me. Pulled over, wiggled the wires, and the stupid thing flickered back on. Figured I better fix this thing for real.
First thing this morning, I grabbed my tools. Screwdriver, some electrical tape, a rag, and a flashlight ’cause my garage lighting sucks. Popped the seat off my old Honda Shadow. Headlight’s right there staring at me. Looked dirty as heck, covered in dead bugs and road gunk. Grabbed the rag and some water, just wiped it down real good. Simple stuff, but man it was nasty.
Then I started poking around the wires. Felt behind the headlight bucket – wires felt stiff, kinda crunchy, you know? Found the connector plug. Yanked it apart. Contacts inside looked dull and dirty, like old pennies. Didn’t have contact cleaner, so I just scraped ’em gently with my pocket knife blade and rubbed ’em with the rag. Felt like I was cleaning old batteries. Plugged it back in, gave it a wiggle test. Seemed okay.
Big mistake number one: I got cocky. Didn’t check the battery terminals. Went to start the bike later that afternoon – CLICK. Nothing. Dead as a doornail. My stupid battery terminals were loose and covered in fuzzy green corrosion. Had to go borrow my neighbor’s wrench.
Here’s how I screwed up step-by-step:
- Forgot to turn OFF the ignition first before messing with wires. Saw a tiny spark. Felt like an idiot.
- Used water on the headlight while it was still mounted. Water dripped down into the housing. Had to pull the bulb to dry it out.
- Didn’t wear gloves. Grease and dirt under my nails for days now.
After the dead battery fiasco, I finally got smart. Checked all the grounds – the one near the frame looked rusty. Sanded it down real quick with sandpaper until shiny metal showed. Tightened everything up with the wrench like I was mad at it. Turned the key, hit the starter… and the headlight blazed bright. Felt like a king for about two seconds until I realized I spent half the day fixing something that shoulda taken 20 minutes.
So yeah, moral of the story: wiggle your dang wires before dark, clean your contacts, and tighten those battery terminals. Or you’ll end up like me – sweating in the garage, swearing at your motorcycle, late for dinner. But hey, at least I ain’t riding blind tonight.
