I have the same issue but it is intermittent. I can cycle the key a time or two and they go off. I am suspecting something in the switch itself rather than a misplaced wire. I will take it out and clean it well and lube with dielectric grease. One good thing, is my GPS tells me when it happens. If it does not go into power down mode, I know it is happening. Otherwise I am not sure I would look at the headlights. Mine is an '88 R100RT.

Courtney
#16121

Found some magic sauce! So, I was in the music store the other day, it is actually a Bait Shop that serves BBQ at a lunch counter and they happen to sell instruments and the like. I purchased two large towers of speakers and a 1979 Peavey 400 head unit. The head unit (which is an amp) had some sticky pots which made the sound intermittent and scratchy. The proprietor said they just needed to be cleaned and I have done this before on guitars and the like. However, in this case, I could not remove the pots so I had to shoot cleaner down the post. He sold me some cleaner with Lubricant in it. He said using WD-40 or the like would "dry out" the pot and cause it to lock up over time. This stuff would clean it and lube it up for years more of service. Sure enough it worked!!! Then I looked at my bike...He I wonder if this will work...so I shot this into the key hole and boom, smooth as silk. Of most note was the turn signals. I have an 88 so the turn signals was just gummy. No real definition to left/center/right. After two squirts, I now have a hard click to denote center!

Another one was the headlight switch. I kept wondering why if I flipped it down or up the high beam came on and stayed on. Seemed odd to have a switch work both ways. After a squirt, the down motion will return to "center" and low beam. Up will stay up with high beams activated. The stuff is called Max-Pro Electronics Lubricant. It cost me $13 and I feel well worth every penny!