Left headlight melted connector

My left headlight likes to melt the connector. Melted one of the connectors to the bulb off on the way into work this am. I've been using the Sylvania H4 bulbs (dont recall exact wattage as I am at work, but they are only slightly more than stock). I've already replaced the connector with a high temp H4 connector from AutoZone, now it has melted. A brief search turned up the H4 kit from Eastern Beaver H4 Kits

This seems like this is the fix. Any one else use this kit for this issue?

I think that if you are melting the bulb connectors there is something else at play here that a relay kit won't necessarily fix. My thought is that there is a loose pin connector that is arching, causing additional heat.

I have to agree with Byron, I don't think the heat from the bulb is the problem.

I suppose at this point troubleshooting isn't going to tell you anything. Maybe after a new connector you can inspect it after a couple weeks for signs of arcing and whatnot.

If you're buying off-the-shelf Sylvanias, they're probably 60/55W. Lots of us are running those with no problem.

Heat in electrical circuits is all about voltage and resistance. If you're confident that the connections are clean, check that the system voltage is what it should be, as higher voltages will push more current through the works and make more heat. You might also consider replacing the bulb, as a drop in its resistance would allow more current to flow and do the same thing,

--Mark

The only thing that I would consider doing is to properly inspect the female half of the connector that attaches to the bulb where you are experiencing the problem of excessive heating and damage to the bulb.
As it has happened twice the problem is not in the bulb, but will be in the female connector that attaches to the bulb. As others have stated a bad electrical connection (a high er resistance) . A few ohms resistance at that point would be enough to cause a sever and localized heating problem . Normal wiring and good electrical jointing will have a negligible amount of resistance for the designed current draw through that particular circuit .
If enough current flows, Ie. what the bulb will normally draw, this will be enough to cause excessive localized heating at the location of the bad joint.
I would suspect the crimping of the wire at the termination of the wire where it attaches to the female connector that then attaches to damaged terminal at the base of the bulb.
Whenever I come across any sort of a problem such as this ,I make sure that I properly solder any joints ,or repairs that I make to the wiring.
Cheers Winston Lee, Northampton, Western Australia

Following on from poster #5 above I suspect that creating a direct path to ground will fix this problem. The left headlight connector goes to ground along with all the other electrical device grounds in the front half of the bike via one single green wire in the 24 pin connector found on the left side of the frame above the cylinder head. If this connector or a terminal fitting upstream of this connector causes a bit of extra resistance the connecter(s) overheat.

I had this issue and created a separate ground from the headlight connector to a existing hole on the left side of the frame that was tapped for a 10mm bolt.

That was several years ago and no more left headlight issues.

Just to clarify, the original H4 plug melted last year (IIRC), and I replaced it with a high temp connector from AutoZone. This connector just melted this am. Will check things closer tonight. As dduelin stated, I suspect a ground.