I have to turn the key on and off repeadly to get headlights to come on?

[GIXERHP]

Yes!
And do it a few time to see what the voltage is when they stay on, make sure that the ground on the battery terminal is clean. Disconnect it and hit it with a wire brush

Do you measure across the battery terminals while cranking to see the voltage drop?

 

[MR Felt]

The bike hadn't acted up for a while, and this week it started doing it again. The way I start the bike is to put my thumb on the starter button, turn on the key and then pull in the clutch so the headlights don't come on until the bike is started. When no headlight was on I toggled the start switch and the lights came on. The problem was the contacts in the start switch needed cleaning. I took the housing apart and used Electrical contact cleaner to clean it. We'll see if this cures it.