Semper_Fi Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Interested in seeing the distribution of bulb burn outs and how people replace them. Link to comment
EddyQ Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Lost a front bulb yesterday. My odo read 7,200. So, that's less than 10K. The bike is just over 1 year old. Link to comment
johnlt Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 You don't allow for any bulb to last longer than 17K? I've never lost a bulb on any bike with hundreds of K miles. Link to comment
MikeB60 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Mine burned out around 23,000, First the left bulb followed by the right bulb a few weeks later. Link to comment
Huzband Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 You didn't start early enough for me. First one went at 7k, second at 9.5k. I usually only change the popped bulb. Link to comment
hopz Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 some of you may want to see my post on the bulb sale at Pep Boys this week... Link to comment
SageRider Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 30K miles for me .... Right side went first. Replaced both. Virtually all miles on bike were recreational. >90% open road... Link to comment
Semper_Fi Posted November 5, 2008 Author Share Posted November 5, 2008 You didn't start early enough for me. First one went at 7k, second at 9.5k. I usually only change the popped bulb. John/Danny - sorry about the boundry conditions!! Link to comment
Mike05 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Depends...(doesn't it always?! ) After-market headlights are Phillips Low Beam MotoVision H7 Bulb. Replace one about every 12-15 months. PIAA 1100's: At 30 months, no replacement yet (used infrequently). MotoLight Caliper-mounted Amber Lamps : Replace one or both about every 15 months ("on" all the time). Link to comment
bakerzdosen Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 No clue. I carry a couple of spares, but my '05 ST with 24k miles refuses to kill the stock bulbs. The motolights haven't died yet either. (I've knocked on wood so many times for this topic that it's not even funny.) Link to comment
Huzband Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 St's are so ugly...... They don't dare burn out a headlight bulb for fear of looking better. Link to comment
bakerzdosen Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 St's are so ugly...... They don't dare burn out a headlight bulb for fear of looking better. At least I don't have to hide my bike under several layers of powder coating. Link to comment
Bullett Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 one bulb on each of our RT's blew at about 20K . . . we went ahead and replaced both bulbs and kept the good used one as a spare . . . the aftermarket bulbs were slightly brighter than the OEM and made the bikes look off balance. Link to comment
FrankP Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Left bulb died about 20K km's (about 13k miles), replaced just that one but have 2 new spares on hand. Definitely the new one is brighter than the remaining original, and I'm OK with that. I'm too curious about how long the right will last, to replace it before it dies. I think part of the reason for the lack of longevity (compared to some folks' experience) is that much my riding takes me over a lot of city road roughness so there's a lot of vibration beating up those bulbs, more so than would be on more open highway driving. Link to comment
LuckyLeif Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I try to replace twin bulbs in pairs when one burns out - the good one goes into the tank bag as a spare. Also, it seems the light output decreases with use, which may contribute to the asymetry others mention (if you replace singles). Link to comment
marcopolo18 Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Frank: I would like to believe that it's rough roads that are reponsible for the early demise of our headlights... however, a fellow FJR rider with twin headlights has over 45K kilometres (more than 27K miles) with no burnouts... similar road experience... may it's the sympathetic vibes?? Marc Link to comment
Deek Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 one bulb on each of our RT's blew at about 20K . . . we went ahead and replaced both bulbs and kept the good used one as a spare . . . the aftermarket bulbs were slightly brighter than the OEM and made the bikes look off balance. I lost the left side bulb at 17k. Link to comment
Motorrad4fun Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Still going on the ones that came with the bike. October of 04 27K Link to comment
MickFinn Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 I've had to change heads and dips under 5,000 miles on my 05RT. I've replaced all with H.I.D.'s from efxmotorsports.com and have much brighter lights and no burn out problem. Link to comment
FrankP Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Frank: I would like to believe that it's rough roads that are reponsible for the early demise of our headlights... however, a fellow FJR rider with twin headlights has over 45K kilometres (more than 27K miles) with no burnouts... similar road experience... may it's the sympathetic vibes?? Marc ...welll...there is something I've been wondering about...the mechanism on the RT that allows the adjustment of the headlight aim for 1up vs. 2up, with the magic lever - that seems like a point which would make the headlight assembly less "rigid", and more prone to vibration.....does the FJR have something like that or is the headlight assembly pretty solidly attached? And maybe it is not all the RT's out there that have loose(ish) assemblies, but it sure does introduce a potential point where looseness could develop..... Link to comment
Jim VonBaden Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 15K for the low beam on my 05 R1200GS. At 32K, or so, I replaced them with HID lights. No failure since at 55K miles. Jim Link to comment
Albert Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Left side blew after 18k miles. I replaced both at that time with Sylvania Osram Ultra which lasted approximately 2,000 miles each!! Out of necessity (on the road) I replaced again with cheap parts store bulbs which are still both working after 5 or 6k miles. Link to comment
Yuro Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 I really feel like there's a problem with the 1200GS. My friend bought one of the early ones...'04? and it ate low beam bulbs like candy. Very inconvenient. Both original headlight bulbs work fine on my RT at 52K as does the high beam, but the two little parking bulbs on the perimiter of my headlight unit are both blown. I'm leaving them until something serious goes out. -TB Link to comment
CraCol Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 '05 R1200RT with 83K.. Low Beam bulbs go between 10-15K before they fail, usually first the left then the right. It's been consistent for the last 83K.. Connectors to the bulbs have both disinagrated, looks like it's due to excess heat. Same problem of extra heat seems to cause the city light bulbs to fail as well, and the connectors on these are brittle and coming apart. Ride Safe TinMan. Link to comment
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