| Author | Message | ||
     Old_man |
It sounds to me like there is no fix in the offing. Just a replacement for bad units, which may be all that is necessary. Perhaps a majority of units have no problem. I don't know. I don't have an R. Buell replaced the bad unit on my S for a reasonable price. Thank's to our friend Court. | ||
| Ducxl |
I would just like to state that I haven't received any information about his situation from Buell, HD or any dealership. Read what he stated It sounds to me like there is no fix in the offing. that's not what i read | ||
| Old_man |
It's a secret! | ||
| Old_man |
Is it still a secret??? Is it, as I suspect, only the squeaky wheel is getting the grease? | ||
| Midknyte |
Have the fairing off this weekend to do a little work - checking the headlamp while I've got things open. Here's mine at 10,789 miles...   | ||
| Old_man |
Looks OK to me. | ||
| Ducxl |
Midnyte,here's my low beam at 10,500 miles:  And here's the EXACT same low beam assembly one year later at 13,900 miles:  At this point it'd be very unsafe to continue recording the degradation.These are VERY obviously defective products distributed by Buell Motorcycle Company. I've been hoping for a solution provided by Buell.Either by goodwill or U.S. Government mandated.But,alas,i've GOT to replace it.Trouble is,my '05 parts manual has the beam assemblies reversed right and left.So i don't know IF the low beam is in fact the correct number for IT.When i know the correct number,at $55 each,i'll buy two  | ||
| Old_man |
No "Secret Fix" for you????? | ||
| Ducxl |
Check out the difference in the low beam only one year made! Only an additional 3400 miles! Funny thing,after i first noticed the defect last year i spent MUCH MORE time running the high beam.And you know what? The high beam is still like brand new,unlike the experience of others | ||
| Midknyte |
I'm not here to bitch. Just contributing another data point. | ||
| Ducxl |
I'm not here to bitch. To be certain,neither am i.This problem certainly worsens though.Too bad,i've never been disappointed with ANY other aspect of my Buells'.This is a real black eye for BMC to continue ignoring the motorcycling public.Profit margins over safety | ||
| Court |
>>>>Profit margins over safety I agree with most of what you are saying. It's that divergent ending where we part company. I doubt that's the reason, something doesn't add up. I'm just as perplexed as to the fed who came, expressed outrage and then just shrugged his shoulders. The two sides of the equation do not seem to match. | ||
| Midknyte |
What size are these lights anyways if one were to look for a direct replacement? 70mm? I don't want to go carving things up to fit the 90mm Hellas... | ||
| Ducxl |
I just tried Buell customer service.They state they have NO knowledge of this defect and cannot do anything to help me. I'm livid,to say the least.On FIRE,steaming mad. | ||
| Damnut |
I just tried Buell customer service.They state they have NO knowledge of this defect That is an ABSOLUTELY INACCURATE STATEMENT!!!!!!!!! They definitely know about this problem. I think that is bullshit that they told you that. Call this guy, he is who I personally sent my Headlights to. Jon Selensky Buell Motorcycles Harley-Davidson Motor Company Customer Service Department 414-343-4056 I am patiently waiting for Buell to resolve this issue but to straight up lie to you is uncalled for. | ||
| Damnut |
Here is proof that they know about it.... Dear Jim Moreira Thank you for your recent e-mail concerning the headlamp reflector on your Buell Firebolt. Buell Customer / Technical Service Department in Milwaukee, WI would like to recover some examples of the headlamp reflectors for the Firebolt with issues of the reflective coating degrading. Buell would provide replacement of OEM headlamp reflector through an authorized Buell dealer and request the original headlamp reflector returned to Buell Motorcycles 3900 West Juneau Ave, Milwaukee WI 53208 Attn: Jon Selensky , Customer Service Department. Please feel free to call Buell Customer Service Department at 414-343-4056 Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m.- 4:30p.m Central Standard Time. Thank you for supporting Buell Motorcycles. Best Regards Jon Selensky Buell Motorcycles Harley-Davidson Motor Company Customer Service Department 414-343-4056 | ||
| Ducxl |
Well..i tried,i was polite.The conversation never got heated.And the gentlemans name was Jon | ||
| Midknyte |
I called Buell CS yesterday at 414-343-8400 Person at the other claimed no knowledge of it as a problem and referred me to my dealership as a first contact / decision maker. I'm out of warranty and don't want to piss away any time over it so I just paid for a new one. At $57, it's cheaper than dealership rates for an oil change. I am neither happy nor unhappy. I just want to get things buttoned back up and ride... | ||
| Nautique4life |
Wow! After all this time, I had no idea this thread was still this active. Dang, and to think of all the good post I missed. I was a frequent contributor to this thread or similar ones with like subject matter about 5 months ago. I see we have gotten no where. BMC is still in denial. I don't get it. | ||
| Nautique4life |
Both my headlights are dingy yellow. I bought bulbs from a local autoparts store. I barely noticed a difference. My buddy, also with a R, had the unfortunate experience of watching a friend of his wreck his bike in a parking lot. The outcome of that was him getting a new front end, sans forks. I can not tell you how amazed I was at his super clear lights. They were so new and clear and....new. I told him it was only a matter of time before he was back in my club. The bulbs were a temporary fix. I want redesigned headlamps. Back to the drawing board Buell. I am not gonna beat a dead horse, I don't want my new headlamps in 5 years. I wanted them yesterday. I agree with owners that think Buell knows AND HAS KNOWN for years about this issue and chose to sneak out the back door while we are still complaining about our vaginas bleeding. If Buell wont help me, then I can only help myself. Hellas..here I come. That was my post from 6 months ago. Should I retract my last statement. Obviously I never carried out my plans for the Hellas. I have been limiting my riding to day time or well lit roads. Sad. I I have been out of the loop on this for a while now. I just read most of the prior post pertaining to this item. What is deal with 'filing'? Is it possible I can get new housings from BMC? Sans charge? Are they still throwing their hands in the air, like they just don'}t care? | ||
| Midknyte |
It's an odd one. They've addressed and made changes to many lesser items on the XB's and this just hangs out there... | ||
| Cereal |
Many of us received an email over a year ago from Buell asking us to bring our headlights to the nearest dealer and they would give us new ones at no cost and mail the old ones in for inspection. So I agree that the fact you guys were told Buell was not aware of the problem is complete bullshit. It also probably means that they haven't done a damn thing to fix it. Court? | ||
| Cereal |
Correction: almost a year ago. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/327 77/265790.html?1173083404 | ||
| Damnut |
I have said it over and over........ I LOVE MY BUELL!!!!! and I'm in the works to possibly get another one but to hear that Buell CS tell customers that they have never heard of this problem is making me think otherwise. I would rather hear them say that there have been instances of this issue and they don't think it is a problem at this time. That would be better than that bullshit answer they gave Ducxl and Midknyte. Look I AM A CUSTOMER SUPPORT ENGINEER. I would NEVER straight up lie to a customer like that. That just isn't right and if the Jon that Ducxl talked to was the same Jon (Selensky)that sent me that email then that is even worse. I might be in a little different situation because my customers are not individual people but are large corporations like Hitachi, Fujitsu, Western Digital and Seagate. My customers know me personally and I visit their facilities quite often so I am in a different situation. My company sells very expensive production QA systems. They do have problems and we do make mistakes building them like any other company. If I know about a problem on a system and a customer asks or tells me that he is experiencing this problem NEVER would I lie and say that "We have NO knowledge of this defect and cannot do anything to help." My ass would be fired and maybe some CS folks over at Buell should be too. They obviously are not doing their job. Once again I LOVE MY BUELL but now this headlight issue has become a big blackeye for the company in my book. WHAT THE F*CK BUELL???? I am on my THIRD lowbeam and my SECOND highbeam. I bought the bike in May 05 and have 22K on it. How many headlights am I to go through in my bike's lifetime???? See ya'll at Homecoming......... | ||
| Rd3501 |
Yeah...gave up on Buell fixing my headlights too..all that work and emails for nothing...Guess we will see if they just drop the R in July and brush this one under the table, that will be the end of if for sure... | ||
| Ducxl |
I'm going to purchase a new reflector today. That said,and in light of the fact some are now on their third reflector. I'm profoundly disappointed with Buell motorcycle company. | ||
| Nautique4life |
Well. I shit myself yesterday. This was right before I picked my jaw up off the floor. On a whim, and after reading all these post, I decided to call the CS number listed above and just see what transpired. I had zero expectations, especially after reading Ducxl and others posts about their adventures with CS. I spoke with a very nice lady named Anne. The conversation was very polite. I did'nt call with attitude or un-needed bravado. I just told her what was going on...coating gone, can't ride at dark, safety concern, manufacturer defect..Then I am placed on hold while she "talks to the Buell tech" about 3-5 minutes later she comes back on and says "Ok, write this number down," She gave me a Ref # to go to my local stealership and have them replaced at no charge to me!!!!! Please read the opening sentence again. Anne said give her 20 minutes so that SHE could call my local dealer and inform them about it, then for me to call and simply set up a time. I couldnt believe it. It was cake! When making that phone call, I was only trying to see what I would be told about the lights. WOW. Never thought the call would end like that. Ideally, I would prefer to just go pick the headlights up and perform the install myself. I don't want to sit at my dealer for 3 hours while they take their sweet as time. Just thought I would share that with everyone. I thought it was cool of them to do that.   | ||
| Damnut |
I don't get that........ replace your headlight but tell others that they never heard of this problem. | ||
| Jaimec |
Any way to send Anne of CS flowers?? | ||
| Court |
The folks at Buell Customer Service (including the folks who have been hired to provide better service and HAVE NEVER HEARD of this issue) are very polite, capable, and honest. Their leader of course holds Land Speed Records on a Buell and trying to cast these guys as less than professionals is terribly inaccurate. Their job, they are not paid nearly enough, is not to be an arbitrator in a "your legal opinion of Buell vicarious design liability" they are simply trying to do a job. They are constrained by procedures in an effort to be consistent and treat all 100,000 Buell owner fairly and with respect. There is no better tool to arrive at that discussion with that a conciliatory, civil attitude and a basic understanding of what your Mom taught you about "please and thank you". Buell has exhibited an incredible willingness, in fact replacing stuff approaching 10 years old, to avoid playing the . . . "tough luck your warranty expired last week" bullshit games. These are honest people who work hard to live up to the BUELL VALUES. If you have a problem, please call them. Be prepared with your:
Remember . . . the folks at Buell want World Peace too. . . but when you call try to go easy on the blame and opinions about what engineer did what wrong. Trust me your data will get in the hands of a very smart Indian engineer who's job it is to figure out what went wrong and how to prevent a reoccurrence. What your goal is, with customer service, is to provide them with "actionable facts" . . i.e. "my headlight doesn't work". That, by sending a headlight to a dealer, is much easier than the World Peace deal. Court |
