| Author | Message | ||
     Cereal |
This is from an email I just received from Buell! 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. How sweet is that? The only problem is, they referred to me as "Patrick Ledbetter." Is that someone else who emailed Court and they just switched our email addresses? Thanks Court! | ||
| Ridrx |
Rejoice nightblind Buellers!! I strongly urge anyone with a bad reflector to send it to BMC at the above address ASAP. My original has been altered so as soon as the replacement blisters it's off to BMC THANK YOU AGAIN COURT  | ||
| Court |
You are all very welcome. Buell is VERY SERIOUS about ensuring, regardless of the issue, you have a great ownership experience. I am in the process of preparing for mid-terms and am going to review, later this afternoon, to make certain I processed all input I received. If you have NOT heard from Buell, please drop me a note so that I may check and ensure I got your input processed. By the way . . . this is a HUGE "WIN-WIN" deal. Scour the net, your friends and history books and find me a company capable of "partnering" so fluidly with the people using the product. . . . THIS is what the dream looks like. Court | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Still night blind on the XB__S 's , I would moan and complain, but I have already allocated the funds for the HID kit. The Xenon lights were not a noticable difference from stock. I suppose I should quit riding off grid, on rural county roads, after sun down.... NOT  | ||
| Yohinan |
Good on Buell for this. . . . . . . . . . . . . On the other hand we are just receiving the same parts that are failure prone, correct? I am looking into HID lights anyway so no need to send mine back as I dont want to deal with it all over again. If they were upgrading the housings to something that would not fall apart then I would not do the HID's but they are just shelling out new housings. Again dont beat me up. I am happy Buell is going out of their way to help us out but IMO the root of the problem still exists. | ||
| Cereal |
No, they are giving us new reflectors in the mean time while they analyze our old ones and come up with a permanent solution at witch time they will hopefully have a recall. You can't expect them to come up with a new setup overnight. | ||
| Gowindward |
"You can't expect them to come up with a new setup overnight." Amen...They are engineers, not Gods! Give them a little time. | ||
| Kcfirebolt |
Engineers aren't Gods??? Boy, they sure have me fooled! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I love the show "Engineering Disasters". What's cool about that show is learning how engineers back into the cause of a problem based upon the physical parts evidence. This sounds like the same type of process. Collect as many offending parts as you possibly can to determine the cause of the problem. Once the cause is found, engineer a part that doesn't fail. This is awesome! I love to see a company work this hard on a problem. Others will say "about time", but the time between knowledge of the problem and action to address the problem can be measured in corporate nano-seconds! Thank you Court and BMC!!!!!!!h | ||
| Snackbar64 |
Can I call around starting today to find a dealer that has the parts in stock? Does every Buell dealer know about this? What if they don't have the part in stock? Will they order it at no charge? | ||
| Gowindward |
Charles, just don't tell the guys in sales and marketing....Okay!  | ||
| Ridrx |
Yohinan, Even if you choose to go HID...PLEASE send your old reflector to BMC so that they can gather as much data as possible for those of us who prefer to keep the factory lights. | ||
| Court |
Can I call around starting today to find a dealer that has the parts in stock? NO Does every Buell dealer know about this? NO What if they don't have the part in stock? They'll get it. May have to expediate some larger shipments based on what we're learning. Will they order it at no charge? NO You'd be due a promotion if you worked someplaces. That's precisely the thinking, "if we can't do everything perfect, let's do NOTHING" that paralyzes rapid responses. This is a VERY RAPID (I got the first e-mail Tuesday of I recall) RESPONSE. Don't confuse a response with a solution. Remind me to tell you the story about my flight instructor the first time I flew IFR in a thunderbumper over Kansas. The FIRST thing you do is STOP WHAT'S WRONG. Once you've cleared the danger, go about getting where you need to be. From my perspective . . HUGE KUDOS TO BUELL. . . THIS TOOK BALLS. Court Canfield | ||
| Cereal |
Agreed. I just called the nearest dealership. They said that they have not heard about it, but to bring my old one in and they'll swap me. I'm going to bring the email with me to be safe. I did not ask if they would change it out for no charge because I would much rather do it myself. | ||
| Ridrx |
I second that! Glad to see BMC taking the proverbial "bull by the horns". I must admit I am shocked at how eager Buell is to tackle this issue,shocked and THANKFUL.  I can honestly say I have a new respect for my favorite bike builders. Thanks to BMC and all the fine people in East Troy who have such enthusiasm for their product. | ||
| Xblack_knight12r |
Court, Thank You! for your intervention to the company on our behalf. I have to ask a question that nobody has mentioned. What about the faded or clouded headlight lenses? I know that on my Firebolt, the problem seemed to be that the lenses were "melting" from the inside out. The lenses appeared to be clouded and not clear anymore. Especially the low beam. | ||
| Court |
Please folks. . . I beg of you. Follow the instructions in the e-mail. Buell has anted up a LIGHTNING FAST response. . . you go into your dealer tomorrow and make them feel like a fool for knowing nothing about this, the shit will hit the fan at Juneau next week. It's was traditionally KEPT Buell from doing WHAT THEY WANT TO DO . . . I'd ask you be patient. Follow provided instructions and generally help create an experience that will make this MORE LIKELY to occur again in the future. We're onto something big. | ||
| Ridrx |
Court, My wish has been granted. I don't mind being patient as long as I know the issue is being addressed. I hope other Buellers will be patient as well, so that in the future, problems will continue to be handled with such attentiveness. | ||
| Midknyte |
Weekend project I guess... Anyone care to post up some instructions on how to remove the front fairing and get at the headlights? (Yes "I" know how - but many here will not). Beat me to it? Otherise, I'll take some pics when I get around to it... | ||
| Navygunner |
Thanks again Court for all you did on this. I have never seen a response like this on anything I have ever purchased. I will check the new housing that was replaced in December. The original that was in question was disposed of at the dealer when the warrenty replacement was completed. Thanks again, Patrick} | ||
| Court |
Favor please folks . . . . I am studying for Engineering Master's mid-terms at Columbia next Monday and Wednesday. This headlight thing could not have come at a suckier time for me and I've had a dozen e-mails the last hour. As a matter of housekeeping, I'm going to ask your help. #1 - If you e-mail me on this PLEASE include FIREBOLT HEADLIGHTS in your e-mail and ALL info. Even if you have previously sent info, cut and paste the prior and label as BACKGROUND. This allows me, while on break, to act and keeps me from having to go home and dig back through e-mails to find out what you are talking about and if further action is required. #2 - I'd ask that ALL POSTS involving headlights (to the extent they involve my help) go HERE. This "Court is Session" forwards to my Blackberry and while I am buried in the stacks I'll know to look at it on break. Thanks for your help. . we're breaking new ground. Court | ||
| Gowindward |
Firebolt Headlamp Access / Removal 1) Remove front turn signals 2) Remove mirrors 3) Remove bolts common to fairing, wind screen, and fairing support bracket. 4)Disconnect headlamp wires from rear of lamp. The rubber boot on the rear of the lamp will pull off and allow access to the wire connections. (It wouldn't hurt to pull the positive battery cable before doing this) just to prevent a short) 5) Remove four phillips head screws from the face of each head lamp on the forward side of the lamp. Then pull lamp assy from the head lamp support bracket. 6) Remove 4 phillips head screws from the rear side of the lamp assy so the lens can be removed for reflector inspection. Assemble in reverse order. | ||
| Terribletim |
Wow, that is all very cool! I haven't noticed any problem on mine, but it is an '03. I hear this is mostly a newer problem. I'll keep an eye on mine, but it rules to hear that Buell is looking into this! Huge props Court! | ||
| Davegess |
I second Court, FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS AND THIS WILL WORK. If you do not follow the instructions this will blow up. I would suggest that if did not get an email that you do nothing. A bunch of people telling the dealers that they saw on the internet that they should bring in the reflector is gonna blow up big time. | ||
| Navygunner |
I am the Patrick Ledbetter they mentioned by name in the email and I never got the email. If it wasn't for an enterprising fellow badwebber I would not even know about this. FYI I just took my new reflector off to check it and discovered mild blistering on this one. It is a newer assembly (It has the square diffuser thingy on it). It is not that bad but considering the bike only has 3 tanks of gas run through it since the warranty work was done it is noticable. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Will be in Mil & E troy next week. Renting a CityX, with stock lights  ( I am already homesick for my bright light work around. I hope there is no SNOW ! Late spring, that ground hog needs to be a side dish for some mashed potatoes, okra, and suthen greens | ||
| Buellerthanyou |
Mmmmmmmmmm...OKRA! Crispy fried (just the way Daves likes it!) Now that paranoia has fully sunk in, I'd better go check the Wendigo's headlights. HellBuelly J "It's a friggin' Buell, it's not supposed to be comfortable, quiet or safe. The wind noise is supposed to hurt your ears, the seat should be hard and riding it should make you $hit your pants every now and then. It's a motorcycle, not yer mama's lap; suck it up!" --Scary MC, ADV Rider | ||
| Cyclonedon |
Brian, I don't think I would be renting a Buell next week while in Milwaukee. I live about 45 miles from East Troy Wisconsin and I had to use my 4-wheel drive to get out of my driveway this morning! There is still snow and ice on the roads here. It is warming up next week but only in the 30's or 40's. I haven't seen ANY motorcycles on the roads here in over a month. I didn't get to ride any all of February because of the weather and road conditions here. | ||
| Cereal |
Swapped both my high and low beams today. The low beam cup was totally shot. The high beam didn't look to bad, but I didn't realize how bad it was until I installed the new ones. Now that I know the assemblies are the same other than the ‘T,’ I plan on swapping them once the low beam gets bad again. Hopefully the they will last me until Buell fixes the underlying problem and performs a recall. The guys at Washington HD (DC not State) were pretty cool about it after about 15 minutes of explaining. They seemed ticked that they did not get anything from Buell directly, but they filled out some paperwork, took my old reflectors, and gave me new assemblies. Make sure to bring your VIN. | ||
| Steve_mackay |
Cyclonedon, than you didn't see *ME* on the road. I'll be riding my bike to work in about 2 1/2 hours I rode about a week in February. The roads in Waukesha ain't bad. But I wouldn't trust East Troy. |
