| Author | Message | ||
     Coldwthrrider |
I've only had the bike for 2 weeks and have ridden over 500mi. Sometimes it seems like the front end has the jiggle or play that some people mention, sometimes not. Today my dad saw the bike for the first time and noticed something I hadn't, the high beam light is loose and jiggly. The sound when I hit bumps at low speed sometimes sounds like something loose in the front cowling. I found two of the dangling wire harnesses came un-zip-tied and were clanking into each other. I re-tied them together and that sort of helped but it still persists. I have a service manual on order so I can re-torque all the front fork bolts in the proper order. I assume the manual will have details of the lights. In the meantime, has anyone experienced a loose left light, or know how the assembly works to tighten it and not mess up the alignment? | ||
| Sammigs |
My left headlight is the same way. | ||
| 420at145mph |
mine too | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
Okay, that makes me feel better......I think? Maybe they just are that way but this is really loose. If I reach behind the fairing I can wiggle it with almost 1/2" of play. That seems wrong to me, and it's not obvious how to tighten, because the bolts on that side are already tight. I guess I'll see what the manual says about that once it comes. Thanks for checking on your bikes. | ||
| 420at145mph |
i dont think u CAN tighten it the bolts that hold it in are to adjust the beam | ||
| Unibear12r |
Sorry guys but both of my lights are MUCH tighter. I have maybe a 1/16 of play and it doesn't move easy at all (on my 12R). | ||
| Unibear12r |
Took a peek at my manual. There appear to be mounting screws on the front of the headlights into the adjusting frames. Not the screws holding the headlights themselves together. Not the adjusters in back. Looks like the only way to get to them is to remove the fairing. 20 - 25 in/lbs on said screws. This is from a 2004XBR manual! | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
Thanks Uni, that sounds about right. If the screws in back are the adjusters, they're tight. If the mounting screws are in front, they're the loose ones! I guess this will finally give me an excuse to take off the fairing and verify the race ECM on the bike. | ||
| Captainplanet |
If you remove the fairing, there are four screws that hold in each headlight lens. This is how you get in to remove the light diffuser in the low beam. | ||
| Unibear12r |
Next to the ECM is also the flasher & bank sensor. Man what a pita a loose bank sensor would be! I have heard that removing the low beam shield doesn't seem to bother oncoming traffic and the extra light would be worth it. | ||
| 420at145mph |
makes it look kinda weird the low beam is a broad spread out pattern and the high beam is more of a spot pattern would look alot better with 2 spot type beams | ||
| Xb9er |
I took the low beam shield out. You can see better with it removed. I think it will improve even more with a few adjustments to the headlight aim. Still need to find some brighter bulbs to put in there. Mike. | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
Okay, I finally found time to take it apart and see. I do have the service manual now...but things are getting more confusing. First off, my right light is the low beam and left is the high. This is opposite of the service manual (and I think the regular manual too), is my bike backward? The looseness is weird, all the screws are tight, but the plastic clips (two white square ones and one round one) are loose on the threads. I'll take a look again in the daylight, but it seems that it may require disassemble and reassemble to get things tight. While I'm doing it, I figure I should verify the lights! | ||
| Unibear12r |
Your lights are in the right order - the typo in that section is in my book too. In some other part I noticed they had it the same as on the bikes. ( Right is low as you sit on the bike). Hope its a easy fix. | ||
| Kaese |
Been through all of this, here is my experience: Mine has been loose and took it apart to try to tighten it up. No luck. Even ordered a new headlight support housing. It seemed to be tighter. Never did install it, because wanted better headlamps. Installed the Sylvania brightest bulbs, didn't last more than 3 months. (Ride with the High Beams all the time) First the low Sylvania went out and replaced it with the OEM. Then the High Sylvania blew out. I have found outhe the OEMs have longevity. I also took out the reflector and ended up putting the reflector back in because I thought the reflector ilummanated more road at night. Don't even know how the R's attract deer. I agree the R's Itallian Fog Lamps are not that good for illumlating the road, I have heard that Hela makes a good system, but some carving needs to be done on the faring to install them. Don't know of the longevity of the Hela's. There was a thread here about 9 months ago. If anyone has any better bulbs out there, I would be willing to try them. | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
Once I took it apart I realized it's the little white plastic clips that are allowing the slop. For some reason the other light doesn't have this problem but the high beam does. No matter where the adjuster screws are set to, they just hold the inside of the plastic clips. So the light still jiggles. My solution: Went to the hardware store and bought some plastic tubing for 15 cents a foot. Cut a piece off, slip it over the screw to the approximate length it was at before, and reassemble.  I haven't put it back together to ride but just holding the assembly in my hands I can shake it and it does not rattle like it used to. | ||
| 420at145mph |
pretty clever ima try that | ||
| Unibear12r |
Cool fix Does it look like the plastic piece broke or is it just a sloppy tolerance? | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
It looks like it's just sloppy. Both of the clips on the one side are the same way, and both of the clips on the other side are tight. I waited until it got dark before putting the fairing back on so I could align the lights. Fortunately they were both pretty good. I was worried about the high beam (the loose one) because when I first put the tubing on it was tilted upward quite a bit. I had to slit a piece of tubing and put it over the third (pivot) bolt to get it to aim straight ahead. Still no test ride...hopefully that will happen today. Now I can figure out if there is another jiggle in the front end (forks, bearings?) or if this was it. | ||
| Odie |
Cold, great idea but I think over time the tubing is going to dry out and crack leaving you in the same place you were before. Might want to think up something a little more permanent in the meantime.......I could be wrong....... | ||
| Gaz |
Why not put 2 nuts in between (Nylok would be good) then tighten against bolt head and against other nut. Rock solid but still adjustable. Lock nuts not that innovative. | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
I wouldn't call plastic tubing high tech, but it's cheap. Hopefully it lasts a while. Lock nuts could work but might be a pain to adjust. As you can see in the picture above, the opening toward the white plastic clip is recessed. That might make it difficult but if you know where the lights are aligned correctly the you can probably set it right once and leave it. I'm still getting a little rattle in the front occasionally but I'm not sure what it is now (not the light anyhow). I think it might have to do with the suspension firmness, I'm still playing around with settings and when it's firm I think the plastic stuff in the fairing gets jarred around. Maybe just need more zip ties! | ||
| 420at145mph |
check ur bolts in both sides of the lower fairing i heard a weird buzz today and looked down to see the left side of my lower faring just rattlin away a bolt fell out ima buy some locktite tommorow n redo all the bolts i replaced after the winnnipeg dealer forgot to tighten my star/torx bolts |
