| Author | Message | ||
     Saintly |
So I'm on my way to work today, when all of a sudden I notice that my high beam indicator comes on. My first reaction was to flip the headlamp switch to "low", but upon trying this I realize that its already in the Low position. Puzzled, I try flipping it to "high". When I do, a huge puff of horrible smelling smoke pours out from behind my fairing. I pull over and immediately try to shut off the bike by turning the key off, but the bike is STILL RUNNING with the key off! I pulled the key completely out of the key switch, but the XB continues to idle happily. Meanwhile smoke and now what appears to be orange flames are billowing from the fairing area. Something told me to hit the dimmer switch back to low since that's what caused the smoke to start. When I do, the engine finally dies, but theres still a small matter of the fire thats going on in the front of the bike. Now frantic, I'm looking for anything to extinguish the flames. I give a quick look along the side of the road, but find nothing. Finally in a fit of desperation, I resort to trying to "blow" out the flames like a birthday cake or something! Amazingly, after nearly hyper-ventalating from blowing, I'm able to get the flames out! Smoke continues for about 2 more minutes and then slowly dies out. I looked around for the cause of the fire, and immediately discover that my low beam headlight had been burning. I unplugged the wires to the low beam and tried turning the key back on. Immediately I heard a sizzle followed by some more smoke. I turned the key back off immediately! I looked a little further and noticed that the entire headlight wiring harness was melted! Out comes the pocketknife and after cutting all the wires on the key side of my now melted "deuetsch" connector, I'm finally able to turn the key on and start the bike. I arrived at my job with frazzled nerves, but an otherwise functional bike. Amazingly, after wiping off tons of soot with a wet rag, the bike sustained very little damage. Fast forward to tonight: I disasembled my fairing & removed my lamp assembly. Upon disasembling both lamp housings, it appears as though the low lamp caught fire because it is MISSING the chrome coating in the inside! The high housing is coated completely, but the low housing has no trace of chrome in it anywhere! The low housing has numerous heat cracks and HOLE melted right thru the top of it! My bulb is melted as is my harness & connector. I can't believe that no fuses popped! Anyhow, Mikexlr650 has been telling me for months now that my low beam headlight is EXTREMELY dim when we ride. Mike do you think that this was a problem that was building for months? Theories anyone? | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
••••!...  ....Glad to hear you are all right there bud! | ||
| Blake |
Buell has a serious problem with the Firebolt headlights. Please be sure to contact BCS and your local dealer so they can document your harrowing ordeal and get this issue resolved once and for all. (Message edited by Blake on January 06, 2007) | ||
| Mikexlr650 |
safety recall? dimming due to loss of the reflective material is a problem yes, but catching on fire! i know this actual bike, ride with fritz quite often. we have had several conversations as to why his lowbeam headlight seemed to be so weak. guess we know why now. this light was stock by the way, original bulb, fuse, wires, etc. this is not one were you can say the owner affected the situation and in any way caused the problem, stock untouched assembly. c'mon bmc, at least take care of the people who haven't changed out to high intensity bulbs. this is a real problem not just internet "chatter". | ||
| Saintly |
I took a few pictures of my housing. In this first one you can see light thru the "new" hole.  Here's the hole from the outside:  And from the inside you can see the melted glass from the bulb:  | ||
| Nutsnbolt |
Yeah... This should be a Gimmie for BMC. This shouldn't be an issue at all. That sucks, dude. Glad everything turned out okay for YOU, though. Could you imagine that happening at 75mph. I guess the wind would put the fire out. Or blow it into your pants. Either way. Glad you're okay, man. Mark | ||
| Livnlo |
my bike is in the shop now for low beam dimming ill have to tell them about this | ||
| Livnlo |
on the bright side a chain conversion sale may help pay for any new parts you need pm me your contact info so i can get one | ||
| Hammer71 |
Holy Sheet Batman!!! If you are working tomorrow I will stop by with replacement housing (still have extra one). First the belt issue now this. Cant wait to see you hook up some nice Off Road lights now. Glad to hear all is somewhat OK but as mentioned WTF with no fuse blowing? Mike, give me a shout. Left message on Water Dudes phone. | ||
| Diablobrian |
Hey Blake I think you mean the firebolt headlights. It does sound like the dim headlight was a kind of warning symptom, but it wasn't exactly a clear indicator. It is odd that your fuses didn't blow. check to be sure that there weren't any other wires melted. It sounds like one of the circuits was feeding power back to the ignition causing it to continue to run. | ||
| Saintly |
If Daves is reading this post, I need prices on a harness and a connector & repair pins. Heres the melted harness:  Another view:  Another:  Lastly, I need the white "deutsch" connector that connects to THIS connector and some repair pins if such things are available.  | ||
| Hammer71 |
Fritz.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Harley-Buell-2005-X B12-Wiring-Harness-Complete_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcate goryZ35565QQihZ006QQitemZ160070467123QQrdZ1QQsspag enameZWDVW | ||
| Hammer71 |
Or... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Buell-XB12s-wiring- harness_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35571QQihZ009QQ itemZ190068425116QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW | ||
| Saintly |
It is odd that your fuses didn't blow. check to be sure that there weren't any other wires melted. It sounds like one of the circuits was feeding power back to the ignition causing it to continue to run. Brian, that is EXACTLY what happened. When I looked at the wiring diagram for "engine management circuit" in the F.S.M. , I discovered that the SAME circuit that feeds the low beam also feeds: 1. the vehicle speed sensor 2. the fuel pump 3. the ignition coil 4. the injectors So when the bulb fire melted my harness, It essentially "blended" a few circuits together and back fed 12 volts to the essential parts needed to keep it running. That also explains why the High beam indicator came on while in low. That must have been the first stage of the melt down! | ||
| Saintly |
Hammer: Thanks for the ebay links. The 2nd one is a lightning harness though, the first one looks right but is a little steep($$) for a used harness though(in my opinion). It looks like I might end up replacing the entire harness though, as I just found more melted wires further up the line, and also I've got melting in my left side switch housing on the handlebars. . . . Daves: If you get the opportunity, could you provide me with prices on NEW lamp housings(hi & lo), a complete new wiring harness, and a new left switch housing. Thanks in advance. | ||
| Reepicheep |
For the record, that is a firebolt headlamp assembly, not a lightning assembly. Glad it turned out pretty much OK! | ||
| Garp |
Buell needs to step up an take care of the issue with the headlights on the Firebolts. Clearly this is an extreme case, but the basic design is flawed, and the lighting is marginal at the absolute best. I just downloaded the list of complaints filed with NHTSA. So far there are only 5 complaints about the headlight's deteriorating. I will add my name to the list today. | ||
| Mikexlr650 |
had a thought, with the "blending of circuits" that happened here be glad you weren't on a new yamaha r1. fly by wire throttle control, lets see how fast can fritz can go down crowded rt94 with 170hp wfo! i'll keep the good old throttle cable thank you. | ||
| Ducxl |
So now,we should all be alarmed? One of mine is an '05 12r. Today begins winter maintainance on all my bikes'.The Firebolt will surely get the headlamp assembly torn down.To be sure...Too bad..i've torn out the whole harness on my 996..These aren't huge jobs,just benefit from copious photo shots for exact placement/routing of wires connectors..Good Luck,Saintly..you can do it. | ||
| Kano832003 |
YEah...that would get violent (the R1 scenario). That's when you need to decide what speed would be good to dump at or which direction would be the safest to "ghost" ride the bike to a stop (ie: tree, embankment, ditch, etc...). | ||
| Blake |
Thanks Bill! Gosh darn it, I was honestly thinking "Firebolt" but typed "Lightning." Fixed it thanks to your kind editorial comment.  | ||
| Bdabuell |
HOLY CR@P!!! glad to hear you're ok Fritz...that would have scared the **** outta me | ||
| Xb9ser |
Glad your ok Fritz and the bike wasn't any worse. Look forward to seeing yall at MB4. Glenn  | ||
| Old_man |
Plastic headlights were never a good idea. Not on the R nor on the S... | ||
| Old_man |
Some enterprising person could do well selling chromed metal inserts to fit inside the headlight housing. I have a 1975 GT750 Suzuki and have never even had to replace the original bulb. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
"I have a 1975 GT750 Suzuki and have never even had to replace the original bulb." Showoff! | ||
| Daves |
Saintly I just got home and Kandie told me you were looking for me and some prices. I am not at work and won't be back til Tuesday but I think the prices are, Headlight assemblies aprox 60.00 ea Wiring harness, I am not sure, never sold one before. Switch housing is like 25.00 I can call in on Monday and get exact prices for you if you want me to? Sorry I did not see this while I was still at work. | ||
| Diablobrian |
I wouldn't mind seeing a retrofit kit made that would consist of polished stainless steel inserts that would go inside the plastic housing. after dies were made it wouldn't cost much to punch them out, and if the dies are well made and polished there would be nothing left to do but package and ship them. It wouldn't have to be heavy gage, in fact lighter gage would be preferable, but the stainless would eliminate the need for chroming and wouldn't oxidize like aluminum. There would be no more issues with degraded coatings that way. | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
Wow, glad to see you're ok, can't be anything scarier than seeing flames coming out of your bike. Thanks for the heads up on what to look for. | ||
| Statik |
dang fritz. maybe you are riding it to hard? :P hello HV crew. (Message edited by statik on January 09, 2007) | ||
| Swordsman |
Man that's totally insane! Just think, you could've been a real Ghost Rider had you waited a few more minutes... tearing around on your flaming Firebolt (somewhat appropriate, now that I think about it).  Seriously though, glad no REAL harm was done. Hasn't SOMEONE brought this to Erik Buell's attention yet? Firebolt headlights being general crap, both in light quality and durability, has become common knowledge. Yet we've heard nothing at all about any updates on the horizon to address the problem. Rather than slapping together the TT and working on a dirt bike maybe they should be addressing some of their pre-existing design flaws! It's not like a different headlight requires a team of German physicists or anything...  ~SM (Message edited by Swordsman on February 08, 2007) |
