| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
Greg: You're not a fool. You've articulated your, well warranted in my personal opinion, displeasure clearly and concisely without school yard antics. But when the shit hit the fan you at least had sense not to stand in front of the fan until this is cleared up. I'm disappointed (I **think** and confess to not having enough information to say definitively) in the response. But if I owned a Firebolt I'd do whatever I had to . . . not my style, nor yours, to sit around waiting for someone else to make me happy. Court (Message edited by court on March 04, 2008) | ||
| Midknyte |
Court, you've got a link to my HiRes photos via email. Let me know if not received. | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
Y'All (NOT JUST GREG) need to take off the Blinders and STOP drinking the  I mean really, Think about it, IF Buell was going to actually fix this problem (That has been known since 2003) do you REALLY think they would have put them on the 2008 models also? I mean IF they had any plans to fix them OR if they actually cared about YOUR SAFETY, why would they make more of them????? $$$$$$$$  $$$$$$$$ Greg I DO have a Metal Bracket for my 90mm lights...No More JB Weld...LOL..That was for test fitting only. I can get one to you if you wish to convert. I will check back in another year and see how many are still here  | ||
| Court |
Got everything . . .in process. Thanks for your help in getting the stuff I needed. | ||
| No_rice |
i am curious as to why i havent heard of this brought up when we are all in a room at homecoming? i mean really. there is a captive audience there. people are talking right to the guys making decisions. make use of it!! i finally last summer replaced my original 03 low beam. (it was trashed, but it never bothered me even with my black visor on at night) i had a high beam that i had lost the lens out of right after buying the bike. i swapped the lens onto the spare high beam and installed it in the low beam spot. aimed it down and to the right a little, and wah la! | ||
| Damnut |
If something doesn't happen by then you can bet that I'll mention it at Homecoming. | ||
| Midknyte |
Well, half my solution came in the mail yesterday... http://www.xenonlink.com/product_info.php?products_id=65  | ||
| Court |
>>>>Costs $1500+ at your auto dealers That ought to do it! Eager to hear how they work. | ||
| Midknyte |
Replacement for the replacement housing came... I'll not start a debate on whether I think it is better or fixed - but it it IS different. I believe this one is the newest of any of the revisions anyone has been talking about - it's got that diffused spot in the center of the lens. With regard to the plating inside, there looks to be a clear coat or a sealant applied to the chrome plating. Maybe this will retard the oxidation. Personally, I should never know the difference with the cooler burning HID that I will be running with. Anyway, the chrome plating at the outset here is very bright and reflective. Again, the new new reflector compared to my original,   | ||
| Damnut |
The diffused spot has been on the headlight since, I believe, 06. | ||
| Rd3501 |
That is the newest ones Buell has been using since mid 2007...Still suck..sorry nothing has changed...But yes they are different since 2003....2005 is when they put that fewzer on the high beam glass...2007 is when they put both fewzers on both high and low beams and put the extra big metal piece in the low beam. Still suck..did I say that... I have almost ruin this set too.. | ||
| Midknyte |
New housing + HID   I just like this pic   | ||
| Lsmft |
I'm going to spray my reflector globes with chrome paint until I decide on aftermarket replacement lights. Any recommendations on a paint that will hold-up well? Buell's 4056 number knows of "no confirmed headlight issues" with the XBRs and "no complaints -- as of yet" from dealers or consumers. They can offer no help with my UNIQUE lighting problem and have no information on what the originals were coated with  | ||
| Court |
What is the 4056 number? | ||
| Midknyte |
I don't have a link to the thread so you'll just have to believe me - someone here on badweb has already tried chrome paint and it did not hold up. The halogen bulb just gets too hot. Get a new housing and an HID w/ slim ballast. You'll fix the heat issue and have much more light than the halogen anyway. You can do it for under $200 - including the new housing <- (HID info near end of thread) (Message edited by midknyte on April 22, 2008) | ||
| Lsmft |
(414) 343-4056 tech support. I didn't believe my lighting situation to be unique, but I believed ya before ya found the link Midknyte. Very nice solution -- Thank you | ||
| 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 If you want the original email FROM BUELL just send me a PM. Once again BUELL SHOULD NOT BE BULLSHITTING THEIR CUSTOMERS!!!!! | ||
| Damnut |
Oh and I asked John Flickinger himself about the problem at MBV and he told me that they ARE AWARE of the problem and it has been resolved with their vendor. He also said that we would hear something from the company soon. But then again I heard the same line of BS from the DOT in D.C. in January. Do as I did and fix it yourself. Get the HID conversion, installs in 15 minutes. I got sick of waiting for Buell to fix my unsafe motorcycle. | ||
| Court |
I'd call BUELL CUSTOMER SERVICE. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. | ||
| Midknyte |
One of the biggest problems is that Buell Customer Service [per threads here on badweb and PM's I've received, and even my own calls to Buell CS] is not providing a consistent response to those of us who do call. It RANDOMLY ranges from ambivalence (sorry, you're out of warranty), to ignorance (problem, what problem?), to helpful (offering replacement or reimbursement regardless of warranty). Honestly, what gives? Buell has literally attacked and quashed smaller problems than this before any of us had the chance to discover and/or bitch about them. | ||
| Lsmft |
I went ahead and called Buell Customer Service. They knew my name right away based on my phone number. I was pleasantly told that Jon Selensky was on the phone and would call me right back. It was no surprise when he didn't. | ||
| Court |
I keep hearing that and it really hurts to hear. I've heard some alarming things about call wait time and failing to keep commitments. When I was doing this stuff at Buell I had a little scheme I'd use. When I had a customer with a problem that I wasn't sure I could get a quick answer on, or the one I thought would satisfy them (The GOAL is customer loyalty through satisfaction, NOT Customer Service) I would tip the odds into my favor by making a promise I could control and KNEW I could keep. Often I'd tell someone "I'll call you at 1:15 tomorrow". Even if nothing had changed. . . I'd watch the clock and at 1:15 I'd hit the last digit on the number. I wanted folks in the habit of believing what I said. It gets down to credibility and the current system is not working well. I stepped off the band wagon a while back when I said something and got a nasty (not on the topic, but rather a personal nasty) note from them. I read reports of folks waiting for a long time (over 20 minutes) on hold and getting the type of answers referred to above. If they did that to me. . . . I'd have a letter on someone's desk within 48 hours. By the way Jon Selensky is a smart and capable guy. This is not bad people, this is poor leadership. Of course. . . as has been pointed out I'm a construction worker. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
I've been on the phone a couple of times now this month with HD/Buell Customer Service. I was told that a new part number for headlights will be communicated to dealers in the next week or two. She couldn't say exactly what this meant, but one would assume that "new part number" = "new part". Therefore and thusly, a new and improved headlight. | ||
| Diablobrian |
I would be THRILLED to see this happen and have the problem solved permanently. I'm crossing my fingers in hopes that this comes true. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
Me too Brian. I'm going to call them again at the end of next week for an update. Hopefully I'll be sportin' new headlights at Homecoming. | ||
| Snkkpr01 |
Without reading all of the thread just a few pages. Is the lighting issue with older bikes? I have an 08 12R and the lights are bright and I can see for a good distance. Or is the problem the degrading of the reflector? Thanks Darin | ||
| Diablobrian |
the 08 firebolts still have the same part number for the light assemblies as the 03 firebolts at this time, we have been hoping for a change though. The low beam reflector is the culprit. | ||
| Spike |
If you run it long enough, the high beam will fail too. My high beam hasn't melted like my low beam (thanks Buell!!), but it has faded quite a bit and now has a "foggy" appearance. With both beams on my Firebolt now puts out almost as much light as the low beam only on a Lightning/Ulysses. For $100+ I could replace both housings, but I'd be back to the same abysmal lighting before I finished my next set of Pirellis. I honestly do appreciate all of Court's efforts to keep us informed here and I'm glad that there are smart and capable folks working at Buell customer service, but right now that's TOAB concerning the Firebolt headlight issue. | ||
| Diablobrian |
I was kind of going for a quick synopsis of the thread thus far. | ||
| Spike |
Sorry Brian. I didn't mean to point that whole post at you. I just wanted to point out that both reflectors were faulty. |
