| Author | Message | ||
     Druelly |
Well the last time I asked a question here, I was informed of the answer by the first person who responded, but I thought they where incorrect...Never again. Yes, the fuse block diagram was in the owners manual and the layout of the fuses was on the FB cover, just on the outside...anyway here is try #2. 08 XB12X: I have not been able to figure out how to get to the area behind the light assembly so that I can take out the bulbs. Yes that is plural. I drove home the other night without either light without knowing it. I did try searching for a thread, and looking through the manual at the top of the BB&D and did not find anything. I know I should buy the shop manual, but times are extremely tight. Any help would be appreciated. I would also appreciate all comments about the dope riding around without head lights at night to be kept to a Minimum, thanks Ha Ha. D (Message edited by druelly on September 02, 2010) | ||
| Cyclonedon |
some people with small hands can just reach back there and remove the light bulb. I'm not one of those with my big clumsy fingers so I just remove the bolt at the bottom and swing the light assembly up to get behind the light housing. Don't forget to re-adjust your headlights after changing the bulb. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Do not need to take anything apart. Needle nose pliers are magical. Pull the rubber booties off, use the pliers on the spring holder, and pop them out. It is tricky, but I've done it a few times now. But to do the "headlight mod" you need to take off the fly screen. There are lots of threads on that, with pictures. I put in two PIAA extreme white blubs. The low beam burned out, I think do to always being on, lasted about 8,000 miles or so. Put a standard blub back in. High beam still has the PIAA. With the headlight mod, it works fairly well. | ||
| Gamdh |
+1 on the needle nose ... I have also much better luck with an angled pair. | ||
| Invisible_monster |
+2 on needle nose pliers | ||
| Reepicheep |
HID kits are down to under $40 now, and may last the life of the bike. With bulbs now pushing $10, even for the dim crappy ones, the math for a HID is pretty compelling. | ||
| Ericridebike |
Just curious, are the bulbs for the low and high beams the same or is there a specific "Hi beam" and "Lo beam" bulb? | ||
| Hop_along |
Both are H7. It is the reflectors that are different, casting different beam spreads. bulbs are the same. and, go for hte needle nose pliers. | ||
| Etennuly |
I would be curious as to why both of them are burned out. That is rare. Crusty had this problem last winter. There may be some threads in the KV about headlights burning out. I have done mine with using needle nose pliers to clip and un clip the wire retainers. Just make sure you don't bend them, they are simple springs. | ||
| Mnrider |
It only takes a few minutes to remove the headlamp assy. Then you can be sure to get the bulbs in correctly. Mark the bolts and mounts with paint to put it back in the same spot. Check the grounds at the steering head for broken wires. | ||
| Tootal |
I too am worried about why they went out. Before you put in the new ones check the voltage at your battery with the engine at 4000 rpm or so. Make sure it never goes over 15. My stator went out and blew the voltage regulator which allowed excess voltage to blow out my headlights. | ||
| Itileman |
If not seated properly, a good bump will kill them. DAMHIK | ||
| Froggy |
If they are seated properly, they can survive a 60mph impact with a car  | ||
| Druelly |
Sorry for not getting back sooner. I will address the secondary topic in this thread in a moment. I used the hemostat and needle nose pliers way of doing things. Some said a pain in the ass, they were right, but I would do it again. (most likely) Miserable time was had trying to remove old bulbs on both sides. Right side new bulb went in slick as &%$#. Got the rubber dohickey back on and moved on too the left side. Thats when the trouble began. First, I should have done the left side first so when I did the right it would have seemed easier. I finally got the bulb in the the general area of the whole in the back of the lamp, but it was backwards. pulled it back out and tried a different angle with the needle nose pliers. got it close and then it just popped in. Got the rubber dohickey back on and tested the lights. Oh crap the low beams are not working so I took a 10 minute break as I had been at this on the hottest day of the year, in a parking garage with no ventilation. Sweat was pouring of my nose onto my glasses which made the job much easier to see. Pulled off the rubber thing again (on left side to try to find out if the bulb was bad, and realized I never plugged it in! So I set about doing this, but to my chagrin, it did not seem to be any where around. I was angry tired thirsty and ready to fall over and decided the day was over. Different day different heat, it will be done. Second issue of this thread, they did not both go at once. I have been driving around with the high beens on for about a month and a half. They are more like low beams anyway. I figured I would get around to it eventually. Well that day came and I am glad I got to do them together. New Sylvania Star something or other. High beams are really bright. I am guessing the same result from the lows as well. Thanks to all of you for you help and suggestions. If I had more mechanical ability I could see this being a half hour job at most. Alas that is not to be the case. Stay tuned for the next adventure because I have two other problems, one severe and one not as much. Druelly | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
My Uly popped it high beam pretty early on. I originally thought that it was going to be an issue since the bike had under 1000 miles on it. My fear was that the charging system spiked it or something. Nope! one bad bulb was all. I guess sometimes they get a bad batch is all. | ||
| Ronmold |
I got rid of those 2 torx bolts on the side of the headlight housing & put in allen head. Now I can use a ball-end allen screwdriver to adjust or remove them. I can change the bulbs in 5 min. and be assured the bulb glass stayed clean. | ||
| Ourdee |
I take about 5 minutes to change out my bulbs. I use a pair of needle nose and a skinny long screw driver. I use the finger with the most scar tissue to un-hook and re-hook the springs. The screw driver to unplug them and the pliers to hold the bulbs so I don't get skin oil on them. | ||
| Druelly |
Going to revisit this issue. Could not get the left side connector to hook up to lamp. Went to a friends Muffler shop because his wife has small hands and she said she would give it a try. One of the guys that works there ended up taking care of it, and they both worked when I left. One day of ridding and now the high beam light is blown. In addition, when the low beam connector was put on, after having finished the high beam side a few days earlier, the switch was opposite. The low beam controlled the high beam bulb, and the high beam controlled the low beam. Question: (bout time) Is it possible that those 2 things are related or just a coincidence? Seems weird that the one that went in easier blew first. Oh yeah No Finger prints, but a nice black arc mark between the two male connectors on the opposite side from the bulb. I am befuddled. d | ||
| Froggy |
The connector is the same for both bulbs, if you reverse it accidentally, you will have the wrong bulb lit. Being that you blew the bulb so fast, I recommend you have your voltage regulator tested. | ||
| Ratbuell |
And...the two pins in the connector are just a pair of spade connectors, cast into a housing. If you can get a pick in there (I have an assortment of dental picks in the garage that I got at a local hobby shop - you never realize how handy they are until you have a set and use them nearly EVERY time you're in the garage!), squeeze the connector tighter so it grabs the base of the bulb better. If ya wanna do it easy? 1. under the lights, holding the rear of the upper fender to the lights, is a single fastener (don't remember if its a screw or bolt offhand...think it's a screw). Mark its position - it's your vertical adjust screw for the lights - and remove it. 2. on either side of the flyscreen you'll see a hole in the cast dash piece. There's screws in there - remove them, and the headlight assembly comes out (CATCH IT!!!). You don't have to remove the last 2 screws; if you loosen them enough, you can point the lights skyward, putting the bulbs facing the ground. This will eliminate any "I think I got it" connection issues that may occur when you're working with hands twisted into pretzels at the end of an arm bent in an unnatural position. | ||
| Druelly |
Well after I read Froggy's suggestion I went and got a reading on the stator, I think. Of course he said VR but I remembered Stator instead. Not sure this was the correct way but through the accessory outlet, the voltage was 14.7. Now I will have to get the VR done. Does a HD/Buell shop have to do that? Only reason I ask is it is an hour away and they hate having people in the waiting room for their bike. Not sure why, but they do. Plus it is always like a 2 week wait. Thanks, D | ||
| Druelly |
Anyone have any idea if there are anymore of the Technical Service Manuals left for the 08 XB12X. I'd like to learn some of this stuff myself so I don't always have to ask this board how to do things. If you think there are some, who carries them preferably a sponsor, as opposed to HD. D | ||
| Prior |
Manuals are still available, contact one of the sponsors and they can hook you up. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/171 43/17143.html?1284502472 | ||
| Od_cleaver |
Druelly, In my world, 14.7V is okay with a normal electrical load from the bike. Did you check it at idle and ~3K rpms? When money is not so tight, think about adding a voltage monitor from signal dynamics. It is a single LED with electronics that gives a good indication of the health of the Uly's charging circuit. | ||
| Reepicheep |
14.7 is normal. I have even seen it reach very short transients of 14.9 on very rare occasions (like once or twice a week of normal riding... but you won't see them unless you are capturing and storing transient voltages). | ||
| Slowride |
Druelly, I installed HID's early on my 06 Uly and quickly after that started getting a failure to light from time to time. One of the suggestion made by Froggy and others were to hardwire the lights in at the White Connector underneath the fly screen. After one of the last failure to fire scenarios on my 06 Uly I finally cut the White connector out and hardwired the connection. I never had another issue with the HIDs on that bike. Flash forward to April of 09, I purchased a 09 Uly XT. I had decided I was going to install HIDs into this bike. I had heard somewhere in a thread that the White connector that handled the headlights would short and arc causing a fouled up connector and could possibly cause damage to the electrical system. When I got around to replacing the Bulbs with the HIDs, I thought it would be wise to examine the White connector and see if it had any issues before the install. Sure enough there was considerable damage, blackening around the pins and jagged plastic. Mind you this was with the stock lights at less than 800 miles on the bike. I removed the plug and hardwired the connection. I installed the HIDs and have only had 2 failure to fires with HIDs. Both of those was due to me starting the bike and then killing it quickly and using the key for opening a bag and then restarting the bike. I don't think the HIDs got up to temp or rather... cooled down enough to refire so quickly. Just my 2 cents... Check the White connector under the fly screen for damage and R&R if needed. | ||
| Zrjoe |
I was able to change out my low beam last night without removing the assembly. And I have XXL gloves so it is doable. I too have a problem with light burnout though. Thanks for the voltage check idea. |
