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Tx05xb12s
| | Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 02:18 am: | 
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You guys should try some of that foil tape stuff if you're going to try to glue foil in there. Saw some at Wallyworld this evening for a couple of bucks a roll. It's in the paint department in the tape and glue section. |
Gjwinaus
| | Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 05:00 am: |
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Well I think that Buell should to insist that their OEM supplier of the light assembly should supply a retrofitable polished metal reflector that can be fitted into the light assembly by owners, that seem to me to be the minimum that Buell could do. |
Saintly
| | Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 07:16 am: |
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that seem to me to be the minimum that Buell could do.
I disagree, we're currently seeing the minimum that Buell can do. It seems like this is what they do best.
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Cityxslicker
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 01:13 am: |
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Replace the fairing twin bug eyes with the 7 inch dish from the blast and drop in the Harley Dual Highbeam HID kit.  Changes the look of the bike and should get you plenty bright |
Hkwan
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 03:50 pm: |
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Anyone has wiped off the powdery coating and painted a coat of hi-temp silver paint on? Any hi-temp silver paint reflective enough for such application? |
Midknyte
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 06:11 pm: |
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high temp chrome paint? |
Strato9r
| | Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 02:17 am: |
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Tx, took your advice on the foil tape idea. I got some Cantech Aluminum duct sealing tape from the crew doing the renos on our speed shop. To see if the stuff could take any sort of heat, I stuck a piece of it to a .125" thick piece of black plastic. Then I set the business end of a 60 watt soldering iron about 1/4 of an inch from it, turned it on about 10 o'clock this morning, and waited for it to start smoking. At 4:30, the plastic was barely warm. Snack's observation; that the foil dissipates heat, and reflects a good portion of it as well, holds true. The adhesive on the tape seemed to hold up quite well, too. So I lined the inside of the housing with strips of the tape, trimmed to taper from about 3/8" to 3/4" over their 5 inch length, radiating from the center, each strip overlapping the last. Then I polished the surface of the foil with Autosol Metal Polish, and brought up a pretty decent shine. Reassembled it without the "reflector", and wow, that thing is really freakin' bright!!!! Now, I hope it holds up, and I'll be checking it regularly to see that it does. That being said, I really think that the factory should at least offer Firebolt owners an upgrade kit for this! I've seen some of the photos on related threads, and it doesn't take much to figure out that when the light and heat isn't reflected away from black plastic, the black plastic will soak it up until it melts, and/or ignites, which can't be safe, can it? ............... BTW, I love how the front end of a 'bolt looks like some kind of interplanetary WMD. Sadly, without the fairing in place, it looks like "Bubbles" off of Trailer Park Boys...... |
Aldaytona
| | Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 07:40 am: |
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With all the participation on these XBR headlight threads lately, why aren't more of you reporting this safety issue to NHTSA. It only takes a few minutes. If you own a XBR model this safety issue isn't going to fix itself, why should you pay for headlights over and over again. It happened to my 2003 XB9R and to my 2004 XB12R, if it hasn't happened to your XBR yet, it will.
Report them to the NHTSA.................
NOW.
I did, twice.
BMC knows about this issue and you can see how many times "Anonymous" has jumped to their defense. 0
BMC is like the big kid smackin' you around because they can, do what kids do, tell your big brother NHTSA and let them do the rest. |
Hogs
| | Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 07:53 am: |
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I had mine replaced under warranty, So its a Known fault,and I wd. think a Safety issue... So when warranty is up seems like we are on our own,Is that right? IF it screws up under warranty and they replaced it should they NOT still replace it even IF the warranty is up and being a safety issue...
Seems they know its crap ,But I guess it had to pass light output when NEW and it did perhaps.. With regards to DOT ( Dept. Of Transport ) but once the warranty is up each to their own. doesn`t seem to make sense to me... |
Pcmodeler
| | Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 09:20 am: |
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There are more issues with the headlight then the reflective coating turning to powder. The plastic rings that hold the glass lens in crack on the tabs, the metal tab that hangs over the bulb on the low beam actually makes it difficult to see at night because it causes a dark spot. Really dangerous on corners because it makes you go into the corner blind. |
Strato9r
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 01:47 am: |
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I'm not sure if the NHTSA is interested in hearing the complaints of a Canadian, but if a draft of the potential safety concern was submitted to the proper authorities up here, and any other country that Buell motorcycles are exported to, it could then become an importation issue for those countries. This could then become an instant economic problem for BMC, as it could suddenly find itself with a bunch of unsellable, export spec bikes on its hands. If, then, the export machines recieved the upgraded headlight assemblies, either at the factory, or as a package dispatched to dealers to be installed on previously shipped bikes, the "export light package" would then imply that there indeed was a concern to be addressed for the American market bikes, as well. Please understand that I am a loyal and dedicated supporter of all that is Buell, and I hate the idea of being a whiner, but this really is a serious safety issue; if you dont believe me, check the post by our brother XB9R on a related thread. He is a lucky man, but he should not have had to depend on luck, just his headlight. It would be truly tragic if anyone were to suffer a serious injury, or to lose their life over a price point, and if there were to be a high profile tragedy attributed to this problem, it could hang a stigma around the neck of BMC similar to the Ford Pinto fiasco of the 70's. The big difference would be that people kept buying Thunderbirds and F-150s, and after the recalls and lawsuits, Ford is still around. The fate of a motorcycle manufacturer still finding its place in the world, in spite of its loyal following, may not be so bright. So, as naive a suggestion as it may be, perhaps if "someone" who may read this has any sort of sway within the Mighty Harley Davidson Motor Company, that they might ask if a tiny percentage of the profits made by the sale of T-Shirts and Doggie Bandanas be redirected to the resolution of a problem that could cost someone their life. The Company you save could be your own.................. |
Hkwan
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 12:23 pm: |
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Wonder if the dealers have a more direct link to H-D or Buell factory in terms of feeding back serious problems / safety concerns regarding the products?
I am think if we get one of our sponsors who works at the dealer to do some leg work for us in regards to have H-D pay attention to a safety concern of their product. |
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