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Iron Butt
Posts: 802
| Do you do house calls by any chance? :-)
Marc |
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Cruiser
Posts: 164
Quad Cities, IL | I changed out my own headlamp bulbs today...BRUTAL...but thanks to VictoryVisionTour I was able to do it. I started with this technique from the get go. It took me 4 hours (including a dinner break with the fam to take a needed breather. Here are my thoughts and lessons learned.
1) I did remove the airfilter, I think it helped to have the little extra room. This was minor, only 2 easy to access screws.
2) The 4 screws connecting to the frame...non issue.
3) The 2 red-dot screws above were BRUTAL. I was able to remove the right side (from the drivers perspective) much easier than the left. I started with a conventional 4mm Hex or Allen Wrench. Bad Move. I got the right one off using the allen wrench but could NOT get the left one. After dinner I caved and went to Lowes to buy the smallest Ratchet set with a 4mm Hex key bit. THIS WAS SMART. Made removing the left do-able. This newly aquired tool was key for re-install too.
LESSON LEARNED 1: The right tool helps ALOT...wratchet with 4mm bit as recommended by VVT.
4) There were 4 more screws that needed to be removed. I wasn't expecting this but I don't see how it could have been done without. There were 2 screws that attached the headlight housing to the turn signal. One on each side. Very easy access.
There were also 2 that attached the lower aluminum trim. Also one on each side and easy access.
5) Removing the lens and rotating it 90 degrees down as shown in pic above was not as easy as I hoped. It took more "force" than I felt it should. You have to be careful to get the Adjust knob completely under the Frame Bracket.
LESSON LEARNED 2: Be carefule when taking out the headlight housing...I broke two small round Plastic nubs that helped it mate to the turn signals.
LESSON LEARNED 3: Be careful of Plastic Bolt Holes on housing. I broke one.  Used washer during re-install to hold the broken peice in place.
6) Access to bulbs was great from here.
LESSON LEARNED 4: Put a soft cloth over the headlamp lens BEFORE rotating it downward. I scratched my lens on both sides as it rested on the aluminum trim piece.
7) It took alot of flexing of parts to get this thing back in place. Considering I already broke 3 things, I was not excited about the amount of force and flex it required to get this thing back in place. Ultimately, I got in re-positioned where it belonged.
8) Once the 2 red dot screws were back in place, the rest was a non-issue.
Thanks again to VictoryVision Tour. I don't normally do my own wrenching...and this is a reminder why. LOLOLOLOL.
Next time, I will pay the $170 to RJs.
I hope this is helpful to others. Hasta... |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 825
, WI | Yes I have replaced my headlight bulbs. I only removed the front cover and the air cleaner.
If I couldn't do this I wouldn't own a Vision, sometimes the nearest dealer is 500 miles away. |
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Tourer
Posts: 319
| Yes I have twice, it was a giant Pain in the ass. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1365
Central Maryland | Try doing it with additional connectors in the headlamp circuit(s) - (for headlight modulators). Talk about a pain. |
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New user
Posts: 1
| Iron Butt, thanks for posting the pics and instructions. I would like to add a couple of things learned from removing the headlight assembly on a 2009 Vision today.
For those of you who are not convinced that removing the headlight assembly is the way to go, I found two problems directly caused by techs who had worked "blind" in the area.
1: There is a spare connector, identical to the two headlight connectors, attached to the same part of the harness. I found this spare connector inside (Yikes!) the air filter cavity, with its wire pinched between the air filter and the housing.
2: The rubber boot over one of the headlight connectors was not fully seated, allowing dirt and water to easily get into the headlight housing.
Both of these issues were immediately obvious when removing the headlight assembly. They happened only because the tech is forced to work blind unless the headlight assembly is removed.
Although you removed only the aluminum windshield cowling, I found that removing the aluminum lower-fairing front edges helped in three ways:
1: It gives you more room to work from beneath.
2: Any loose washers or other hardware that falls out while you are unscrewing bolts end up on the floor, not inside the fairing. (Where they are hard to see and retrieve- don't ask how I know!)
3: The headlight assembly becomes even easier to remove and install.
The trade off is that you need to remove about a dozen more bolts to get the fairing edges off. None of them are too hard. I used a 1/4" drive ratchet with a couple of different length extensions.
And speaking of bolts, you refer to the hex head bolts (There are four) as screws. That had me scratching my head for a bit.
When I removed the four bolts , the washers underneath the bolts either fell off immediately, or stuck to the rubber grommets for a while and then fell off. Same thing for the rectangular "nuts" , which the bolts screw into.
Before reinstalling the headlight assembly, spray some Armorall on the four rubber grommets. The headlight assembly will slide
on SO much easier.
Lastly, when removing or installing the two black button 4mm socket head screws (The difficult screws.), reach from below and use your fingers as much as possible. By pressing/bending/massaging the fairing while turning the screws with the other hand, I was able to do 95% of the loosening and tightening by hand.
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| what will give your hand more room is to aim the headlight up after you have the airfilter out |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 48
Cornwall England | <p>Hi guys Having read and then reread this thread I changed my bulbs with the air filter off and by hand. I did have problems with one of the connectors being a bugger to remove but by far the biggest problem was the retaining clips. IF ONLY I had been told/whispered/indicated/hinted that you need to push them forward (in relation to the bike) before sliding to the side I would have saved alot of skin and time. Now after the second time of doing this I can do it in about 30 mins and most of that is removing filter, adjusting headlight assembly out of the way.</p><p>Hope this helps someone with their hand stuck up the rear................</p><p>Steve</p>
Edited by Big Steve 2016-05-20 6:54 AM
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Visionary
Posts: 3773
Pittsburgh, PA | I changed my bulbs with out removing the headlight at all. Just removed the air filter and that rubber thing behind it .. took 35-40mins |
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Cruiser
Posts: 115
Katy, TX United States | I just changed them. I not sure what the big deal is, it was not that hard. Getting the boot back on was the worst part, and that was not bad. Having said all that, I am very mechanically inclined, so that my shade my view. |
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Have you replaced your own Vision headlamps?
