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Tourer
Posts: 482
Beer Collins, Colorado (there is no fort) | I had been using the PIAA Night Tech bulbs ($45 a pair) on my Vision and lost the high beam on one bulb at 12 months/12,000 miles the other one was still going strong when I replaced both with HID last week. Hopefully I won't be messing with the headlight for quite a while now.
http://www.amazon.com/PIAA-10704-Night-Tech-Upgrade/dp/B00544ZD86/r...
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DDM-35W-55W-Dual-Motorcycle-HID-K... |
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Visionary
Posts: 2026
Brighton, TN | Your review of the HID upgrade, cause that's what I'm thinking. ByteN2it - just saw your write up on the install, man I may have to go that way. Have you had a chance at night to see how they work compared to the olden days.
Edited by pollolittle 2012-11-16 11:49 AM
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Tourer
Posts: 482
Beer Collins, Colorado (there is no fort) | I went for a test ride early this evening-these slice through the darkness better than anything I've had in the past. Not a lot of traffic where I went but nobody flashed me. I pulled over and took pics of the low & high beams to give you an idea of how well they light up the road-I was off to one side so it's mostly lighting up the guard rail but you get the idea-Brian
(phpuzWCEUPM.jpg)
(phpI6eUODPM.jpg)
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Visionary
Posts: 2026
Brighton, TN | The ones i bought above are more like stock with a yellow tint. The PIAA lights were whiter and more vibrant. My mind is not happy with the switch back to yellow tint. If those are bright and white, i like that option. The stock HID has been on since day 1 and hasn't burned out yet. So, 70,000 miles and five years I think the better option is the HID. Thanks for the pics. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1066
Peru, IN | You can get HIDs in various temps. The temps = color/brightness. For example, a low temp of 4000k will be yellow, 5000k is very white, 6000k starts turning blue and all the way up to 12000k is very purple (with very little usable light but some people think it looks cool). |
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Tourer
Posts: 499
Chattanooga, TN | Cool, thanks for the pics, Brian. I'm definitely doing this before spring, perhaps when it gets a little bit colder. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1066
Peru, IN | If I lived in TN, it wouldn't get cold enough to stop riding. I'm 500 miles north of you and I don't plan on more than about a couple months down time this year. (I won't stop riding until the snow flies then I'll start back up as soon as the salt is off the roads.) |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 7
Gulfport, MS | Riverdawg - 2012-08-21 6:52 PM
Come on people its not hard at all!! Got a friend of mine to help, it was helpful she has small hands. All it take is removing the air filter and the front bezel to provide more light. After we fiqured it out it went fast and easy. I'm a big guy with fat fingers and I was able to reach in from underneath and unclip the wire hing and takeout the bulbs and replace. Next time can probably due it in under 30 min if even that long.
What front bezel are you talking about?
where is the air filter located? |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1066
Peru, IN | If you look up under the front of the bike, you can see the air filter. It's got 2 bolts on the bottom of it (facing forward) and 2 tabs at the top. Take the bolts out, pull the bottom out then pull the filter down. The bezel is the access panel at the base of the windscreen. Pull up at each end then lift and tilt forward as there are a couple tabs in the middle (front). The FM antenna is attached to this so as you pull the panel/bezel off, look under it and disconnect the antenna. With this removed, you can access the fuse boxes, the headlight adjustment wheel and the turn signal bulbs. It also provides more light when you're dealing with the 3 headlights. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 125
| Great post! I just burned one out at 26k and have both bulbs ready to replace. Thank you for taking the time to post this! I normally run with high beams on except for night time and I was suprised to see the low beam side went within 100 miles of the high beam.
I also read somewhere that thet are not meant to be run with high beam all of the time.... Does anyone know if that is true or not?
Thanks for the great pics vvtour! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 125
| Holy CRAP! I just replaced my bulbs. Im pretty decent with tools but that was a pain in the a$$.
Thank you very much for the very good directions Victory vision tour! Nice job Sir.
I did have a couple of additions that may help out. The 2.5 hours is a very good estimate, at least that is how long it took me to do it. It would have been slightly less if I had not kept dropping wrenches, sockets, bolts, washers, nut retainers and anything else I had in my hand. They all seemed to conveniently slide down the inner leg fairing, some never to be seen again.... Not sure how I lost a 4 MM allen socket but I did.
With that being said, I followed vvtours directions and they worked well. I did have a couple of tools that helped me, suprisingly it was not a sledge hammer. I also found a pair of hemostats worked well to hold the hidden 4 MM screws to reinstall them. A magnetic tool for retrieving most of my dropped parts was helpful and a 4MM bit in a ratcheting box end wrench was nice, especially since I lost my 4MM allen socket. I also used a 1/4 drive air ratchet on the bolts I could get it on, leg fairings and underneath 10MM bolts. I didnt have one but, A palm ratchet would be a good tool for the hidden bolts.
In addition, i removed the top two inner fairing bolts on each side that hold the leg fairings onto the bike. It was helpful and provided a little more wiggle room. During removal you kinda have to push the headlight assembly down so the huge adjustment knob will clear the steel frame it is mounted on. As stated it is a little challenging during reinstall as well, everything has to be just right.
Another piece of info that may help is the 4 main bolts that hold the headlight assembly in use rectangle shaped retainer nuts that will fall out of the headlight frame at the worst times. I left my leg fairings loose during reinstall and you can see where the two bottom nut thingys go. I used a screwdriver inserted between the headlight and leg fairing to press them into place so they didnt keep falling out.
All I can say is good luck and anyone that says they can do it in 30 minutes, I would love to see video proof of that.... Just sayin.
Edited by Ditch 2013-08-21 4:47 PM
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Visionary
Posts: 1365
Central Maryland | Someone posted a way to replace your headlight bulbs by actually removing the entire headlight assembly; without having to do it the way that has been followed here. It's on page 3, post 126188 of this thread. Did you follow those instructions? it's actually a whole lot easier than trying to replace them from behind; while the headlamp assembly is still in place....
Edited by willtill 2013-08-21 6:24 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 125
| Im confused, I had to completely remove my headlight assembly to do the change out. I tried without removing it and could only get my bulb half way out. I would like to see it if you can find it. That was not a fun project!
Thanks! |
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Visionary
Posts: 1365
Central Maryland | Ditch - 2013-08-21 7:14 PM
Im confused, I had to completely remove my headlight assembly to do the change out. I tried without removing it and could only get my bulb half way out. I would like to see it if you can find it. That was not a fun project!
Thanks!
It's on page 3, post 126188 of this thread. Did you follow those instructions? |
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Cruiser
Posts: 125
| Yes sir, those are the directions I used and they were right on. I misunderstood your post. My bad, i tried to do it without removing it but I had no luck. In my recent post (143332) I was only adding some additional info to victory vision tours post thet you are referring to above.
I will say that I only removed the access panel and the two fuse block covers underneath it and did nothing to the gauge cluster or visor.
Sorry for the confusion, in any case it was not alot of fun!
Take care.
Edited by Ditch 2013-08-21 7:44 PM
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Tourer
Posts: 576
, IA | 110.00$ spent at dealer to replace 2 bulbs! Best $$ I ever spent |
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Tourer
Posts: 576
, IA | 110.00$ spent at dealer to replace 2 bulbs! Best $$ I ever spent |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 802
| One thing I've observed is that if you run your high beams all of the time the bulbs seem to burn out much sooner and when they do they take the low beams along with them. I tried an experiment this time and ran the low beams exclusively and I've got 25K miles on the original bulbs so far. Of course I'm not as visible without the high beams on in the daytime so its a trade-off.
Marc |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | Good information to remove the headlight assembly when changing the bulb. I may have to go that route the next time. However, I can change one bulb in about 30 minutes. Simple, remove the air filter, adjust the headlight adjustment all the way to where the light is shining up in the trees. This will give you some more clearance. the harder part is putting the boot back on. Since I'm rapidily loosing dexerity in my left hand, but I can still clutch, I may have to go with the assemblyremoval for the right hand light. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 125
| sonicbluerider - 2013-08-22 11:15 AM
110.00$ spent at dealer to replace 2 bulbs! Best $$ I ever spent
Im sure thats not a bad price for most, it just pains me to pay someone for something I am capable of doing, not to mention all the beer $110 will buy me.... Just sayin.
Edited by Ditch 2013-08-22 10:43 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 125
| marcparnes - 2013-08-22 1:26 PM
One thing I've observed is that if you run your high beams all of the time the bulbs seem to burn out much sooner and when they do they take the low beams along with them. I tried an experiment this time and ran the low beams exclusively and I've got 25K miles on the original bulbs so far. Of course I'm not as visible without the high beams on in the daytime so its a trade-off.
Marc
Thank you! Thats what i thought... I have 27000 on mine and typically run high beams during the day. It was within 100 miles of burning one high beam that the low went with it.
Lesson learned.
Take care! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 125
| varyder - 2013-08-22 1:49 PM
Good information to remove the headlight assembly when changing the bulb. I may have to go that route the next time. However, I can change one bulb in about 30 minutes. Simple, remove the air filter, adjust the headlight adjustment all the way to where the light is shining up in the trees. This will give you some more clearance. the harder part is putting the boot back on. Since I'm rapidily loosing dexerity in my left hand, but I can still clutch, I may have to go with the assemblyremoval for the right hand light.
DANGIT! I wish i knew that yesterday!!!! Thanks for the tip Sir! I hope it is a long time before I have to pull this contortionist stunt again!
I will definitely try this method first unless I just say screw it and follow sonicblues advice!
Thanks! |
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Tourer
Posts: 494
Akron Ohio area |
sonicbluerider - 2013-08-22 12:15 PM 110.00$ spent at dealer to replace 2 bulbs! Best $$ I ever spent[/QUOTE BINGO! While the mechanic was losing skin off his knuckles and swearing at me, I was eating a fine lunch next door. My dealership only charges $65 per hour shop fee, so mine was slightly cheaper. The high beams are only rated for 150-250 hours, so if you run them all the time, you'll burn out your bulbs faster. I also had to get one socket replaced the first bulb change as it was starting to melt. If the bulbs aren't seated perfectly, you'll get some arcing on startup. If you get 30,000 miles before your bulbs fail, you did good. My first bulb failed at 22,340 miles. (Did not change the pair, oops) Second factory bulb failed 1,400 miles later. I then started to run my headlights on high beam during daylight hours and they only lasted 7,000 miles. (Screw that idea) I now have 30,000 miles on this set of bulbs and rarely use my high beams. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 125
| Thanks for the info Bigfoot! I had no idea the high beams were that much lower use. Thanks a bunch! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 142
| i just change my buddy's bulbs... changed them all 3 in about 7 minutes, just enough time to smoke a cigarette...either my hand is very tiny and can fit in between the front filter and bulb or else....
He owns a 2008 vision with the big aluminum frame in between filter and headlight assembly...did you guys noticed the difference of 'workable room' between year models?
cheers! |
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Have you replaced your own Vision headlamps?
