| Author | Message | ||
     Boostjunkie |
I recently purchased a 2003 XB9R, its my 1st Buell, ive been riding Japanese sport bikes for the last 8 years. At night the headlights on this 9R are horrible, they are super dim to the point where its dangerous to ride at night, visibility is MAJORLY BAD even with the high's on. Just to give you an idea of how bad, the low beams on my R1 are 10x better then the highs on this 9R. Are all 9R headlights like this or do these just need aimed correctly? | ||
| Samiam |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/17/ 258671.html?1179963543 Sam | ||
| Saintly |
Boost, Do yourself a favor go here and file a complaint: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ Buell isn't going to help you, you must help yourself. I'm getting the royal run-around trying to get them to honor their warranty on my 07' bolt lamps. They tried to silence a few of the squeakiest wheels a few months ago with letters promising new lamps, but when they saw how many people actually took them up on their offer, they re-negged and told the people "no thanks we've got enough" Typical bullshit from this company! Anyway, report it to NHTSA, and perhaps the government will force Buell to take care of THEIR problem instead of buell trying to make it our problem. | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
I just did The HID conversion. The difference is literally night and day.   Buell will do nothing to help you with this problem, they seem to have swept this problem under the rug. Shame on me for waiting so long for buell to step up to the plate...remeber that so called recall that was "maybe" going to happen?? Want it fixed so you do not get hurt....Change them yourself..... For those that will comment there lights are fine.... I challenge you to take your lights apart and look inside, Then say there is no problem with your lights! Lights may be adequate from the factory but they suck shortly after that point... THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE!!!!!! | ||
| Ducxl |
Blake has asked me to start a poll thread to see how many are affected.The suggestion was in response to my assertion that 100% of "R" models are affected.Do you think we could persuade others to disassemble their headlight assemblies to "inspect" for this defect??? If there's support,maybe we should at least give Blake's suggestion a try? | ||
| Kyrocket |
Good Luck! This problem has been around for years. My friends joke and say I have a small monkey holding a candle in my big round X1 headlight. I jimmied some aftermarket lights and brackets to mine so I could see at night but Buell has always had a dim headlight.  | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Very nice install, Eric. | ||
| Court |
Much of the information here is patently inaccurate. I'm not going to debate this here. I summarized and consolidated every badweb complaint and compiled all the complaints filed with NHTSA and suspect they prompted the letters from Buell. To say that Buell is doing nothing is ludicrous. I'd suggest that folks with problems (and by the way I think they are VERY REAL problems) post "actionable" information. Year Model Summary Simply saying ridiculous things like "Buell doesn't care about its customers" accomplishes nothing. I'm a results type of guy. Most of the above dialogue is pointless, devoid of information and does little to speed the resolution currently underway. Court | ||
| Boostjunkie |
Im going to try to adjust them to see if that helps at all. If not, anything I can do thats inexpensive that will make them better? That HID kit looks great but im a poor mofo and dont have the cash to drop on one  . | ||
| Cereal |
I brought my reflectors into a local dealership with a letter Buell sent out and they handed me new ones for free. My old ones were mailed in so they can see how much degradation there really is. Sounds like they care to me. | ||
| Cruisin |
Boost - I had the same problem on my bike. A cheaper conversion than HID is to go with the hella 90mm lamps (I was referred to http://www.rallylights.com/hella/90mm_modules.asp). With some minimal work (jb weld your stock bracket and drill new holes, and open the holes on your fairing by about a 1/2 inch) it's a great modification for only about $60 a side (with shipping and everything, both sides were less than $140). Magnesium housing, great output.    2004 XB12R The inside lining went from the semi-reflective grey to dull and not reflective. | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
Much of the information here is patently inaccurate. Please explain it to us then I'm not going to debate this here. }What is to debate? The lights have been of poor quality for years now with no resolution or recalls I summarized and consolidated every badweb complaint and compiled all the complaints filed with NHTSA and suspect they prompted the letters from Buell. To say that Buell is doing nothing is ludicrous. }Other than a couple people getting new reflectors after turning The old ones in I have not seen/heard of anything being done about this, I mean this has been an issue since 2003.....it is 2007 now, How long does it take? I'd suggest that folks with problems (and by the way I think they are VERY REAL problems) post "actionable" information. Year 2003-2007 Model XBR's Summary Poor lighting that NEEDS attention Simply saying ridiculous things like "Buell doesn't care about its customers" accomplishes nothing. }As does complaining to them about it I'm a results type of guy. Most of the above dialogue is pointless, devoid of information and does little to speed the resolution currently underway. Court }So is there a time frame we should be looking at here? I mean I waited almost 2 years for this to be taken care of....I have seen No actions....I mean this is a safety issue is it not???? I am just looking for a time frame as to when they will change the poor design, It has been many years of them knowing about these flaws Well now that I have waisted my hard cash on HID's it is pointless for me to even care what they do at this point, I can only speak about action that I "actually" see, I have seen very little. If someone can change my mind on this issue I am all ears. But I doubt that will happen as "action speaks louder than words", And that is why I TOOK THE ACTION into my own hands. Can't wait on them forever, I have 2 boys I like to see at the end of the day ya know! Now Court is a great asset to this board and Buell and I have a lot of respect for him. He has done A LOT to help Bueller's many many times. THANKS COURT! And throught the years I have seen changes made to Buells and it seemed to be pretty quick also The 03 belt problem, The Dunlop tire problems....I mean do they not test this stuff? did they not pick up on these flaws before hand? It really is baffling to me.. I realize NO Bike Is Perfect, But lets get some HID's On them, Front & Rear! were in the 21st century here guys!!! EDIT: Complaint filed at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ Your Complaint Information is successfully submitted. Your Confirmation number (ODI Number) is: 10191922 (Message edited by Firebolteric_ma on May 29, 2007) | ||
| Ducxl |
To quote a famous man, "There is no greater deterrent to action than,the knowledge that something has to be done......but not just yet." Eric...you have the solution,you're light-years ahead of BMC | ||
| Ridrx |
Boostjunkie, Congrats on the Buell...they are great fun. DO NOT try to clean the reflectors in ANY way...unless you WANT to buy new ones. As you can tell, the Firebolt headlamp issue is a sore subject for most, myself included. I urge you to file with the NHTSA, even if you decide to fix the problem yourself. Apparently ONLY 10 people have filed so far(?).  Evidently, Buell is keeping quiet on the issue until they have a workable solution, thus it could be years before there is even an official acknowledgment of the problem. I have given up hope on any help from Buell anytime soon, so I now am forced to spend $600 for the Hella 50mm conversion, the 90mm are nice, but the 50mm do not require cutting up the fairing on an 8mos old bike to replace defective factory parts. No offense to the guys who have done this...the mod looks great and is highly functional...I just can't bring myself to cut on a NEW bike when I shouldn't HAVE to...besides I like the look of the smaller lamps, IMHO it suits the attitude of the bike better. | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
Ridrx, Please post pic's when you get the 50mm installed. I would like to see how they actually look on the bike.  They are very nice lights! Good luck! ride safe! | ||
| Ridrx |
Firebolt, Unfortunately, it's probably going to take while to save up that much dough. However, I promise to post pics as soon as I get'em installed. I got some cool idea's to fill the small gap that will be left around each light, we'll see... To make donations for the "Blind Bueller Fund" PM me...  | ||
| Dustybueller |
I got some cool idea's to fill the small gap that will be left around each light ...Small, colored L.E.D.s? | ||
| Ducxl |
I think the best thing we all can do at this point is file here: National Highway Transportation Safety Authority And let your taxes work FOR you.Please all,take a few minutes and file a complaint | ||
| Doz |
Just reported mine, Anyone know the actual part numbers to do the 90mm conversion? I ordered a hella unit but when I went to get it, it looked totally diferent than what you guys are using. I don't want the HID system, just a simple halogen will do. | ||
| Mikexlr650 |
add mine as well. 2004 xb12r low beam output noticeably weaker as time progresses | ||
| Austinuu |
After 8 months (17,104 miles today) of pretty much daily use (commuting) my low beam is shot. I've been using both beams on all the time now for the past month, but I feel I can't complain (much  ) I researched and saw that this would be a possible problem before I purchased the bike. As soon as the bike was home I took the projector apart and removed the spoon hoping to alleviate the excessive heat problem (IMO). I've taken the reflector apart every 5000 miles to check it and it has been a bit worse every time I check. I emailed Court my info way back when (Court, thank you for going above and beyond what is necessary. I really appreciate what you have done.) I did'nt hear anything back from BMC, but then again I did'nt expect to. I have registered a complaint with NHSTA which everyone who has a problem should do, it only take 15 minutes or less to take the projector apart and check and even less time to report. I expect to switch to the hella 90mm within the next 10k miles because I don't expect the coating in the highbeam housing to last any longer than the low. Can those that have made the mod post some close up pictures of the hole they have cut and how they did it, as well as the bracket changes? I figure I'll make my bike safe rather than wait for someone else too. I'll leave you with this, last month I rode out of the Smokey's on a moonless night with this taped to the side of my helmet http://www.rei.com/product/638830?vcat=REI_SEARCH It honestly threw more light than my lowbeam. Ride safe! Austin | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
Doz check them out here: http://www.rallylights.com/hella/90mm_modules.asp or here: http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/HID-Headlight- Conversion-Kit-p-18322.html Hello??...court??....hello???????? Please do not be like Buell and sweep us under the rug here..IF you know what the REAL DEAL is.... Bueller's NEED REAL ANSWERS!!! None of that vague keep you in the shadow stuff... Remind me to tell you about a ride home I had}....  (Message edited by Firebolteric_ma on May 30, 2007) | ||
| Mikexlr650 |
filed with nhtsa. | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
Maybe I should put a kit together and do like others have. Make a simple installation kit, and a bracket already to install. Become a sponsor on Badweb and make everything better... I love to tinker with this stuff,,,Hmmmmmm what ya think? | ||
| Hammer71 |
Good idea if you could do it with a smaller light. Some may not want to cut into their bike. A simple replacement would surely bring a few knocking on your door. | ||
| Deflaytedwayz2 |
Firebolteric_ma I say Go for it! some sugestions. offer only the bracket, and offer a whole kit if you decide to go forward with it. i sugest that only because it may keep the cost down for some people. but give the option for a full kit for those who dont want to shop around and get everything all in one shot. | ||
| Leeaw |
I would love to see a kit without having to modify my front fairing. I can live without Buell fixing. I did report my issue as well, as I owned my bike before this was a known issue. | ||
| Molly_hatchet |
if u make a kit let me know i want one....i am afraid to take my lights apart...i dont wanna know whassup in there. | ||
| Samiam |
Eric, what size were the stock openings? Think these would fit without modification to the fairing? Sam | ||
| Ridrx |
Sam, Those are the 50mm I was referring to. They will fit, but there is going to be a small gap around the lens(IIRC i figured it out to be about 8mm). That is easier for me to deal with than cutting the fairing...and IF BMC ever does rectify the problem, I still have the option of going back to an all OEM setup(resale,etc.). If you go that route PLEASE post pics ASAP. I'm dying to see how they look! Good Luck |
