| Author | Message | ||
     Mr2shim |
What I found isn't what I was expecting at all. This is what it looked like when I pulled it out. http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d101/shimric/DSC03037.jpg This is after I wiped it down with some tissue. http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d101/shimric/DSC03039.jpg It's not as a bad as I thought. It only has 2 very small cracks where light shine through. one is the screw hole for the bulb. The other can be seen in the picture. This is low beam btw. I took the spoon off. Sorry about the gigantic pictures. Didn't realize the camera was set on huge.  (Message edited by mr2shim on May 07, 2008) (Message edited by mr2shim on May 07, 2008) Replaced over-width images with hyperlinks. Blake (Message edited by blake on May 08, 2008) | ||
| Firebolt32 |
You plan on putting in some HID's while you have it apart? | ||
| Mr2shim |
No, I don't have the $$$ at the moment. I just wanted to see how bad they degraded. It's an 03 so I'm quite shocked. I'm planing on doing HID's in the near distant future. | ||
| Damnut |
You don't think that's bad???? I hate to say this but that housing doesn't look shiny at all. I would consider that pretty bad. I'd call Buell Customer Service. Depending on who you speak to they may replace it or tell you they never heard of the problem. | ||
| Firebolt32 |
I believe I saw somebody post that you would be able to run the Silver Stars. That would be much cheaper. I'd research that a little more though. I'm not 100% positive. | ||
| Ducxl |
Next to the ones that caught fire those are close to the worse i've seen. Hey Fritz,can you post yours again for comparison? This whole thing may be just an "anomaly"  | ||
| Midknyte |
SilverStar bulbs are still halogen, and will still run hot enough to burn up the housing... | ||
| Midknyte |
You need to replace that. This is how the housing *should* look...  | ||
| Firebolt32 |
So then at this point the only solution to keep the housings from burning up are the HID's? | ||
| Court |
Call Buell Customer Service. | ||
| Mr2shim |
Ok, So I called customer service. They gave me some number to give the dealer of my choice to call about the issue. Called dealer, they said I have to ride the bike up there, drop it off, they'll take pictures of the bike, reflectors yada yada, evaluate the problem, send pictures to Buell, then they'll decide if it's bad enough to replace them or not. That process sounds a bit tedious and time consuming. So, I checked to see how much each reflector costs. 55.75 a pop. Or I could just rattle can some chrome high temp on them for less than 10 bucks.  Not sure which option I should choose since I'm riding my bike to work daily now to save on the insano gas prices. (Message edited by mr2shim on May 07, 2008) | ||
| Nautique4life |
Well, you said you didnt have enough $$ for HIDS, but you're willing to drop $56 on new reflectors when BMC is at least willing to look into it for you and possibly do something reactive about it? Just sayin... They took care of me, and I will never forget that. Unfortunately, not everyone shares my appreciation, as some owners did not receive the same results after calling CS. | ||
| Firebolt32 |
That's my pickle...I ride to work as much as possible. I would have to have the bike torn down then rebuilt before the morning. High Temp rattle might be an easy fix for now. Who knows...it might work out well. | ||
| Dennista15 |
"It's not as a bad as I thought. It only has 2 very small cracks where light shine through." Get a new housing for free with a little leg work or Get a burnt up bike for 10 bucks Save yourself a lot of stress and either go to the dealer to buy a new housing or to have them take pics. Either way you'll be at the dealer anyways. | ||
| Ducxl |
They told me just a few months ago that they'd never heard of such a problem.They also stated that goodwill replacement has a $100. deductable.I PAID the $55. and expect they possess the same defective coating | ||
| Midknyte |
High Temp rattle might be an easy fix for now. Who knows...it might work out well. It will not. I don't recall who tried it here, but it did not hold up to the halogen bulb... | ||
| Firebolt32 |
Then we all need to put our names on a sheet of paper and send it to Buell showing that although they have never heard of this problem there are dozens upon dozens of bike owners that have the proof. Because it doesn't seem like they are doing anything to fix the problem. | ||
| Midknyte |
Because it doesn't seem like they are doing anything to fix the problem. "seem" is a key word here. When I last spoke to CS, I was told that they were aware of it and were holding meetings to review the issue. But, people whom I've encourage to call since then have told me that they still do not [always] admit to the problem or are told the same course of action to take. Bottom line is, this is an issue that is in our own power to fix (new housing + HID) for not that much (about $175, housing included) - and you get more/better light anyway. We can bitch and moan for who knows how long, or you can get the parts and be done with it in a matter of days. It is not a perfect world. (Message edited by midknyte on May 07, 2008) | ||
| Damnut |
Well I was told by the DOT in Washington, DC AND John Flickenger that a solution was in the near future. DOT told me that in January. Flickenger in March. I was about to die from holding my breath. Got tired of waiting and bought the HID kit. In my eyes "near future" is a month or two. Guess not. | ||
| Puredrive |
I used Chrome rattle can paint. It worked. | ||
| Firebolt32 |
Bottom line is, this is an issue that is in our own power to fix (new housing + HID) It shouldn't be. This is a design flaw created by Buell. Therefore they should recall it. Sure the issue is not harming anything, YET. I know we are all in the same boat here and I'm not arguing with anyone here but we should not have to spend that money. Sure the HID set up is sweet but for $175 bucks we can do a few other things to our bikes. | ||
| Midknyte |
It shouldn't be. No shit. $175 bucks we can do a few other things to our bikes. Once you've done it, you'll be hard pressed to name something better that you can do to the bike for that amount... | ||
| Ducxl |
Given their track record on this issue. What do you suppose will happen to the guys' with the 1125r voltage/surging throttle/boiling fuel/etc. issues? Should they be expected to solve their own problems? Certainly not.But they've not yet resorted to the "indignant griping" blah-blah. And i VERY much (EXTREMELY) do NOT want to modify my Buells' in ANY way.THey're BONE stock,and i especially do not want electrical modifications not properly engineered. (Message edited by ducxl on May 07, 2008) (Message edited by ducxl on May 07, 2008) | ||
| Firebolt32 |
I'm not arguing with anyone here I believe I typed that. Must have touched a sore spot. Sorry.  | ||
| Court |
>>>This is a design flaw created by Buell. What makes you think it is a design flaw? I do not think that is accurate. I'm also curious as to why you would (assume for a moment that you are part of the committee that decides on recalls) think it warrants a recall? This . . . in my simple mind . . is what happens when internet hysteria tries to drive a solution. I too, like you, have my thoughts and opinions. They do not align, necessarily, with those of the factory. In fact, I'm been quite a trouble maker. But . . . as long as owners are "wronger" than Buell I'm saying it'll be a while for before the right hand and the left hand find each other. Ergo . . I long ago divorced myself from this one . . . everyone wants to argue and accuse, no one wants to solve. Guess it's the nature of my business but I am a solution kinda guy. When you build powerplants it's easy to find problems and people to blame. . . I make the big bucks for finding solutions. . . not victims.  | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
you know people talk about this problem all the time on here and say that it has not been fixed still. well I have a question. Mr. buell is always signing peoples bikes and at all of these buell gatherings and stuff has the problem ever been brought to his attention directly? Because my thought is that if next time one of you guys see him and yall bring it up to him maybe with a printed out copy of one of these discussions on badweb something might get done. just my thoughts. | ||
| Ducxl |
no one wants to solve Including Buell Motorcycle Company apparently.And now the defects are piling up with the newest model,just view the 1125r board for all of the defects there. Heck,Buell can't even supply a working 1125r to motorcycle magazines without defects. And,Firebolt020283,would you really mean to try and pose that question to Erik? I'd not wish to be rude or confrontational.I wish there were a way to pose this question to Erik Buell.Why so many defective units? The number grows with each new owner's discovery of this problem | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
well ok maybe not bring it up while he is say sighning autoghraphs but what about those dealer meetings they they talk about on here all the time were they have all the Buell dealers. They always show him at those couldn't it be brought up there? Every year that they have those there is always alot of pictures on here with alot of bad web members there, isn't that what a meeting is for to disscuss things? | ||
| Mr2shim |
Midknyte, not sure where you think It'll only cost 175 for HID's AND new housings because the housings are $55 a piece..... firebolt, you bring up some good points. I'm really not sure what I'm going to do. I'll probably start off with some high temp chrome paint. See how that goes for the first few days/weeks. Then go from there. (Message edited by mr2shim on May 07, 2008) | ||
| Spike |
Perhaps not a flaw in design, but at the very least a flaw in the part. It may actually be a failure on the supplier's part. In any case, there is a flaw.
Because it appears to affect every Firebolt in production. So far, every time we've had someone disassemble their Firebolt headlights they've seen a deterioration. The original set on my '04 had completely failed inside of 10k miles. The low beam was replaced under warranty, but the replacement failed inside of 10k miles again. I simply put up with bad headlights since then while waiting on a fix from Buell.
I don't see what there is to argue about. The headlights fail. End of argument. If anyone from the other side of the table wants to prove me wrong with a set of headlights that won't fail, PM me for my mailing address. |
