| Author | Message | ||
     Skippytheloon |
1997 lightning S1 1200 Every other time I ride my buell, my tailight/brake light goes out. This is a major problem and is getting very annoying and expensive not to mention can be dangerous if noone knows I'm braking. Are there any tricks to keep these things alive longer, it looks like the filiments in the bulb are vibrating apart. Or maybe a different setup to cure this problem? Thanks, Kyle | ||
| F_skinner |
Skippytheloon, you are most likely correct in that vibrations are killing the bulb. Take the rear section off the bike and see if the bracket that holds the brake light is cracked. You can also use rubber washers to isolate it a little bit. Is the bike vibrating more that usual? If so it might be time to check the isolators. Great looking bike. My first Buell was a 97 S1, black like yours. | ||
| Preybird1 |
Go to a clear lens and run a red led set up like "I" do. | ||
| Skippytheloon |
Thanks for the compliment on the bike. First step: I isolated my tailight housing and the liscense plate relocation kit (bent piece of metal) I made with alot of perma-gum strips. I'll look into the isolators, may be shaking more than it should. Thought this might be a common problem, but maybe not. My bike does shake enough that I have to hold it so it deosn't "walk away" when warming it up with the stand down. But it's been like that since I got it. Only has 5k miles. Thanks for the advice, I'll look into led kits as well. Kyle | ||
| Captainkirk |
The standard tail light setup is crap. They all are. One bulb, to boot! If it goes out (and they do...often) no backup. I highly recommend an LED setup. I haven't done it yet, but it's on the list.... | ||
| Smoke |
led bulb! lasts long time. 5 years so far. tim | ||
| Littlebuggles |
I've got one you can have Skippy, it's just sitting on the shelf in my garage. It's a standard plug to fit in the plug socket. It's all red, so your plate will be lit up with red light instead of white. PM me your address and I'll drop it in the mail this week. | ||
| Kalali |
I tried the LED replacement from Pepboys but returned it. Not as bright as the stock. Besides I've yet to replace a burnt bulb anywhere on the bike. As for the bike "walking away", mine used to do that but after many hours spending trying to tweak the idle, it now stays where it is. The idle can be smoothed out to a great degree. | ||
| Skippytheloon |
pm sent littlebuggles, I thought you had to do other stuff to run LED's...not just straight plug a bulb in. | ||
| Guell |
you have the have a different resistor pack for the turn signals, its fine for a brake light though | ||
| Skippytheloon |
ahhh, awesome | ||
| Skippytheloon |
bought some LED bulbs, cut my plate relocation bracket shorter to reduce vibration and isolated everything with nice squishy stuff. lol, those bulbs look ridiculous and aren't that bright but it's better than randomly having no brake light at all. Thanks again for the ideas. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Also check the bulb socket itself. If its loose, or doesn't have the right spring pressure to hold the bulb in place...you get a bouncy-bulb. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I had a bad batch of tail light bulbs once. A nice big CHEAP box. Made in my favorite country: China! Make sure to check your packages for where they were made. My X1 went 77,000 before popping my rear bulb. (Outlasted the CLUTCH!) |
