Headlight bulb replacement

[wheatonFJR]

Have you found any 'white' light bulbs that last? I sure hope I get more than that, I will report when they do go 'pop!'

Phillips VisionPlus have a good life span/light output level trade off.

 

[LAF]

Have you found any 'white' light bulbs that last? I sure hope I get more than that, I will report when they do go 'pop!'

I ran a set of Osram Nightbreaker bulbs where 1 bulb went 9 months and the other went 1year. I replaced them with Osram Nightbreaker PLUS bulbs that claim longer life. They are a nice bright white light and not that obnoxious blue tinted light. So far it's been 1.5 years with no failure. Hold on while I find some wood to knock on.

The extra light is worth it to me and I don't have huge mitts, so it's not that hard to change bulbs.

+1 Put those in about a month ago. They are brighter and were reasonable cost with rebate. The first time you never forget After the very mentioned grease on the boots, and studying the clip arrangement, it is not too bad a job to do.I really appreciate the Plus bulbs here in Horned Rat infested PA.

 

[mferriter]

Your bike MAY pull to the left or right, depending on your bulb positioning.

Only if you believe in the theory that light is a stream of particles and not a wave.

If you put in brighter tail lights, will your bike go faster? How about a "laser"?

 

[wheatonFJR]

Your bike MAY pull to the left or right, depending on your bulb positioning.

Only if you believe in the theory that light is a stream of particles and not a wave.

If you put in brighter tail lights, will your bike go faster?

Yes...but only if you unplug your headlights...

...

 

[RodBarnes]

You dont have to remove any plastic at all to change the bulbs...really quite simple once you've done it once or twice.
[skip]

Hope this helps. Sorry I dont have pics to help ya out.

Very helpful, post; thanks. I did find that on my 2012/Gen II, it was worth pulling panel A (battery cover) as it is a few seconds to remove and makes reinstalling the boot much simpler on the right side. Otherwise, I totally concur. This is a much simpler job than trying to replace them on my 2012 Outback. ;-)

 

[erci]

Just did this on Gen3 (2015) without removing any plastics. I won't lie .. it was a MAJOR PITA. I don't know if there's much difference between Gen2 and Gen3, but mine has very little space to work with. As mentioned in several posts in this thread, left side is doable from the top, right side had to be done from the bottom.

Nearly all by feel, but you can look through the lense to help guide the bulb in and you can also see where the retaining clip has to go, so it definitely helps.

Figured I'd chime in, since it seems most posts were about older bikes.

Oh and the reason I did this was because I finally got to ride in the dark, last night and while the OEM bulbs aren't terrible, I'm used to Silverstars (ran them for over 5 years on my FZ1) so I just dropped them into FJR.

 

[james1300]

I realize this is an old post. But, I finally had to change a Headlight bulb in my 2003 1st Gen.. The info was a HUGE help. I still had to remove the dash plastics.

The spring and boot where strictly by feel. It took 60 minutes

 

[FJReady]

Just completed a headlight bulb change on a 2014. Did it from below, without removing plastics. I had my doubts but it is possible. Only a small about of blood was lost.

Took about 30 minutes this time. Probably 15-20 next time.

 

[erci]

Just completed a headlight bulb change on a 2014. Did it from below, without removing plastics. I had my doubts but it is possible. Only a small about of blood was lost.
Took about 30 minutes this time. Probably 15-20 next time.

LOL @ small amount of blood! Yeah.. I wore long sleeve shirt and full finger gloves. Not good for dexterity, but great for minimizing blood loss!