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Bulb change confusion 2020 RT

ramble

ramble

ohbeemer
The OM shows the change procedure, low beam first, then describes removal of the speaker/grille for the high beam change. I need to replace the low beam bulb. For the access to the low beam do you remove the speaker/grille? What is the easiest way to access the low beam, without doing it in the blind?
 
For what it's worth...
I was able to replace my center (low) beam 3 times by doing the contortionist act, but it really helped to have the bike up on my lift. I went to the Cyclops LED and didn't have to change it again in over 60k.
When installing the adaptor ring for the LED, I did access the bottom of the center reflector area with a long wire that had a hook in it when I dropped the ring, but that's the only help there is by removing the RH speaker that I know of.
The repair DVD explains how to dig into the front of the bike to do a full removal of the headlight. I've done this twice and think it's lots of work, but it assures success without too much blood loss.

If you have been fighting the wire springs for very long, you might have bent the flat metal hook areas, and the only way to see how to straighten them out is to remove the headlight assembly so you can see them straight on.

Don't know if this is any help, but sometimes it's best to just remove the whole thing.
 
On my '19 RT, it is possible for me to see the hooks that the wire clips hook onto; the view from standing and looking forward through either side of the forks. Once you take the back cover off the light housing you can hold a phone camera up (from underneath, holding from the front) and verbally state CAPTURE as the voice command to snap the pic. That will give you a better perspective. I can actually reach my arms in on the side of the forks by standing next to the tank and can release the wire clips.

When I was at a hotel trying to change my bulb, I actually bent one of the hook tabs with my thumb. Yeah, painful. I was accessing the bulb area, squatting in front of the bike while reaching up, using the blind method. I could not re-engage one side of the wire clips due to the bent hook.

Make dang sure you unplug the wire harness from the bulb BEFORE you release the hooks. DAMHIK, but I will tell you anyway. The wire clips actually hold the bulb assembly firmly in place to allow leverage for unplugging the harness. IF the wireclips are released, as in my case, you cannot remove the bulb with the harness attached; not enough room. And you cannot pull the harness off with one hand (no room) and it is not seated, as the bulb moves with it. Lesson learned for me. Hopefully for someone else.

FYI, Once I was home, I used an old portable FM radio antenna to pull the hook tab back into place. The bottom of the antenna has a hole for the screw when it was mounted in the radio; I reached in there with it and pulled on the hook tab to get it back in place. Then I engaged the wire clip on that side by reaching in from the side of the right side fork. Done.

Good luck!
 
WWeldin said:
On my '19 RT, it is possible for me to see the hooks that the wire clips hook onto; the view from standing and looking forward through either side of the forks. Once you take the back cover off the light housing you can hold a phone camera up (from underneath, holding from the front) and verbally state CAPTURE as the voice command to snap the pic. That will give you a better perspective. I can actually reach my arms in on the side of the forks by standing next to the tank and can release the wire clips.

When I was at a hotel trying to change my bulb, I actually bent one of the hook tabs with my thumb. Yeah, painful. I was accessing the bulb area, squatting in front of the bike while reaching up, using the blind method. I could not re-engage one side of the wire clips due to the bent hook.

Make dang sure you unplug the wire harness from the bulb BEFORE you release the hooks. DAMHIK, but I will tell you anyway. The wire clips actually hold the bulb assembly firmly in place to allow leverage for unplugging the harness. IF the wireclips are released, as in my case, you cannot remove the bulb with the harness attached; not enough room. And you cannot pull the harness off with one hand (no room) and it is not seated, as the bulb moves with it. Lesson learned for me. Hopefully for someone else.

FYI, Once I was home, I used an old portable FM radio antenna to pull the hook tab back into place. The bottom of the antenna has a hole for the screw when it was mounted in the radio; I reached in there with it and pulled on the hook tab to get it back in place. Then I engaged the wire clip on that side by reaching in from the side of the right side fork. Done.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pull plug first tip. Straddling the front tire on a short stool I was able to blindly remove the wire bale using a sewing thimble to depress it. Practice with the old bulb helps before the install. Using a bunched paper towel below for bulb support, and one above to hold the bale up allowed for the new bulb. Needed the thimble again after towel removal, a little electric grease will help with the plug in the future. The original bulb failed at 11k miles.
 
An update to this old post. My Sylvania H-7 bulb only lasted 5k miles, on a RT so no off road bumping. Someone suggested using the lower end bulb as it has a stated longer life, but less lumens. Since I do not ride after dark I have replaced it with the basic bulb. The replacement was still difficult, doing it in the blind, so hopefully this chore won't have to be repeated for awhile. Another tip ...it is possible to get more hand room for the "operation" by bending the horn bracket, then back it back after finished.
 
I managed to get about 13k miles out of the stock bulb. I used another stock replacement, but got a little over 17k miles on it with the only thing I did differently was to warm the bulb prior to engine power. To do this, I would power on the ignition and then a quick flick of the high beam switch, which turns on the low beam headlight. After letting the power-up sequence to complete, I would then start the motor, which sends slightly higher voltage to the bulb. That is a possible cause of the early bulb failure, in my opinion.

I now have my $30 Sylvania long life bulb installed and using my same pre-start routine, we shall see how long that high-dollar bulb will last.
 
Do the whole thing from the front of the bike. Sit facing the bike and reach up to the back of the headlight of the assembly from there.
 
Weldon interesting theory I will try that start procedure, the listed service life on this Sylvania basic bulb is 750 hrs. I did the install sitting in front of the tire on a shop stool, forever getting the wire bale free, but back in place easy. I am going to need a pre-flight checklist to ride!!:)
 
alegerlotz said:
Do the whole thing from the front of the bike. Sit facing the bike and reach up to the back of the headlight of the assembly from there.
Click to expand...

That's how I did mine (2016 RT) - bike on side stand, sit on the ground in front of the bike with my legs pointed down the side stand side of the bike. Use my left hand to do the install and watch from the front for a little visual feedback.
 
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