greenwald
New member
I know this topic may have received a fair amount of attention before, but not sure if what I 'discovered' today was included.
After first struggling to try and change out the right-side low beam bulb on my R1200RT, I felt that after about two hours of frustration trying to get my big paws inside those cramped quarters, that was effort enough, and called it a day. Able to get the old bulb out, but setting the new one in place and securing it...yeah, right.
Had scratches, marks, minor bleeding and still no fixed headlamp.
The 'engineer' who designed a headlight assembly that cannot be removed from the front for servicing should be taken out back behind HQ in Munich and have his knee caps broken!
I was going to leave it to my local dealer when next week, the bike goes in for valve adjustment (30,000 miles) and an oil change.
But it annoyed me that I failed at so basic a task as replacing a headlight bulb, which someday, I may need to do on the road.
I wondered how they might magically do this at the dealership, given that my mechanic has similar sized hands.
Wandering the local Advance Auto Parts store for inspiration later in the afternoon, I came upon an AmPro 24" Flexible Mechanical Finger.
$6.00
It neatly grasped the H-7 bulb by the upper connector prong and allowed me to slip it into the socket, rotate as needed and hold it there (at the proper position) until I could snap one of the retainer clamps into place.
Then I released the flexible tool, nudged the other clamp-arm into place, reconnected the wiring and closed up the access port.
10 minutes....job done. No new trauma to my hand / wrist / arm / ego.
That little gem will easily fit into my trunk or sidecase and comes with me on roadtrips from now on!
After first struggling to try and change out the right-side low beam bulb on my R1200RT, I felt that after about two hours of frustration trying to get my big paws inside those cramped quarters, that was effort enough, and called it a day. Able to get the old bulb out, but setting the new one in place and securing it...yeah, right.
Had scratches, marks, minor bleeding and still no fixed headlamp.
The 'engineer' who designed a headlight assembly that cannot be removed from the front for servicing should be taken out back behind HQ in Munich and have his knee caps broken!
I was going to leave it to my local dealer when next week, the bike goes in for valve adjustment (30,000 miles) and an oil change.
But it annoyed me that I failed at so basic a task as replacing a headlight bulb, which someday, I may need to do on the road.
I wondered how they might magically do this at the dealership, given that my mechanic has similar sized hands.
Wandering the local Advance Auto Parts store for inspiration later in the afternoon, I came upon an AmPro 24" Flexible Mechanical Finger.
$6.00
It neatly grasped the H-7 bulb by the upper connector prong and allowed me to slip it into the socket, rotate as needed and hold it there (at the proper position) until I could snap one of the retainer clamps into place.
Then I released the flexible tool, nudged the other clamp-arm into place, reconnected the wiring and closed up the access port.
10 minutes....job done. No new trauma to my hand / wrist / arm / ego.
That little gem will easily fit into my trunk or sidecase and comes with me on roadtrips from now on!
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