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Changed headlignt bulbs--ridiculous ordeal

Talk about issues and questions specific to the FJR here.
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palerider
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FJRModel: 2006AE
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Changed headlignt bulbs--ridiculous ordeal

Post by palerider »

Hi, All,

After 20k miles on my 2006AE I had a low-beam fail and decided to replace both bulbs with Philips H4s. I know some people are able to do this without removing any plastic, but my hands are just too thick and stubby to fit into the available space. Hell, even with panels A, B, C, and D off this was way too challenging with way too many obstacles. A stupid bit of engineering to make it so difficult to perform a routine maintenance task. Among the most-difficult parts was getting the tangs of the left bulb lined up correctly. I couldn't get my fingers to "see" how to put the bulb in straight, and one tang or another was always poking through the bulb hole with the bulb off-kilter. Took far too long, but I finally got it done, though I left a lot of knuckle DNA inside the bke. After a very few minutes I was pretty steadily cursing the Japanese engineers who came up with this system.

Then I went for a ride. What a great job those Japanese engineers did on this bike! The FJR never fails to make life better; even going to work is a little more pleasant if I can ride there and back. Fortunately I have to change bulbs only every 5 years or so.
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Intech
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Re: Changed headlignt bulbs--ridiculous ordeal

Post by Intech »

You need to live close to someone who is adept at changing them. I can have both changed in about 20 mins now.
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palerider
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Posts: 146
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:14 am
FJRModel: 2006AE
Location: Los Angeles
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Re: Changed headlignt bulbs--ridiculous ordeal

Post by palerider »

Intech wrote:You need to live close to someone who is adept at changing them. I can have both changed in about 20 mins now.
I don't know if it's worth moving just for that. :lol:
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Queensland Ken
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Re: Changed headlignt bulbs--ridiculous ordeal

Post by Queensland Ken »

Lucky you don't own an ex-police FJR.
My mate dropped over one arvo to change out his RHS bulb.
Well there was one large extra, additional "police" wiring loom behind the bulb, ended up having to remove his front fairing just to change out the bulb :shock: :lol:
2014 AE Black
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silverback
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Re: Changed headlignt bulbs--ridiculous ordeal

Post by silverback »

Sorry to say this, but the premier fitting simulation software for the industry is made in France, so don't cuss the Japanese, cuss the French...I cuss them every day for a number of reasons...metric system...their gooey sounding language...expensive "cuisine"...not making the Statue of Liberty have bigger knockers...you know, important stuff.

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There's just too much what the f@$k in this thread to know where to begin...
--BikerGeek
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