Bulbs burning out

[Bravodeuce]

'05 C50LE
4 months old, 4000 miles.
Burned out a front parking light, and this morning a light on the light bar. Is it common to burn bulbs this quick, or do I have a problem?

Seeing as I have to get the light bar bulb at the shop (30 miles from home), (not a simple autoparts store bulb) I'm not looking forward to frequent trips for bulbs.

Anyone else going through bulbs?

[rappidrabbit]

Originally Posted by Bravodeuce

'05 C50LE
4 months old, 4000 miles.
Burned out a front parking light, and this morning a light on the light bar. Is it common to burn bulbs this quick, or do I have a problem?

Seeing as I have to get the light bar bulb at the shop (30 miles from home), (not a simple autoparts store bulb) I'm not looking forward to frequent trips for bulbs.

Anyone else going through bulbs?

replace light bar bulbs with 4411 sealed beams.....no more expensive bulbs to buy......

[Danr]

I have heard that this is/was a common problem with the light bar, I carry a spare bulb (about 9 bucks) but have not had to use it yet. My dealer ran a extra ground wire to the light bar on both sides inside the pods and this is suppose to slove the problem, since June Ive had no problems.

[smoothride]

parking light also. left side. may be bad bulds

[Bravodeuce]

Talked to the service dept. at the shop. They said I'm the first person to need a new light bar bulb, and they didn't have any in stock. @7.50 per bulb, I asked the service manager about putting the 4411's in, he said if there were any problems with the lights after I did that, the warranty would be void.

I'm scheduled for next wednesday to have it looked at, to see if it's wired goofy or something. Hopefully they'll get it fixed before the ride to San Diego that weekend.

If they can't find anything, I may be "forced" to put the 4411's in.

[fjm3rd]

I installed the 4411's just last nite after I found out I burned out another bulb, the 3rd one since April this year. One thing I noticed that I never noticed before is that there seems to be a black wire that is connected to the inside of the light housing but the other end isn't connected to anything it's just laying in the housing.

[Danr]

Originally Posted by fjm3rd

I installed the 4411's just last nite after I found out I burned out another bulb, the 3rd one since April this year. One thing I noticed that I never noticed before is that there seems to be a black wire that is connected to the inside of the light housing but the other end isn't connected to anything it's just laying in the housing.

Ground it at a good frame ground and it might solve your problem

[c50tiger]

One of my light bar lights went out within a couple of months... the rest are still going after more than a year. Sometimes you just get a bad bulb.

[v0lusia]

Originally Posted by Bravodeuce

Talked to the service dept. at the shop. They said I'm the first person to need a new light bar bulb, and they didn't have any in stock. @7.50 per bulb, I asked the service manager about putting the 4411's in, he said if there were any problems with the lights after I did that, the warranty would be void.

I'm scheduled for next wednesday to have it looked at, to see if it's wired goofy or something. Hopefully they'll get it fixed before the ride to San Diego that weekend.

If they can't find anything, I may be "forced" to put the 4411's in.

I know of dozens of Volusia/c50 owners that have had problems blowing bulbs in the OEM bar (go over to VolusiaRiders.com and search on "4411" you'll see what I mean. Most (including me) have replaced them with 4411 sealed beams. By the way they are tractor bulbs so not all auto parts stores carry them (NAPA does about $7). You do need to cut the old socket off and wire in the 4411s. I have 18,000 miles on my bike since installing the 4411s and haven't blown one yet.

Others have used Honda brand bulbs which plug right in and seem to last longer. Bring the old bulb in to a Honda dealer to match it up.

[rappidrabbit]

Originally Posted by Bravodeuce

Talked to the service dept. at the shop. They said I'm the first person to need a new light bar bulb, and they didn't have any in stock. @7.50 per bulb, I asked the service manager about putting the 4411's in, he said if there were any problems with the lights after I did that, the warranty would be void.

I'm scheduled for next wednesday to have it looked at, to see if it's wired goofy or something. Hopefully they'll get it fixed before the ride to San Diego that weekend.

If they can't find anything, I may be "forced" to put the 4411's in.

your service manager is jerking your chain.....the lightbar is extra equip... how can that void your warranty???????... my dealer said its prob the best fix he has heard about......the black wires are for ground only ...tape the ends up and fold them back... or ground if you want......the 4411 are bi-polar and the hook up can be to either post.....

[rappidrabbit]

PS: we did try grounding ...bulbs kept blowing out.... .....that is not the fix,,,,

[Danr]

Originally Posted by rappidrabbit

your service manager is jerking your chain.....the lightbar is extra equip... how can that void your warranty???????... my dealer said its prob the best fix he has heard about......the black wires are for ground only ...tape the ends up and fold them back... or ground if you want......the 4411 are bi-polar and the hook up can be to either post.....

In fact your service ? manager is actually insulting your intelligence. Tell him face to face that you dont appeciate being treated like you dont know jack S*** and maybe he will be straight up with you.

sorry, I dont have a pateince with people who try to talk down to me.

[zukirob]

FYI - My C50T blew both light bar bulbs at the same time after 4 months. Asked the dealer about it and got a hearty shrug. I replaced the bulbs and we'll see what happens now.

[Bravodeuce]

Just a follow up...

Another 4000 miles, another bulb. Burned the other side out last night on the way home, so I just replaced both of them with 4411's. We'll see how long these last.

[blackie1491]

For your info, I was looking at the OEM lightbar and talked to my service manager about it and he pulled out a Suzuki service instruction about OEM
needing to be fixed under warrenty. It was the grounding at fault and stated this was not a problem with the new ones.

Your service manager is an ***.

[v0lusia]

Originally Posted by Bravodeuce

Just a follow up...

Another 4000 miles, another bulb. Burned the other side out last night on the way home, so I just replaced both of them with 4411's. We'll see how long these last.

So far mine have lasted about 16,000 miles

[zukirob]

And now a word from your dorky electrical engineer biker buddy.............
Compared with the 25W bulbs in the OEM lightbar, those 4411's add about 2 extra amps of load on the fuse and alternator. Proably OK but I'm curious if anyone has had any problems with blown fuses, or other problems, after putting those 4411's in.

[blackie1491]

The VolusiaRider.com people have used the bulbs for a year or more with no problems. Another solution was to use the Honda bulb instead.

[v0lusia]

Originally Posted by zukirob

And now a word from your dorky electrical engineer biker buddy.............
Compared with the 25W bulbs in the OEM lightbar, those 4411's add about 2 extra amps of load on the fuse and alternator. Proably OK but I'm curious if anyone has had any problems with blown fuses, or other problems, after putting those 4411's in.

It hasn't been a problem. The lightbar is on it's own 10amp fuse. I have had them in for 2 years (about 18k miles now).

[C50dreamin]

I switched to 4411's about a week ago, they fit like the light bar was made for them. Go figure...