1200 low beam light

[North]

After 9 months and 6,000 miles on my bike, the low beam light burnt out.

Is this the norm?

Thanks

 

[GSmonkey]

Yep - I put it down to vibration. At least the low/high beam bulbs are interchangeable if you're on a run.

 

[birdseye]

Maybe not normal but certainly a pretty trivial problem. Or is that just because I started my motorised life in the days when a 30000 mile decoke was normal?

 

[Mouse]

Mine lasted about that long as well.

I agree with the Monkey, it's probably at least partly due to vibration. When I'm going laning I turn the headlight off to hopefully lengthen its life a bit.

 

[North]

Thanks Guys

 

[marcus]

04 12 GS went through 3 front bulbs in 3 months

 

[Dietmar]

Bulb lifetime

Its not only due to vibrations its more due to high voltage levels !
Bulbs are designed for 12 V operation.
Modern vehicles need high generator voltages to supply all the electrical equipment and charge the battery.
So generator voltages rises from (bulb lifetime saving) 13.2 V up to 14.8 V.
This leads to a drastically reduced bulb lifetime.
Typical example Vauxhall/ Opel Astra before installing a wire with high resistance.

There are several threads confirming the charging balance of our bike.

Regards

Dietmar

 

[Dan Glibitz]

I turn the headlight off to hopefully lengthen its life a bit.

Turn your headlight off?

Howd'ya do that then? Mine's go no switch

 

[Mouse]

To turn the headlight off you do the following while the bike is stationary:

1 - hold down indicator cancel button for 5 seconds

2 - hold down right indicator button for 5 seconds

You can do this before or after you start the engine, but not while the bike is moving.

 

[Dan Glibitz]

To turn the headlight off you do the following while the bike is stationary:

1 - hold down indicator cancel button for 5 seconds

2 - hold down right indicator button for 5 seconds

You can do this before or after you start the engine, but not while the bike is moving.

Just tried this on my "06" and it dinny work.

Turned ignition on, pressed Indicator Canc for 5 sex, then pressed right indicator for 5 sex.
am I doing summat wrong then?

 

[North]

To turn the headlight off you do the following while the bike is stationary:

1 - hold down indicator cancel button for 5 seconds

2 - hold down right indicator button for 5 seconds

You can do this before or after you start the engine, but not while the bike is moving.

Thats good to know Mouse.

How did you ever find this out?

 

[tiller269]

OK. I can turn it off, which is great. But how do I turn it on again when I'm riding? Or do I have to stop, turn the ignition off, then on again to get lights?

 

[Toad]

Useful

Thats good to know Mouse.

How did you ever find this out?

Hi North,

Check this out

http://www.r1200gs.info/misc/tricks.html

useful stuff. . . . .