Headlamp part melting?

Hi,

Both my headlamp bulb retainers (black plastic connectors) are melting. It has caused one headlamp to fail but my local dealer is on it.

They've taken photos to send into Triumph and will alert the Regional Director as it could affect other Rockets.

Keep you posted on warranty claim and part that will be replaced (wiring harness or just the plastic bulb-retainers).


14,000 miles on clock.

Just for your safety, I feel you should check your Rocket.

David Anderson

[ This message was edited by: dacio on 2005-06-06 00:49 ]

Thankyou, Dacio, that is a very important item for you to bring to the forums attention........... :gpst:

[BlueElf]

Thanks David,
Quick question, were you using the standard stock bulbs or did you have some higher wattage bulbs being used? Also, did you normally keep your headlights on High beam most of the time? Did you smell any burning or melting odors or have any warning before the actual headlight failure? Thanks for the information and answering these questions.

CYa,
Rick
aka BlueElf

Hi Rick,

All were factory parts. We photographed the melted part with the Triumph bulb so they could match it perfectly.

High beam most of the time.

No burning, smoke or anything like that - just bulb failure.

Thx,

David

[Aussiebikerdave]

Dacio, you say you use high beam most of the time. Does this mean you ride at night most of the time?

In Australia it is illegal to use high beam against oncoming traffic whether day or night... is this not the case in your neck of the woods?

If your riding is mostly in day light hours, you might be best to use low beam as this will generate less heat in the headlight and make you look less offensive to other oncoming road uses. Davo

[Toystoretom]

This is a common problem in cars with plastic headlamp housings. Its not the heat of the bulb but a poor ground at the bulb base. This causes an area of high resistance which in turn generates a lot of heat, and this heat melts the plastic housing. If you measure your fuel milage down to about ten decimal points you could also run extra ground wires to the base of the bulbs. :-D But... if this happens to you I would return it to the dealer because the only real fix is to replace the headlamp housing.

Remember when cars and bikes were made out of real metal? Well forget it... those days are gone and they ain't comming back :-D

Tomo

[nugget]

..geez Tomo, your such a fartsmellar,.. I mean smartfella.

[Toystoretom]

Hey Nugget....

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy... :-D :-D

And you may be right.... is that what I keep smelling? I thought that was the cat......

[burr3rd]

Did you by any chance replace your battery recently? I replaced a battery with one that was too hot on another bike and it melted the headlights.
Regards,
Jim :hammer:

[Valkyrie111]

Good call Tomo, as an industrial electrician for 25 years, the problems we encounter that are hard to explain often involve improper grounding. Grounding is a whole field of study in itself. Most faults in electrical equipment can be traced to an open circuit, a short, or a ground, the ground often being the hardest to define and isolate.