ZesPak Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 So, two years in with my VFR1200F and I still love it. Put about 42k km's (26k miles) on it so far and still feels like new. I've got some technical knowledge but I have most of my maintenance done by a local here who does nothing else. But, I'd like to be able to replace my own headlight bulb :D. So, last week I tried to do this but I failed miserably. From my perspective, looking in front of the steering column, you can see two "twist to close" little hatches that hide the high beam (lowest hatch) and main light (top hatch). I managed to unscrew the lowest one, and then even replace the bulb (but only just!). The top one, from my perspective, seems like I'll need to break my hand & arm in about 3 places to be able to do. I've found no real topic on HOW to do this, is there a trick I'm missing out on? It seems impossible to me! Or is it a case of removing half of the front of the bike to be able to do it? For the record: I'm not trying to install some sort of HID kit, just your regular H7 bulb... Thanks in advance for your vast & collective knowledge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer c5ip Posted May 27, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted May 27, 2014 It can be done (without removing the front end) but took me a few tries since you can't really see what you're doing. I put my hand up from the bottom. Ensure you get the clip off first before removing the bulb plug and then put the clip on before putting the plug back on the bulb. Good luck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZesPak Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Thanks, good to know it CAN be done, it felt like there wouldn't be enough clearance to even remove the bulb. I'll have my wife give it a go, maybe her more slender hands/fingers will be able to do it :). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreas Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 It is not that hard. In fact you can see what you are doing, at least when you are installing the new bulb by looking through the headlight. First, remove the cover by twisting it. Unplug the wiring and release the clip. Now it is easy to remove the bulb. Insert new one and make sure it is installed the same way as the old one. Attach clip and wiring and then the cover. It really helps though to have tried it once before that cold and rainy night when your bulb breaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZesPak Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Ok, Just done it, thanks for the info here. My main issue was that I was trying to do it from above, which I found to be impossible. If you go underneath it's still very cramped & hard to do but at least it's possible. Oh, and also the little clip that holds the light. I took a picture which helped me on how to open it, I'll put it here for future reference, hope it can serve other people as it took me about 20pics to get a clear one (this one is from the bottom light but they're the same). Smartphone took a good pick there I reckon! Thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headhunter Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I have large hands. It sucked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dynajohn Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 I have large hands. It sucked. Same here. I did the bottom bulb from the top left side of the bike. Top bulb from the bottom right side. Make sure to pay attention to the alignment marks when reinstalling the covers. I also advise using bulb grease when you install the new bulbs. I installed brighter night breaker bulbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreas Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Night Breaker might be just fine but Osram recommend Night Racer for motorcycle use. They claim these bulbs handles vibrations better. They also come with very cool packaging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phkalous Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I just made it to replace dead top bulb. Very good idea to take a picture. The holding pin has to be pinched in the "U" form to free the bulb. And be careful not to entangle the wires with the holding pin to remount the bulb. It happened to me and I spent 10 weary minutes to understand why I didn't made it to remount the bulb. It is very annoying to work without seeing what you do. Luckily you can look though the headlight and at least understand that the bulb is in place and you can pinch the pin to hold it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRC Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 I had to pull both bulbs to install the wiring interfaces for a Kissan Pathfind headlight modulator. High beam was FAR easier than the low due to clearance. Generally speaking, it sucked. I swore if I ever had to do anything headlight wise again, I'll pull the headlight fairing. Including that part, the whole job could have been done inside of 45 min, vs the 2+ hours this took. Speaking of which, I'd like to replace these H7 bulbs (pulling the housing this time of course) with LED units. Anyone have any experience with that? Do they fit? Do they work with a modulator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Finger prints on the H-7 halogens? Apologies for not seeing this sooner, but you must either wear clean lint free gloves or wipe the bulbs with alcohol because the natural oil from your fingers will create hotspots shortening the bulbs life. Nice picture of the clip. Wish I had your picture when I first changed my bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted April 11, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted April 11, 2016 As you can see from my sig, I fitted a HiD-Xenon low beam bulb to my 1200 (and 2 low beams HiD-Xenon bulbs to my 6th Gen). The install was time consuming and involved cutting & soldering but it was achievable and if the bulb is as reliable as the sales blurb would have you believe, I would hope I have avoided the wet & dark in the middle of nowhere bulb change. Touch wood! The result is pretty spectacular too, on both bikes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jekrumpe Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Does anyone have a feels for how common it is for the low beam to need replacement? My 2010 has 48K and the bulb just went out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volfy Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 1 hour ago, jekrumpe said: Does anyone have a feels for how common it is for the low beam to need replacement? My 2010 has 48K and the bulb just went out. If you are talking about the OEM halogen bulbs, I'm not surprised yours lasted 48k. Good ones last a long while. If I keep them halogen (rare these days), I don't wait till they blow out before changing. Halogen bulb performance start to deteriorate steadily before finally going out. You may not notice it, but the lumens output do drop towards the end of their service life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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