Shooter Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Low beam just went out on left headlight on my '01. Question is: does the front cowl have to come off to replace bulb? Or can the bulb be replaced without removing the cowl? Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfunkomatic Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 No. With a reasonable amount of reach, the bars turned and relatively small hands you can reach in under the plastics/dash and remove the bulb. My low beam was really baked on and needed some persuasion to come off but no plastics need to be removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zoomzoom Posted May 30, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted May 30, 2015 Getting the headlight out and back in can be done without removing the upper cowl, but word of note, if one bulb is out, it might not be a bad idea to replace both. If one has gone the other may not be far behind. When I replaced my headlights in my 2000 the first time I replaced the left side bulb and a week later blew the right one. The left headlight was easy enough to change without taking off the upper cowl but the right one caused me so much grief trying to get the retainer clip back in place that I took off the upper cowl and changed just about every bulb I could find. LOL If you do decide to remove the upper cowl for the bulb swap, here is a link to a How To thread I wrote up a while back. Just in case you've not done it before. http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/76765-how-to-upper-cowl-removal-on-5th-gen/ May your swap be Enlightening. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Thanks! I ordered two bulbs thinking the same thing. That once one goes, the other will also..... I've got some decent size meathooks, but have a twelve year old daughter who can maybe get her little digits in there. She helps me rebuild old Hondas, so not afraid of getting a little dirty. Plus I'm colorblind so she helps out with rewiring projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zoomzoom Posted May 30, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted May 30, 2015 Cool. My daughter loves being around me when I'm working on the bike, but finds it hard to get a chance as her brother is usually in the way. LOL. When it comes to regular servicing, my 8 year old son is the one who performs the oil change. I am allowed to remove the lower cowls, and loosen tighten the filter and drain bolt. Other than those things, I am only allowed to watch and drink coffee. Since my son always wants to go for a test ride (LOL) after the oil change I'm not allowed to drink beer while I wait him to finish. I think it's great that your daughter enjoys getting involved with the maintenance and such. I wouldn't want to give up the father/son bonding time that working and riding the bike provides and I can only hope that my daughter takes as much interest in it as my son has thus far. Someone has to train the next generation of Viffer fanatics. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 Well I got the bulbs replaced. I started to do it without removing the front fairing and after struggling I decided to pull it off. What no one mentioned was the fact that the rubber boots that go around the back side of the headlights come off so easily and I could have easily done it without removing the front fairing. For future reference and anyone else doing this procedure, there is a little tab at the bottom of the boot that can be easily lifted up and out in order to gain access to the clip that holds the bulb in once the connection is removed. Oh well, next time I will remember.... New bulbs are in and life is good once again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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