blowing out tail lights
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 684
Likes: 1
From: Colorado
blowing out tail lights
I've had my Street Bob for 3 or 4 months now.. and in that time have gone through 3 tail lights on the right side and 2 on the left. The center one is fine.
These are the 2 lights on either side of the rear fender, and are run, turn/brake lights. What burns out is the run light.. then later the turn/brake.
Anyone else have trouble with this?
It's under warranty, so I'll be taking it in to the dealer on Thursday... Will probably get the "they all do that" line...
These are the 2 lights on either side of the rear fender, and are run, turn/brake lights. What burns out is the run light.. then later the turn/brake.
Anyone else have trouble with this?
It's under warranty, so I'll be taking it in to the dealer on Thursday... Will probably get the "they all do that" line...
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 859
Likes: 14
From: Millsboro Delaware
I am not familiar with the late model dyna's, did it come that way with run, turn, brake module or was this added. If it is an after market module I would look there for a problem with the wiring or the module itself.
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 684
Likes: 1
From: Colorado
Came that way (run + turn/brake). I do have the relocated rear turn signals though (relocated front too).. but this mod was done by the dealer.
Bike has about 7500 miles on it now.
Bike has about 7500 miles on it now.
Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 102
Likes: 6
From: Salt Lake City, UT
Yes, I have the same thing except only on the right side. I'm on my fourth bulb in 2500 miles. That light is also just a little bit weaker than the left side's for some reason. I thought I might've screwed something up when I removed the stock sissy-bar on my FXDWG but the wire look fine. Let me know what the dealer says.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 38,419
Likes: 6,366
From: Honah Lee
I am going to assume your voltage regulator is OK and you are not getting random jolts of 30+ volts of AC. Worked on a GM car that had this problem and had gone through three timing control coil modules before I discovered what was wrong. Put my AC meter on it and you could clearly see it. If you had this problem it would be all of them.
By any chance after replacing the original bulbs did you grab some from Autozone. They actual make different grades of these and a motorcycle needs the heavy duty long life ones with the heavy duty shock resistance element. You would think if your connection was bad in that socket it would increase the resistance and lower the voltage but I would think that would cause problems at the connection, not the element itself. Not sure what lower voltage going across the resistance wire would do. Will ask my neighbor. He's a electrical engineer were I work. Do know your starter draws more amperage when voltage drops from 12.6 to say 12 volts. Maybe that is what the element is doing from the connection.
By any chance after replacing the original bulbs did you grab some from Autozone. They actual make different grades of these and a motorcycle needs the heavy duty long life ones with the heavy duty shock resistance element. You would think if your connection was bad in that socket it would increase the resistance and lower the voltage but I would think that would cause problems at the connection, not the element itself. Not sure what lower voltage going across the resistance wire would do. Will ask my neighbor. He's a electrical engineer were I work. Do know your starter draws more amperage when voltage drops from 12.6 to say 12 volts. Maybe that is what the element is doing from the connection.
Last edited by Jackie Paper; Jul 12, 2011 at 01:11 PM.
Advanced
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 78
Likes: 0
From: Clarksville, TN
I have never had that problem on any bike. The only time I blew a bulb was when some water got thrown up into the light housing and shorted the bulb. Try using the led bulbs that go in the factory bullet turn signal housing. Your local autozone has them or order them from jpcycles
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,606
Likes: 2
From: Denver, Colorado
I have never had that problem on any bike. The only time I blew a bulb was when some water got thrown up into the light housing and shorted the bulb. Try using the led bulbs that go in the factory bullet turn signal housing. Your local autozone has them or order them from jpcycles
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Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 506
Likes: 0
From: Phoenix, AZ
There is a known batch of bad bulbs. This has been reported on here before. To help narrow your problem get your next bulb from a different source. IE auto parts store. See if it changes yours going out allot. My Local dealer has seen a large number of bulbs replaced on the new bikes. They stopped using the bulbs they got from HD, problem went away.