My bulb went out this weekend. I have the manual but it talks about having to take the whole tail light off from underneath the fender to replace the bulb. Is that the only way or can I just pop the lens cover off?

 

Is it the center "sausage" light or 1 of the turn signals?

 

It is the center, sparto/sausage tail light.

 

isnt it LED? or was that new for 2012. anyway, i dont think the lens pops off, though ive never tried. just pull the 3 bolts from underneath and theres access right there. not really a pain to pull that light.

 

Yes that one is a LED. Never supposed to go out...lol Lens does NOT pop off like the turn signals. If it is still under warranty you could probably get them to replace it. Otherwise I believe you have to pull off the entire thing to get in there, don't know anything else about changing it though.
There is a possibility of something else is wrong. I haven't seen too many LEDs like that go bad, but it does happen although rarely.

 

I took mine off with no plans of putting it back on. I dug into it a bit just to see how it was built. The lens does not remove at all, and there is no way to access the led pack from the back either, its all just one enclosed unit, never designed to be altered or changed in any way. If its out, you'll need a new taillight.