foggy driving lights
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,542
Likes: 2
From: Cocoa Beach, Florida
I live in Cocoa Beach, FL so about a week 
.
J/K but I imagine that depends upon local weather conditions and air quality type stuff. Here we have salt-laden moist conditions a lot of the time and it seems like these guys act like an air filter, not good at it but good enough to trap some crap and naturally, it sticks.
ETA: Just thought of something too... they go through the old "heat-up, cool-down" cycle so they probably exhale and inhale some air all on their own.
.J/K but I imagine that depends upon local weather conditions and air quality type stuff. Here we have salt-laden moist conditions a lot of the time and it seems like these guys act like an air filter, not good at it but good enough to trap some crap and naturally, it sticks.
ETA: Just thought of something too... they go through the old "heat-up, cool-down" cycle so they probably exhale and inhale some air all on their own.
Last edited by RangeRat; Mar 22, 2009 at 03:15 PM.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,542
Likes: 2
From: Cocoa Beach, Florida
I looked a while back and found some at (I think) JC Whitney. Sorry I'm maybe even older than you or at least more forgetful anyway, but I think I had resorted to "Google" the size and "sealed beam" instead of going after Harley <something>.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 4,998
Likes: 655
From: bklyn,ny
Road Warrior
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,440
Likes: 0
From: Columbus,Indiana/ Arecibo,Puerto Rico
I just done my headlight and driving lights last week. I pulled them and put a little doctor Mechanico and water. Shook the crap out of them, then rinsed. Took the blower for the bike and blowed the water out of them till dry. With the Mechanico, no water spots. Worked for me.
Stage III
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: East Tennessee
mymatrix mentioned drying the housing with a compressor. I've had this happen before and if you really want to get all the moisture out of the housing (I live in the humid South, so I have to make sure ALL the moisture is out) before reassembly, put the glass, face-down, on a cookie sheet and bake in a WARM (not hot) 200 degree oven for about 15 mins. This will also keep the inside of the glass from fogging again as quickly. Good luck!
Advanced
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 70
Likes: 2
From: Slidell, La.
Fogged Passing Lamps Cleaning Process
I just cleaned the film out of the inside of the Passing Lamps on my '09 Ultra and thought I would post how it went. I believe the residue is from the "burning in" of the Halogen bulbs. After removing the retaining rings and taking the lamps out, I carefully removed the bulbs with a counter clockwise rotation. Make sure and not touch the bulb itself or it won't last too long. I then took the reflector assemblies to the kitchen and put white vinegar in each and swished it around. Next time I will take a small amount of Micro fiber rag and put in the reflector during this process to make it a little quicker and effective. After a good rinse, I used my shop vac to suck out most of the remaining moisture followed by a little wiping inside with a soft piece of lint free towel. The vac would be good to get the rag out as well. They then went into the oven for 15 minutes @ 200*. After the cool down and re-assembly, they looked as good as they did when the bike was brand new.
Thanks to those that have posted their ideas on cleaning these thing.
Thanks to those that have posted their ideas on cleaning these thing.
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,588
Likes: 9
From: Sunny Southern California
I took mine apart, put some Windex on one of those big Q-Tip things from S-100, stuck it thru the light hole & wiped the glass. Took about 10 mins. each but, no need to wait to dry, just put back together.
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 602
Likes: 51
From: central MN
The cloudy residue is indeed from the bulbs "burning in"...What I did was tear an appropriate size of microfiber cloth so as to be able to stuff it in the bulb hole and pretty well fill up the reflector cavity. Then make yourself an "arbor"; I snapped the point off from a common spade drill bit (wood spade, maybe 1/2"). Then chuck the arbor in your cordless drill and oh so carefully get that microfiber to spinning and extending inside the reflector. You don't need any cleaners, water, no liquid whatsoever....Simply polish off the residue. Try it and you'll grin...