Hoping for some help here. i just bought a new 2011 Ultra classic in March. Last month while out riding a fellow rider informed me the left tail-light on me tour pack was burned out (blinker still worked ). My first thought was...ok just a bad bulb.
Seeing that the Harley Dealer was near me i stopped the next day and got a new bulb.(yea..a regular 1157 bulb in a Harley box) at 5.87 each i went and got 3 of them one to replace the bad one and 2 spares..by this time now i've went through 8 bulbs ..7 in the tour pack both left and right sides at differant times and one in the left front marker(yellow ) light. Took it to the dealer after the 5th bulb went out. Dealer said the only thing they found was that "someone " replaced the bulb with a NON HARLEY issued bulb. Which i did after the 3 i brought went bad..Well ..they replaced the bad one's WITH ,,Harley ones.......and YEP..two days later...they went out.... Has anyone....had this problem .. this is my first bagger..so now there tell me i must be hitting bumps to hard.. But if i want they will take the bike for a couple of weeks and tear it down...

 

Same thing is happening to my 2011 FLHTK. Would be nice to figure out what is going on. Maybe there are some severe duty 1157's out there?

 

look for a bad ground wire/connection--- can you riding pal confirm ( or deny) that your light(s) are flashing on & off
Mike

 

There's a bad ground in that circuit.
Lamp grounds are usually daisy chained from one socket to the next, so finding the bad connection point might be a bit difficult.

 

Check your voltage regulator too.

 

Hmmm. You may have just helped me figure out why bulb #2 in my 4 bulb bathroom light blows every month or so while the other 3 burn on and on and on ...

 

It sounds like a dirty ground (daisy chain) but its a brand new bike which I would bring back to the dealer...Pain in the ***, I know and would try and fix it myself first.

 

Dennis Kirk used to have an HDuty version 1157 "back in the day", used 'em in my '75 Sporty. dunno if they are still made all these years later but maybe worth looking for.

 

Had the same thing with my left rear on tour pack. I replaced the bulb and its been good since.

 

I have always used 1157 Long Life bulbs. Most auto parts stores carry them and never have had a problem....