...and you thought replacing a light bulb is easy...

[RoLoo]

…I thought ; let us change a light bulb for something somewhat brighter than stock…
…a five minutes job maybe…

…well ; not on a R1200S…

…according to the manual, changing a bulb is a ‘pull it out ; shove it in’ job…
…and I tried…
…for some 10 minutes I pulled the OEM bulb ; and nothing happened…
…the bulb was soooooo very tight in its housing ; my finger and thumb still hurts from pulling…

…and I don’t know how I managed it, but the bulb finally snapped out…

…time to put the new one in…
…I thought…

…but the new one wouldn’t fit…
…same hassle as when I pulled the old one out…

…I thought, let us use a bit more pressure…
…and I wish I hadn’t done that, cause the complete headlamp mirror snapped loose when I tried that…

…two problems now ; a loose mirror, and a non fitting bulb…

…getting the mirror back in its place shouldn’t be that hard…
…I thought…

…just pull the black cover from the headlamp, and secure the mirror again…
…I thought…

…the black cover didn’t came off, though…
…somehow it looked as if it was stuck somewhere…

…well, just pull the dash off…
…I thought…

…and yes, you guessed it right, pulling the dash off wasn’t that simple…
…so ; time for some ‘serious’ wrenching…

…I took the whole front fairing off…




…took the headlamp frame off, and found me a nice place under the sun…

…the black headlamp cover turned out to be glued to the headlamp…
…so taking the cover off, wasn’t an option…

…and I could see how the mirror once was fitted over the adjustment screws …
…getting the left-right adjustment screw back in its place, wasn’t the problem…
…the up-down one was…

…finally I drilled two holes in the black plastic cover, and with fiddling around with a screwdriver and bend long nose pliers, I managed to get the tiny bracket, which is attached to the back of the headlamp's mirror, back over the up-down adjustment screw…

…but, all this work, and still without having that new bulb in…

…very carefully I managed to get bulb in its place without causing the same problem again…






…after another hour or so, everything was back in its place…
…what should have taken me some 5 minutes, took me some 3-and-a-half hours…



…hope this new bright-white bulb will last very, very long…

[Kiriath]

haha,

well, job well done at last!

nice story too, had me wondering midways =D

[Fenring]

Originally Posted by RoLoo

…I thought ; let us change a light bulb for something somewhat brighter than stock…
…a five minutes job maybe…

…well ; not on a R1200S…

…according to the manual, changing a bulb is a ‘pull it out ; shove it in’ job…
…and I tried…
…for some 10 minutes I pulled the OEM bulb ; and nothing happened…
…the bulb was soooooo very tight in its housing ; my finger and thumb still hurt from pulling…

…and I don’t know how I managed it, but the bulb finally snapped out…

I had the exact same problem a week ago. The low-beam bulb burned out. I didn't have a spare at the time so I decided to put the bulb from high-beam into low-beam as they are the same type. The extraction of high-beam bulb was a 20 sec job, but for some reason the low-beam bulb was stuck, so i spent good 10 minutes fiddling around it, nudging it and such until it suddenly let go. Had no problem putting the bulb back in though.

Nice photos BTW.

[peter f]

Boy! was that easy/simple? good Design I suppose....I mean "some" sort of design like the French cars of the past (change oil in Citroen GS? buy a new motor instead).

[bradzdotcom]

you could have at least cleaned up the bike a little while you were digging around in there.

[Karoshi]

euhm this job actually kept me busy for 5 min

Let's admit it you wanted to tear your bike apart once more...

[RoLoo]

Originally Posted by bradzdotcom

you could have at least cleaned up the bike a little while you were digging around in there.

...sorry...

[mkletecka]

RoLoo:

In all seriousness I want to know how & what you use to clean your bike? Your efforts appear to be 100%, whereas mine 90%. With this in mind, what are some of your tricks, particularly in the dash area, motor, rear exhaust (mine getting stained).

Your help would be appreciated, for this Friday I will be doing a full detail on the S.

Kind Regards:
Mike K.
Gray/silver 12S
Dana Point, CA

[RoLoo]

Originally Posted by mkletecka

RoLoo:

In all seriousness I want to know how & what you use to clean your bike?

…Mike ; take a seat, and give me 2 minutes…

…cleaning a bike isn’t that hard Mike…
…first of all, I try to avoid rain…
…if it even looks like we will have rain coming down ; the bike stays in…
…very simple, I ‘use’ this bike for my pleasure, and riding around in the rain doesn’t give me fun at all…


…so…
…after each ride, I wipe the complete bodywork and wheels off with a (clean) kitchen cloth, and some warm water…
…nothing more…
…maybe a 15 minutes job…
…I don’t use any soap, or aggressive stuff, and I don’t rinse the bike off…


…for the dash and the throttle bodies, I use a (clean and dry) paintbrush with (soft) bristles made out of pig hair (no ; not a joke !)…
…and to get rid of the dead flies on the cylinder heads, I use a (slightly soaked) brush…


…the exhaust…
…OK ; I’ve got a hugger, and this dry weather thing, remember…
…so, I’m not familiar with a stained exhaust…


…and once in a while I wax the bodywork and wheels, using Meguiar’s wax (this stuff


…keeping the engine parts look like new, I use a cloth and a bit of silicone spray…


…oops ; I almost forgot…
…I always use a flannel cloth when I wax the bike…
…and after I used it, I put them in the washing-machine…
...every time a fresh, clean, cloth...



…good luck !...
...when using this method from day one ; your bike(s) will keep on looking like new...

[mkletecka]

Roloo:

Thanks for your much appreciated "detailed" methods of cleaning your machine (I will apply your suggestions).

Thanks again:
Mike K.
gray/silver 12S
Dana Point, CA.

[feds27]

RoLoo:

you forgot to mention the most important tip.......storing your bike in a dust and climate controlled garage ;-)

[RoLoo]

Originally Posted by feds27

you forgot to mention the most important tip...
storing your bike in a dust and climate controlled garage...

...where can I find one...

...in the garage I cover the bikes (and the Mini of course) with a few old blankets...







...what do you think, do I need some serious therapy...?