I'm out riding this weekend and pick up a rattle when I hit a bump or rought road. I stop & try to find what's wrong & don't see anything. :hmm: I hear it all the way home & it's bugging the sh!t out of me! :mad:
I put it on the lift in the garage & happen to look at the headlight :eek: I can't believe what I see!!! The little reflector thing inside the headlight came loose :eek:

Does anyone know if I can get the lens assembly apart to reattach it??? HELP! :confused:

wowzers, first time I've seen that happen..............I don't know if its repairable or not..........Max, Mark, anybody have an answer?

Weird stuff... Daddy O Weird .......

I would think the dealer would replace it.

Yep! same thing happened to me. Managed to repair it by removing light off the bike, then taking out globes and using index finger to manouver the reflector back into the slot. Worked for a while, then next decent bump it fell off again? Took it back to dealer for replacement under warranty. Was thinking that I should have super glued it in the first time!!

Yep! same thing happened to me. Managed to repair it by removing light off the bike, then taking out globes and using index finger to manouver the reflector back into the slot. Worked for a while, then next decent bump it fell off again? Took it back to dealer for replacement under warranty. Was thinking that I should have super glued it in the first time!!
THE TURBO V-ROD HAS THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO IT TO! :tmbsdow:

Sounds like a job for some long needle nose pliers and some epoxy. Heck, JB weld fixes anything ;)

The problem is, you can hardly get inside thru the lightbulb opening! :mad:

These headlight assemblies are on ebay a lot, just in case your dealer in uncooperative ;)

You need very small fingers, I did it but managed to scrape off a couple of layers of skin the process!!

That was a very common problem with the early 02 and I think HD did add a spring to fix it, on later bikes. Call the MoCo and see if they can't do something for you.

Dave

Thanks for the info, I'll go see if the tech at the dealer can help me (not going to hold my breath tho) :moon:

Thanks for the info, I'll go see if the tech at the dealer can help me (not going to hold my breath tho) :moon:
Let me know what you find out so that I can pass it along to Turbo Dan! :angeldev:

I may have a solution to get that out of the bottom. In the MEdical field there are things called Magill Forceps that you use during difficult intubations to help guide the ET tube into the lungs. The are kind of like hemostats but they are about 6-8 inches and have a curve to them. They may be able to get in ther and grab ahold of that lense and pull it out. If you know someone that can get you a pair it's worth a try

They are usually sold used in Flea Markets.



Elrod on the V-Rod

I got the 'rod' back from the dealer today, they just put the reflector back in the slot :hmm: The guy at the counter didn't know what they did to try & keep it from happening again? :spank:
I'm guessing it's going to fall out again at the beginning of a long ride into the mountains... and then :hitfan:

Well, as I guessed, it happened again :mad: That damn reflector fell out inside the headlight.
The dealer replaced it the first time, and it lasted almost 6 months, maybe 2500 miles. It's something you don't think about until it breaks.

Has anyone figured out how to fix this yet?
Anyone else had to deal with this???

Mine did the same thing here is how I fixed it....

http://www.v-rodforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10753

Its tricky to get it to fall in but once you get it lined up use a allen wrench to pull it down into the slot then make the cut and use a good glue!

Thanks Sam, do ya want to fix another since you're the expert (ha)? I'll give that a try this week.

mine just fell out too. I just installed HID lighting, so I wondered if there was any connection, but probably not.

Time for surgery.

mine just fell out too. I just installed HID lighting, so I wondered if there was any connection, but probably not.

Time for surgery.
How long have you had it on, and how long do you figure the light was on. I ran mine the other day for about a half hour and seems fine. My 80watt bulbs are much hotter than the HID kit.

I had it on since Saturday and have probably put 60 miles on with the HID lighting. I always thought halogen was hotter, so this is probably just a strange cooincidence. BTW, saw your HID lighting on Ebay, very nice!

I had it on since Saturday and have probably put 60 miles on with the HID lighting. I always thought halogen was hotter, so this is probably just a strange cooincidence. BTW, saw your HID lighting on Ebay, very nice!
Thanks, it will serve its purpose. I haven't ridden my bike at night yet, but the guy in front of me kept covering his eyes in front of his rearview mirror. BTW how could you tell it was mine?

because it had the link to v-rodricks.com! figured there was only one :thumb: Ebay should be good for you.

Now you just need to sell the surgical tool for putting this damn reflector back in its groove. I may just look for another headlight and get it fedex'd or use this time (till I can get to it) to get the blue guages done.

I've been looking for another headlight also, but I'm going to try VotRod's fix on this one.
I've got Ricks 80w bulb in mine now, but the reflector fell off the first time before I had that.

Ok, I'm with you Vrod-tlam. I got the light off last night, put electrical tape over the holes, and started shaving down the top of that rectangular nub (you can see that piece in VotROD's photo http://www.v-rodforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15705).

Looks like VotROD cut a couple slots in it and super glued. Since I don't have a dremel, I was wondering how far down I could cut off that nub and expose the end of the tab. Then I was going epoxy that bugger in at the end.

Another thought was if that tab did extend into that piece, you could drill a small hole through the piece and through the tab and put a tiny screw through there with some glue or silicon. That should never come out.

This brings up the question how far into that rectagular piece/nub does the tab extend?

I mis-judged on the first cut but the one that the arrow points to(the glue points to) is the good one. I have over 1,000mi. and 8 runs at the track with the fix here and think its good to go!

This is a common problem. Yes you can fix it but it won't stay. I have done alot of R&D on this. The only cure is to replace it. This is MVHO. Later Ski.

Thanks SKI, that's kind of what I thought. Unfortunately I'm out of the warranty & the dealer will not replace it for free.

you can use some quicksteel paste.Just put a small piece of quicksteel in the reflector slut in the headlight and push firmly the reflector with your fingers ,you will have more time to do than with the glue

you can use some quicksteel paste.Just put a small piece of quicksteel in the reflector slut in the headlight and push firmly the reflector with your fingers ,you will have more time to do than with the glue

Haven't found the reflector SLUT yet, still looking :rofl2: Just kidding!

Finally got time to work on the light last night. Took it off & manuevered the tab back in the slot, but it wasn't tight :confused:
So I took it back out & saw that the spring-like retaining feature was not providing much resistance in the slot. So I held the piece with a pair of needle nose pliers and pushed up in the 'spring feature' to provide more holding force.
It was a lot harder to push in the slot, but it is also going to hold longer. Then I took my dremel and ground a hole in the plastic similar to VotROD's post & filled in with some metal epoxy. It's drying today, I'll take for a ride tonight.
This better fix it, I'm tired of messing with it! :banghead:

Mine fell off July of '02, the dealer replaced the whole thing. Hasn't been a problem since. That really sucks they won't replace it, even out of warranty. They know damn well this is a problem with the Rod, and should replace it regardless. It's hard to find a good dealer. How much money do we spend on our rides, and they can't even nut up and do right by you???

thank you again Votrod for showing us the fix on this. I got mine epoxied in and don't think it is going anywhere.

One stupid thing I did was neglect to tape off the hole on the inside of the light where the tab is exposed on the outside. I taped off the holes for the lights, but in my hurry to get back to riding it did not occur to me that as I cut into the base of that tab it would push dust through that channel into the light...doh!!

Also DON'T blow it out with your breath. The humidity in your breath makes a thin layer of condensation inside for dust to affix too (doh #2). Used a portion of micro-fiber cloth taped to an allen wrench to clean off the glass and the reflector best I could.

Mine fell out on my way back from the amusment park last night. Makes everything pretty bright. The dealer is going to replace it for me, but had to order the whole bucket........