Is there a trick? Headlight bulb went out last week, and I ordered a replacement. Instructions look easy. I got as far as taking the cover off, and could go no farther. My hand is not going to get into that space. Is there a trick, besides taking the whole fairing off to get access to be able to replace the front bulb? Looks to me like what should be a two minute job is going to take hours to first disassemble the bike to get to the part.

Try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dxeKRVaA...mp;feature=plcp

... but it is not easy. It took me an hour to replace the left bulb for a bright yellow bulb. Maybe a GF or wife with small hands.

Nice Video...

Morning Rick

While I haven't had to install a bulb in the 2011RT yet if like the 05-09 --On the left bulb I reach down in from the L/H side of the bike with my right hand to unscrew the cover, then unplug the bulb plug, then open the retaining bail, & install a new bulb.

On the R/H bulb I do it all from sitting in front of the bike then reaching up above the front fender with my right hand. That is basically working blind but you can see the bulb seated in the lens assemble by looking through the front of the lens. I don't totally remove the big plastic cover. I just slide it over sideways enough to get to the bulb.

The important thing here is to get (& KEEP) the bulb locating tab oriented correctly before, & during the install as you can't tell bulb orientation once the bulb is up in there out of sight.

The difficult part is getting the bulb retaining bail back over the bulb correctly & keeping your greasy fingers off the bulb glass (YOU MUST NOT TOUCH THE GLASS).

The good news is once you have done a few it is really a piece of cake (under 5 minutes a side).

Hi Rick. I've replaced the left low beam twice, and the right low beam once. It's a hassle. The left side was easy, the right side was difficult if only because of the size of my hands and right handedness. Still, it only took a little bit of time.

I use about a foot of fuel hose and slip one of the terminals from the bulb into the end of the hose. Then i use the end of the hose to place the bulb into the headlight. This allows me to move the bulb after its in the headlight, something that's very difficult with my hand. Once the bulb is lined up, snap in the clips and pull the hose off from the terminal.

I resorted to this method as well on my '08. Works.

Thanks for the tips. I'll be back out there trying, assuming it is possible with my XLarge hands.

I switched out both at the same time after the first one went out. First bulb took me about an hour to replace. The second one took about 2 minutes. Point being... once you know what needs to be done it is much easier.

tsp
Blog: www.swriding.blogspot.com
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Like life.

Reminds me of something the otherwise not-so-pleasant K. Olbermann used to say when he was with ESPN, regarding a baseball player on the disabled list: "He's listed as day-to-day ... but aren't we all?"