Headlight protector for R1200RT

[LeftCoastMan]

Do any of you have the Cee Bailey version? Is it necessary?

[moshe_levy]

I do. It's not necessary per se, but a new headlight is quite a bit more expensive than the guard is!

 

-MKL

[LeftCoastMan]

I'm just wondering how often it gets broken. I think I've read more about valve covers getting destroyed than headlights. I might spend the $80 for it one way or the other.

[Selden]

$18

[effexer1]

New headlight, $700.00. Headlight guard, $20.00.

 

I have a rock chip in my headlight, so I now use a protector. WELL worth it.

[JJZorro]

50K on bike now with Cee Baily protector. I can see a few small chips/scratches on the protector. Who knows if light would have broken without it, but it certainly remains intact with it on.

[moshe_levy]

I had a rock fly up from a truck's wheels once and blast right through my old airhead's headlight. An airhead's headlight is relatively cheap to replace, unlike a newer RT. Since that episode, I've put protectors on all the bikes, just in case.

 

-MKL

[Yeeha! Stephen]

Have you seen this stuff?

 

http://tinyurl.com/Expelheadlightfilm

 

I have it on my 1150 RT... 130k+ and no chips!

 

 

-

[FLrider]

$18

 

Nice Find Selden!

 

Added to my bookmarks of Products and Farkels I want to buy.

[LeftCoastMan]

New headlight, $700.00. Headlight guard, $20.00.

 

I have a rock chip in my headlight, so I now use a protector. WELL worth it.

 

$700.00 for a freaking headlight? What does it do? Cook dinner? Do a pole dance?

[jimmy boy]

Where can I get the h/l protector from for $20?? They are a lot more than that in the UK!!

Cheers..

[Selden]

Have you seen this stuff?

 

http://tinyurl.com/Expelheadlightfilm

 

I have it on my 1150 RT... 130k+ and no chips!-

I had to hunt around their site to find out the thickness of this film: 30 mil, which is half the thickness of the heavy film that Aerostich sells, and about twice as thick as their 14 mil film. I have encountered some conformance issues with the 60 mil film on compound curves, so I use their thinner 14 mil film on my R1100RT headlight. I've been using the Aerostich stuff for over 10 years, and have never experienced scratching, clouding, discoloration or adhesive problems.

 

So, there seem to be (at least) 3 different products, at 14, 30, and 60 mil thicknesses. Both Aerostich films have adhesive backing, while the Expel film appears to use static cling. Either approach should work, although adhesive may work better on compound curves.

 

It would be fun (but expensive) to do some impact testing on an unprotected headlight, and on the 3 thicknesses of film. I suspect that a BB gun would provide just about the right projectile size and velocity. This could probably done with a single headlight, starting with the 60 mil film, and working down to either bare headlight, or to the point of failure. Any volunteers? Maybe Moshe could do an article for MCN.

[moshe_levy]

I dunno. I could buy a new CB plastic one and install it in 3 minutes for $70, or mess around cutting the stick-on to fit the contours of the 1200RT's headlight shape for $20, which will never ever look as good as the CB, nor offer the same degree of protection.

 

-MKL

[Ken H.]

while the Expel film appears to use static cling.

No, the Expel product is adhesive too. Lots of soapy lube water and a hair dryer is the key to getting it to conform to the contour. I’ve used theirs on several bikes, no issues (or breaks).

[malcolmblalock]

I've got the Expel cover, and can attest to it's being a first-class product.

[swilson]

Aesthetically I don't like the headlight protector... I get tired of taking it off to clean between the protector and headlight. I've even been considering taking it off my bike. That was until last week when I took a good look at the headlight on my RT-P which has no headlight guard. It only has 12k miles, but the headlight is absolutely covered in nicks from being hit with rocks.

 

I'll be keeping my CeeBaileys headlight guard on my RT.

[wbrissette]

I use the CeeBailey. When I had my 1150RT, the CB protector saved the headlight. I had a rock that hit it that was big enough to put a small crack in it. I figured if it did that to the hard plastic, it would have done much worse to my glass headlight.

 

When I bought my 1200RT, it was one of the first things I ordered. Best insurance policy you can buy for the headlight.

[Tim Yip]

3M makes various thicknesses of clear protective plastic sheets. It's very popupular here in Alberta, Canada where we spread a pea gravel/sand mix on the roads in winter.

 

It's easy to apply, even on compound curves. As mentioned previously, you use a soapy water mix (professional installers I've talked to use a mix of plain water and Johnson's Baby Shampoo.) They spray the mix on liberally on the surface that will receive the protective material, place a sheet of the material on the surface, use a silicon 'scraper' (a credit card or the tip of a silicon kitchen spatula will work) and press the air bubbles out. AFTER all the air bubbles are pressed out, they use an Xacto blade and trim the piece to fit.

 

I would think any business that installs window tinting for cars would have the clear protective material in stock or know where to get it. The amount to cover a MC headlight is almost the size of a piece of scrap if they're doing installs on cars.

 

FYI.

 

Cheers from Edmonton, Alberta

 

Tim

[Sailorlite]

I still don't understand how flat 3M film can be applied to a compound curvature surface. There has to be some stretch (or compacting) of the film, and it just doesn't do that very much.

 

Lately I've been trying to fit some of the film to the upper part of my sidecase to protect against boot scuffs or even a laydown. What has more or less worked is to make several templates of ordinary printer paper, which also doesn't stretch, and then cut the 3M film. The film stretches just a little, so if I use enough separate pieces I get pretty good coverage.

 

What is the thickness of my material? I don't know - I bought a 12x24 in. piece on eBay and the thickness wasn't specified - maybe it's too thick (but I don't think that's the issue). Also, I didn't try using a heat gun - maybe it the film is really hot it stretches and stays stretched.

 

Anyway, for my headlight I have a Cee Bailey's which seems to me to be more protective than 3M film.

 

 

[Selden]

Aesthetically, I also don't like the separate headlight protector; in fact, my RT came with one, and the first thing I did was remove it and replace with film. 60 mil film can be difficult to fit to compound curves, although heat may help. 17 mil film conforms very well. If you're committed to using the thick stuff, consider cutting relief notches are problematic areas such as corners. I tried the trim in place technique, and felt I got better results by making a paper template first. I also use the stuff on the foglight lenses on my car. Done right, protective film is virtually invisible, and is extremely durable; even after 10 years, including a ride to Alaska, I felt no need to replace it

[LeftCoastMan]

I bought the Xpel product. Complete waste of $50. It looks like crap, because it just isn't meant for a compound lens. To make it work, and not destroy the adhesive, you need to spray it with a water/alcohol solution. This makes it incredibly slippery, so getting it to bend causes it to shift. Heating it helps with the bends, but it just doesn't fit right. I can get one quarter of the material to fit perfectly, but I just get bubbles and an ill-fit on the other corners. I have a massive bubble around one of the bends (and remember the RT lens has two bends along the vertical and horizontal center).

 

I'm sure some dick is going to tell me that I did it all wrong and it's easy. Well, it may be for some people, but I expect products to go on neatly. I don't expect it to be easy, I'm willing to spend time to get things right, but I do not expect that I spend 2 hours trying to make it work, and I just get a mess.

 

Don't buy this product. I'm now ordering the Cee Bailey lens protector.

[LeftCoastMan]

I still don't understand how flat 3M film can be applied to a compound curvature surface. There has to be some stretch (or compacting) of the film, and it just doesn't do that very much.

 

Lately I've been trying to fit some of the film to the upper part of my sidecase to protect against boot scuffs or even a laydown. What has more or less worked is to make several templates of ordinary printer paper, which also doesn't stretch, and then cut the 3M film. The film stretches just a little, so if I use enough separate pieces I get pretty good coverage.

 

What is the thickness of my material? I don't know - I bought a 12x24 in. piece on eBay and the thickness wasn't specified - maybe it's too thick (but I don't think that's the issue). Also, I didn't try using a heat gun - maybe it the film is really hot it stretches and stays stretched.

 

Anyway, for my headlight I have a Cee Bailey's which seems to me to be more protective than 3M film.

 

 

It can't go around a compound lens. I should have trusted your thoughts on this.

[Yeeha! Stephen]

Dick here.

 

You did it wrong.

[LeftCoastMan]

Dick here.

 

You did it wrong.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

It's crap. Bad engineering. Bad design. Worthless.

[RoanokeRider]

I have one on my 04 RT and it fits so well that you can not see that it is there without me showing you. It was a little fiddley but with a heat gun and the plastic spreader that came with it, it works. So far I think that it is a good product. Not sure that it is thick enough to protect the headlight from rocks on say, the Dalton highway but seems to work for normal street riding. Aerostich has the thicker stuff but says that is not for compound curves. YMMV