Headlights become dimmer and dimmer, bulbs ok, chrome finish on inside of headlight housings comes off so bulbs do not reflect making night driving dangerous. Buell chat sites confirm others with xbr models having same failures.
2004 Buell XB12S: headlights failing or too dim
5 of the 7 complaints about the 2004 Buell XB12S describe headlights failing or too dim.
- owner complaints
- 5
- of this car's complaints
- 71%
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
What owners say
Headlight on buell motorcycles "r" models (2004 to current year) degrades over time. The reflective coating material in the headlight housing degrades and turns to powder and causes the headlight to be un-useful. The degrade is cause by heat from the headlight. Failure isn't corrected as of today.
The coating on the inside of my headlight housing is falling off, drastically decreasing light output. I had them replaced under warranty once for this on 11/18/05, with 23870 miles on the bike. I am now hardly able to see at night again and I am sure that people can't see me as well either.
Silver coating on headlights deteriorates rapidly causing poor illumination and unsafe night time driving and reducing the motorcycles visibility during the day. I am sure the light output is far below dot standards vehicle is an xb12r firebolt, not an xb12s. The xb12r was not listed as an option.
While riding my 2004 buell xb12s motorcycle though the asm america, inc. Parking lot (3440 east university drive phoenix az 85034) at approximately 11:00 am the on 07-19-06 the following occurred. The motorcycle lost all power and I coasted to a stop into a parking spot: 1.riding through the parking lot at about 5-10 MPH. 2.the motorcycle engine stopped running. 3.the motorcycle electrical system completely failed as if the motorcycle has been turned off including loss of horn, turn signals, brake lights, license plate light, rear tail light, head light, instrument lights, warning lights, speedometer and tachometer. 4.if I had been merging onto the freeway at night I probably would have been killed as I would have had no way to signal I was leaving the highway! The dealer is still investigating why the vehicle stopped running.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2004 Buell XB12S headlights
Is headlights failing or too dim a common problem on the 2004 Buell XB12S?
5 of 7 owner complaints about the 2004 Buell XB12S (71%) mention headlights failing or too dim.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2004 Buell XB12S?
There is no recall or service bulletin for this area of the car on record.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2004 Buell XB12S?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history