Fergy and I are getting ready to go on a 2 day ride and he noticed one of his headlight lamps is burned out. He has tried to replace it as the owner’s manual says to do it with no success. We have read all the technical posts but I was wondering if anyone has anything new to add on what the best way to replace these is.

I hear some have been successful in replacing the bulb the way the owner’s manual states and maybe they could share the trick to their technique that worked. It would be nice to change these out without having to remove the whole headlight assembly.

Appears that you my friend are in for a MAJOR BATTLE. Here is a post with info on changing a bulb...I really like 1atom12's classic reply.... http://www.vision-riders.com/bb/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=2340&posts=12&highlight=headlamp&highlightmode=1

Also found this one http://www.vision-riders.com/bb/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1299&posts=19&highlight=bulb&highlightmode=1 which has the following info.....

 HAD installed the Silverstars... one lasted a couple of months... the other lasted until just after I changed the first one... so I changed to the Hella bulbs...

To change the bulbs, first take off the "hood" under the windshield...

-remove two bolts on the back of each turn signal (10 mm)
-remove the 4 bolts at the top of the headlight (two on the turn signals, two bolted in from behind) - don't lose the rectangular nuts from the front of the headlight...
-remove the "belly pan" (2 hex bolts each side under the front tip over) and one center hex bolt
-remove the "grille" from either side of the fairing
-remove the 2 bolts from the bottom of the headlight housing (2 of them were removed to get the grille off)
-pull out gently on your side pieces until they stay popped out
-get the hex key set that came with the bike and use the short ond of the 4mm hex to remove the 2 remaining bolts (mid way up, bolted to the fairing from the back side, the short end of the hex key is the only thing you can get up there to losen them)
-after you make sure you have removed 10 bolts fom the headlight - pop it out and fish it out of the hole
-the turn signals will move forward and come away from the headlight
-your adjustment wheel will need to be fished out from under the mount

-after you replace the bulbs, make darn sure they work and are plugged in properly - you don't want to have to pull all this off again - it's a pisser...

-when putting everything back together - make sure everything is back in place properly before putting in ANY bolts (see above - it's still a pisser)

this has worked for me twice... 2nd time did it in just over an hour

**WARNING** IF YOU HAVE CHROME GRILLE - be extra careful so as not to scratch it... them things cost too much to scratch over a headlight bulb.. 
 

Good luck

Thanks for all the input guys and gals.

The short of it is we had to remove the headlight unit to get the bulbs replaced. The electrical plug that plugs into the bulb was seated so tight we could not get enough leverage in such a tight area to get it off. Now that we have replaced the bulbs and removed the plugs from the bulbs once they should be easier to remove so hopefully future bulb replacements will be able to be made without removing the whole headlight assembly.

On a positive note the more you work on the Vision the more you will be amazed at the great engineering that went into it.  This is certainly no Harley!

GAgirlTrixie - 2009-01-03 10:40 AM I leave my highbeam on during the day on the Vision, low beams at night. On my VTX, I have driving lights wired in on low beam, so I use low beam all of the time (I hate the highbeam indicator on my dash on the X. It's so bright, that I actaully see less on highbeam). I ususally do not do a lot of switching from high to low on the Vision, as I will use th 'laser beam' if I need to see more clearly at night. I wonder if it's a heat issue under the light assembly or what? I also wonder if maybe my tech accidently touched the older bulb when he was installing the new bulb, and maybe the oils on his finger had something to do with it (purely speculation there....)

I leave my low beams on during the day and only use the high beams at night with no trafic. I only use the HID at night. I have not had a bulb burn out yet and I ahve 25,700 miles on my Vision now. Fergy had one of his high beams burn out at 16,000 miles but he was using the high beam during all day time driving. After having to change the bulb out he said he will no longer use the high beam during the day.

I think heat is the issue. Even with the lights on dim a lot of heat builds up in the light enclosure. This is whay I think it is best to only use the high beam at night when you are not blinding another car.