Cooked Headlamp Harness

[creggur]

Had mine replaced Thursday, covered by the YES Warranty - no issues whatsoever. Haven't checked yet to see if the connectors are any different.

 

[Travex]

Dropped the bike off at the dealer to have them replace the harness, post warranty, under warranty. They told me it would be ready by the end of the following day. I'm good with that. My wife picked me up and we went out for dinner. We hadn't even completed our meal when I got a call informing me that the bike was ready. Picked it up on the way home. Stellar service!

Don Georges Sport Center in Clarence, NY. They've got my business for life.

 

[donaldb]

South Africa Yamaha's answer to the cooked wiring harness.

I forwarded them a link to this forum, after they do not want to see warantees.

Don’t really know what your customers issue is with the headlights?

I’ve read the whole link, and seems to me to be a bad connection in the connector to the globe.
Any bad connection is going to cause burning, and can happen with any connector, not only headlights.

This part no. 23P-84312-00, is the same as our model, and we have never sold one from our Parts department.
Over 800 bikes have been sold since middle of 2010.

During the last 2 years of parts sales, 13 Headlight globes have been sold.

They gave a similar attitude to spokes which failed at 2200km.

With support like this, I could have just got a BMW

 

[sail2xxs]

South Africa Yamaha's answer to the cooked wiring harness.

I forwarded them a link to this forum, after they do not want to see warantees.

They gave a similar attitude to spokes which failed at 2200km.

With support like this, I could have just got a BMW

That response sucks. Ask them to do a search on the tech line, and also on the US - there have been a number of warranty replacements. (I've had 4). As a side note, the last left headlight harness that was installed was modified slightly by the tech - I now have an extra ground wire running from the left harness to the battery. No issues since this was done. Please let me know if you want pictures; I'm sorry I am not good enough with electrical stuff to explain why it seems to be working.

Best,

Chris

 

[EricV]

I hadn't had any indications of the headlight harness issue in the past. When a bulb burned out around 37k, I went ahead and smeared some dielectric grease on the plugs, just because i was there and installed a new bulb. At 49k I started getting an intermittent bulb failure. It would be out, then work, etc. I pulled things apart and could see the indications of a harness problem and one of the connectors was showing signs of melting.

I had previously ordered some 90º ceramic connectors, so just cut the oem connectors off and installed the ceramic ones. Some soldering and heat shrink later, no more problem. I put on about 15k in the month after that and haven't had any further issues. There is a link to the connectors I ordered earlier in this thread. They did fit under the plastic weather caps.

 

[firedad415]

My left headlight (looking out from the cockpit) is working intermittently. Shake the harness and it will work and then go back out eventually. Had the dealership take a look. Yamaha wanted it sent in for inspection. Upon delivery of the return label to Yamaha, the dealership pulled the harness. Upon doing so, they said they doubted Yamaha would cover it. I had spliced into the green wire on the right side of the cockpit area with a crimp type clamp to power my aux lights. Looks like I am going to have to eat this one to the tune of the $93 part plus labor. They are only charging me one hour for removal and install.
I suppose I will be installing a fuse block now so this can't be an issue in the future!

 

[EricV]

My left headlight (looking out from the cockpit) is working intermittently. Shake the harness and it will work and then go back out eventually. Had the dealership take a look. Yamaha wanted it sent in for inspection. Upon delivery of the return label to Yamaha, the dealership pulled the harness. Upon doing so, they said they doubted Yamaha would cover it. I had spliced into the green wire on the right side of the cockpit area with a crimp type clamp to power my aux lights. Looks like I am going to have to eat this one to the tune of the $93 part plus labor. They are only charging me one hour for removal and install.
I suppose I will be installing a fuse block now so this can't be an issue in the future!

Don't waste your money on a new harness. Look at your connectors, the left one will probably show some signs of melting. Buy some 90º ceramic connectors for H7 bulbs and swap them out, that will be the end of your problems.

 

[coastie]

My left headlight (looking out from the cockpit) is working intermittently. Shake the harness and it will work and then go back out eventually. Had the dealership take a look. Yamaha wanted it sent in for inspection. Upon delivery of the return label to Yamaha, the dealership pulled the harness. Upon doing so, they said they doubted Yamaha would cover it. I had spliced into the green wire on the right side of the cockpit area with a crimp type clamp to power my aux lights. Looks like I am going to have to eat this one to the tune of the $93 part plus labor. They are only charging me one hour for removal and install.
I suppose I will be installing a fuse block now so this can't be an issue in the future!

What EricV said! Also one reason I did not get the Extended Y.E.S plan. I knew I would be modding the hell out of the motorcycle from exhaust to electrical and pretty much would void any extended warrantee. I just tucked 2k off in the corner of the old bank account in case I had to have major work done. Knock on wood, I have not had to use it.

 

[Travex]

Smelled the familiar odor of electrical burn yesterday 3 weeks into my new dealer-replaced harness. Took the bike to the dealer and they took it for a ride and confirmed the odor. The wires and connectors (with filed down ends) didn't appear heat affected yet. They noted everything and said they'll forward the info to Yamaha corporate for their review and intent. Will update with any info.

 

[Tremor38]

I converted to HID's about 2000Km ago and so far, so good. No hint of 'melted-connector smell' yet. I'm hoping the lower continuous current draw of the HID's will help. They also seem to radiate less heat.

 

[twinrider]

I converted to HID's about 2000Km ago and so far, so good. No hint of 'melted-connector smell' yet. I'm hoping the lower continuous current draw of the HID's will help. They also seem to radiate less heat.

Any follow up to the XB35 fitment issue?

 

[Tremor38]

Any follow up to the XB35 fitment issue?

After finally convincing the rep with pictures that the diameter of that section actually was causing a problem with fitment on my bike, I was given the choice of 'modifying my projectors,' or exchanging for the Three Fives. The guy didn't want to measure any other XB35's because he said they 'all came from the same machine.' I can understand how the customer support experience with these guys is positive when all is going well, but either this guy kept ignoring major parts of my emails to make himself sound 'right,' or maybe he has a touch of ADD...not sure.

Anyway, I loathe having to send the bulbs back for ones of lesser quality, but 'it is what it is.' At least I know the Three Fives work in my bike.

 

[twinrider]

After finally convincing the rep with pictures that the diameter of that section actually was causing a problem with fitment on my bike, I was given the choice of 'modifying my projectors,' or exchanging for the Three Fives. The guy didn't want to measure any other XB35's because he said they 'all came from the same machine.' I can understand how the customer support experience with these guys is positive when all is going well, but either this guy kept ignoring major parts of my emails to make himself sound 'right,' or maybe he has a touch of ADD...not sure.

Anyway, I loathe having to send the bulbs back for ones of lesser quality, but 'it is what it is.' At least I know the Three Fives work in my bike.

Sorry to hear that, sounds like pretty poor customer service. You'd think they'd at least make an effort to measure the XB35s since you sent them the pic. No one higher up the ladder to talk to?

 

[Tremor38]

Sorry to hear that, sounds like pretty poor customer service. You'd think they'd at least make an effort to measure the XB35s since you sent them the pic. No one higher up the ladder to talk to?

Nothing evident as far as an email address, but I might try calling them. From the sound of it, they are a pretty small company, so I'm sure everyone is multi-tasked and stays pretty busy.

 

[twinrider]

Nothing evident as far as an email address, but I might try calling them. From the sound of it, they are a pretty small company, so I'm sure everyone is multi-tasked and stays pretty busy.

Good idea.

 

[Travex]

Spoke with the dealer service dept today and was told they (Yamaha) told them that only stock lamps should be used. I'm currently using Sylvania Siverstar Ultra's and don't believe I'll be spending $40.00-$50.00 to go back to the stock lamps. Granted, the Ultras don't have a great life-span, but they are my preference. More importantly, the Ultra is rated identically to the stock lamp and the difference in draw is non-existent. It's not as though I'm over taxing the scrawny harness/connectors. Frankly, it seems they're dodging the issue as 55 watts is 55 watts. In addition, as my new replacement harness is identical to the original (that failed using the stock lamps), it would be reasonable to suspect that this one will ultimately fail as well. Pushing this problem off to a later date will find a displeased customer if/when that potential failure recurs.
My initial sense is to simply make a beefier harness with ceramic ends, but as I'd like to see what direction this may go I'll be content to keep those parts and the tools for them in the toolkit.

Granted, every machine has it's idiosyncrasies, but between the hard start issue and the cooked headlamp harness my confidence on longer, more remote solo rides has been slightly eroded. I'm at the age and stage of life where getting stranded is troublesome rather than just another thing.

 

[twinrider]

I had the hard start issue once after twisting my throttle a few times when I was practicing with my new throttle lock. Held it WTO and it eventually fired up. Not something worth worrying about IMO.

Did you verify through visual inspection that the new connectors are exactly the same as the old ones with the same insulator overlap? I do think it is a good idea to be proactive and fit the ceramic headlight connectors.

 

[Travex]

My hard start event lasted 4 days with the battery on the charger for most of it. WOT was my first approach and as others have reported... No love. I opened the tank, leaned the bike, and viola... It fired right up. I later learned about pulling the fuse and have committed that to memory should it happen again. That 4 days however could have just as easily been in the wrong place rather than my garage. That gives me a bit of pause.

As for the ceramic ends you're right. My interest is in the process and the long game so I'll go with that while carrying the repair parts. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[twinrider]

My hard start event lasted 4 days with the battery on the charger for most of it. WOT was my first approach and as others have reported... No love. I opened the tank, leaned the bike, and viola... It fired right up. I later learned about pulling the fuse and have committed that to memory should it happen again. That 4 days however could have just as easily been in the wrong place rather than my garage. That gives me a bit of pause.

As for the ceramic ends you're right. My interest is in the process and the long game so I'll go with that while carrying the repair parts. Thanks for your thoughts.

Good to know about pulling the fuse, I hadn't heard of that. ::008::

 

[sail2xxs]

Well, after ~ 30k miles since the last replacement, both my left and right headlight connectors have started to cook again.

Called the dealer, and parts are now on order.

Chris