My '14 is eating headlights

[Davesax36]

Like the title says, my bike is eating headlight bulbs. It seems to always go left->right and happen in one or two days. I put new bulbs in 5 riding days ago. Today the left one went. The. previous set had lasted about 5000 miles. Any ideas are welcome.

 

[taskmaster86]

This is a very common problem for the S-10 and you will find several other threads on it if you do a search. Motorcycles are hard on headlights in general and the S-10 is no exception. To get longer life out of a standard bulb, you will want to buy a standard brightness bulb. Higher intensity or more bright bulbs like the Sylvania silverstar ultra or Wagner extreme trade a bright, wide pattern for short life span, says so right on the packaging. This bulb life span problem is made worse by a machine like the S-10 that is known to eat bulbs in the first place.

For standard bulbs, I recommend the Sylvania X-travision bulbs. It is a standard brightness bulb with a little bit of a whiter color to the light, not the blue "hid look" crap but a nice, white color. It is a very good balance between brightness, life and cost. They are available almost anywhere and Wal-mart has them in stock, cheap.

If you want more of a permanent and high performance solution, buy the LED Headlight kit from cyclops adventure lighting. I have this kit for my S-10 and I love it. Super bright with a huge wide pattern, easy to install and should last the life of the machine. Considering what you are getting, the kit is a very good value and will easily pay for itself after you have burned through 4-5 sets of standard bulbs.

http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/6400-lumen-H7-LED-Headlight-bulb-kit-for-the-Yamaha-Super-Tenere_p_121.html

 

[frez]

If they are only lasting a few days it is more than vibration that is killing them, chances are its a dodgy connection. Check all the wires for any fraying/shorting.

 

[Brick]

Both my, now sold 2012 and my current 2014ES go through the H7 bulbs. I was lamenting this situation with a friend who runs a rather large foreign auto car care shop. He said yea that at his shop they call the H7 bulbs "Flash Bulbs" because they we'll burn out so quickly. Apparently many of the high end imports also use the H7 bulbs.
On a very recent trip from my home in western North Carolina through Vermont into Quebec over to Nova Scotia and home in Maine I noticed that one bulb was out. I think it was the left one so I made a note to be on the lookout for an auto parts store to buy some H7s. Before I found one I noticed when stopped behind a car that both bulbs were out. So I bought two of them. On changing them the right one didn't look burnt so I checked it with my ohmmeter it was good. So I checked the fuse. It was burnt. Now why the hell would the fuse go out? I pulled out the small stock I carry and the first two 20 amp fuses were open... physically broken I could move one of the legs and see it was not connected. So now I need to recheck all the fuses in my small stash I carry. I may have purchased some cheep ones a while back. Hell I figured that all fuses would be the same. Crap is crap.



Let's Ride!
Brick

 

[Davesax36]

I was considering the cyclops lights anyway. Looks like I might just need to keep spares handy until I get home.

 

[EricV]

I was considering the cyclops lights anyway. Looks like I might just need to keep spares handy until I get home.

Unless you are riding very rough terrain off road, something's not right. Have you verified that the bulbs themselves are burned out, or are you just putting in a new bulb when one stops working? It sounds like you have a short somewhere or loose connection. I honestly don't remember where the fuse box is on my '12, as I haven't had to go look there in 100k miles. Even with the headlight harness recall on my '12 I didn't go thru bulbs as fast as you are indicating.

What kind of riding? What brand of bulbs, (if a specific brand)? It's possible there is a run of bad bulbs and you're just unlucky if you have been buying the same brand.

I would start by checking your battery cables at the battery to make sure they are tight. More than one mystery problem has been tracked down to a loose battery cable. Especially on trips!

 

[Ron Earp]

Something electrical is going on if you're not off-road riding etc. My previous bike was a Buell. At idle, nothing shakes harder than a HD engine and the Buell didn't eat headlights, or any lights for that matter. In fact with over 42k of Buell riding (spread over two bikes) I never replaced a burned out headlight or turn signal light and they are all filament bulbs on that machine.

I would recommend switching to LED H7 equivalents, but, when I tried a set on the ST the light was greatly dimensions due to the projector lens and the way it lines up internally.

Do some basic troubleshooting involving wiggling the main harness while the bike is running. Maybe something will become evident.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Hi Dave -


Eating bulbs like that is an indication of either vibration or an intermittent OPEN circuit, not a short. While the H7 is a hot-running design with shorter life on average, your bike shouldn't be any better or worse than the average Tenere for vibration, especially since you are more of a street guy.


There are two ways to define the life of incandescent bulbs, by hours and by on/off cycles. You clearly aren't getting the hours.


Tungsten is brittle when cold and ductile when hot. It's easy to see stretched or broken filaments with a microscope so we use this at work to be able to tell what lights were on or off at the time of a crash. For your bike an intermittent connection means that the bulb keeps getting hit with power pulses each time the circuit opens and re-closes, plus the filament will slightly cool when the power is removed for even fractions of a second so it gets heat-cycled.

Even if you plan to go to another style of bulb, having clean power is key. I'd suggest pulling the side panel to open and re-seat the connections there and at the back of each bulb. A little dielectric grease to prevent corrosion in each connection is not a bad thing either.




Brick - Vibration and intermittent open circuits are also fuse killers. Buying the packages of cheap fuses also is a good way to have fuses which will screw you over. While they will usually just open and leave you with digging out the bad fuse, a couple of years ago NHTSA had an investigation into them after a number started fires in cars.

 

[Davesax36]

I've got 15 volts at both headlights. Seems like this might be a regulator issue. Sucks that I'm on the road. I'll be in Antigonish, NS tonight and on to Newfoundland tomorrow. Hopefully I'm no frying other things, too.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Sorry to forget to mention possible high voltage.


Enjoy NS - We sure did last summer.
::008::

 

[Brick]

Ok to be fair... On my 2012 after 79,800 miles 96% on road I probably only replaced 3 H7 bulbs. Now on this 2014ES with 45,600 miles this is only the second H7 bulb I've replaced. I still think that is too many.
Regarding the fuse... I think that the burnt out headlight with pieces bouncing around in it possible caused a surge that took out the fuse. All conjecture but everything else seems ok.


Let's Ride!
Brick

 

[WJBertrand]

19K miles on my '15 and no burned out bulbs so far. Mostly street riding though.

 

[Davesax36]

Ordered new r/r hopefully that will calm the charging system down.
Can someone measure the voltage you're getting at the actual headlight fitting/socket/plug/area. A 12v system shouldn't be making 15v.

 

[Checkswrecks]

I can't go measure mine right now, but do have a suggestion before you install the new R/R.


One of the causes of high voltage is resistance in the regulator's sense circuit. Clean and re-seat the connectors between it and the stator then see what you have.


If the resistance stays high then the new reg wouldn't make much difference.

 

[tomatocity]

Have not checked, just thinking... do the Tenere headlights use relay's to control the voltage to each headlight bulb? If not the voltage is shared with both headlight bulbs. When one of them burns out all of the voltage is applied to the other bulb. This theory comes from seeing that automobile driving at you with one very bright headlight.

My 2005 Gen1 KLR would burn headlight bulbs so I always carried a spare or two. I purchased and installed a Wiring Headlight kit that had larger gauge wire and a relay. Still carry the spare bulb but have not needed it.

My 2012 (52,200) had terrible suspension and on a trip to the Angeles Crest Highway (guessing 40,000 miles) I broke both headlight bulbs. Bought some H7 bulbs at a local AutoZone. I think they lasted until I traded it in. My 2015 ES (15,814 miles) has not burnt a headlight bulb. I like riding rough twisty roads and the 2015 ES does it much better than the 2012. I have had my hands knocked off the handlebars when riding the 2012. The 2015 ES has better suspension with less harshness. Used the stock Battlewings, Battlax A40, and the Mitas Dakar e-07. Usually ran 36F 41R with the Bridgestones. Running 33F 36R with the Mitas. The Mitas is much smoother. There are sections of the local River Road that are rough and the Mitas does well.

Hopefully Yamaha has or will correct something required by US law.

 

[Davesax36]

I can't go measure mine right now, but do have a suggestion before you install the new R/R.


One of the causes of high voltage is resistance in the regulator's sense circuit. Clean and re-seat the connectors between it and the stator then see what you have.


If the resistance stays high then the new reg wouldn't make much difference.

I pulled both ground bolts on the motor and checked them yesterday. Is there another place I need to investigate? I couldn't find a main frame ground bolt. I'll try to read up about the sense circuit.

 

[Squibb]

It's already been said, but my money would have been on a loose battery terminal - usually the neg/earth side, as many of us have found this an issue at delivery. Then check the earth connections - it should be simple to run a fresh earth from the battery to the reg/rec & the headlight if any degree of uncertainty exists, just for test purposes.

If this fails, then focus has to be on the RR, which could lead to cooking the battery too. Unusual on an S10 though.

Takes me back to Honda VFR800s around Y2K - inadequate alternators, undercharging, crap RRs, glowing engine FI lights & wierd spider earth setups. They tried the patience of a Saint. How did Honda manage to get it so wrong? - I think they must have concentrated solely on the complex gear cam V4 & cut costs elsewhere.

Hope you find the culprit soon ........................ KEN

 

[Checkswrecks]

I pulled both ground bolts on the motor and checked them yesterday. Is there another place I need to investigate? I couldn't find a main frame ground bolt. I'll try to read up about the sense circuit.

For checking the charge system (Mx Manual pg 150) there are two connectors. The gray is at the coil and the black is at the reg. Look closely into each for evidence of heat, such as yellow or brown plastic, or slightly discolored pins. Heat is caused by resistance.


Hold the gray one flat so you are looking into the pins with the release on top, then think of the pins numbered left to right. Record resistance for:
Positive test probe to pin 1 with negative to 2,
positive to pin 1 negative to pin 3,
positive to pin 2 negative to pin 3.

The resistances should be 0.112 - 0.168 ohms at 20C (68F)
Since we live so close together I know it's hot where you are. Resistance changes with temp.


Reconnect both connectors. The rectifier output should be charging 14 V at 5000 rpm.
While I thought the max battery state was 14.8V the Mx Manual pg 144 says: "d. Charge the battery until the battery's charging voltage is 15 V."






Caveat: The above is from the 2010 Mx Manual I still have. While changes are possible, I can't remember or imagine any to the charging circuit. It'd be great if somebody with a Gen2 manual can chime in on whether there are different values.






And then there's always the good old Electrosport troubleshooting chart:
http://www.electrosport.com/media/pdf/fault-finding-diagram.pdf

 

[Oliv]

The S10 is eating high performance bulbs.
If you fit standard bulbs or even better long life ones then it stops to eat the bulbs...

 

[RonH]

The S10 is eating high performance bulbs.
If you fit standard bulbs or even better long life ones then it stops to eat the bulbs...

Exactly. One way to more or less eliminate the excessive charge voltage or loose battery connections, ect is simply answered by one question, are other bulbs that stay lit also burning out, such as tail lights, running lights? or is it only headlights burning out? If it is only headlights, and no other bulbs experiencing problems, this pretty much points to crap bulbs as the likely cause. Better off using factory bulbs. Honda GL1800 uses same bulb and is a little less money and should be easy to get at any dealer. Bulbs do burn out more on the Tenere. Both mine burned out in about 20,000 miles, where same bulbs in a GL1800 go about 50,000.