tail light

[Gary]

My small Suzuki bike has 12v battery electrics

It is 09 reg and the tail bulb lasted till 3 weeks ago now I have fitted

2 more. The side light filament is just blowing. stop is OK . the head light is OK and is the original . any suggestions. the replacement this week lasted 4x 10 mile journeys.

Gary

[Chris Bartram]

Check the connections are clean and firm, test the voltage regulator.

[Roger Mills]

Yes, it's either an over-voltage problem or a bad connection causing them to be turned on and off rapidly. Bulbs don't like either of these. Do the lights flicker (before the bulbs fail!) or are they steady? Are they brighter than usual?

[grimly4]

1. Make sure the bulbs you're using are a decent quality - not Ring or some unknown make.
2. I'd also suspect a vibration change by checking out the rubber grommets or similar on any mounting bolts - this has the look of a vibratory failure.
3. Another poss is the over-voltage situation; the tail light is on all the time and prone to blowing if your reg/rec is defective and overcharging the battery.

My money's on 2.

[hugh]

In message , Gary writes

Takes over-voltage to blow a bulb.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , [e-mail] writes

And 4. Make sure the brake filament is not permanently energised and overcooking the tail filament.

regards

[Gary]

You are all comming up with the same thoughts as me. I will report back when it is cured. As a point of interest the Head light and all the other lights, like the number plate and speedo are always on and they have not suffered. so I am inclined to the vibration or /and bad connections. Thanks

Gary

[Gary]

For anyone interested the Voltage checked out OK. The connections were OK and all was tight EXCEPT the bulb in the holder was quite floppy. so I put a bit of tape around the base of the bulb and that had the effect of making the bulb tight in the holder. So far it has worked for two weeks. 3 times longer than before. The holder is not damaged. Just a sloppy fit.

The bike is a single cylinder and has never been a problem before. But the bulbs are defiantly suffering vibration. Time will tell. ( This bulb was the 2nd in a twin pack so it is a good comparison)

[Tim Streater]

Shaking their little fists at you are they? :-)

[Gary]

oops but it nearly fits... ( must do better with the spelling in future.... :-( )

[Gary]

over a year and still going strong.