free website stats program Headlight Buzzes | Harley Davidson Forums

Headlight Buzzes

Idaho John

Idaho John

Member
Hi: first entry. Just bought my first Harley and am loving the bike.:D However, noticed the other day that I am starting to get a buzz at the lower end of the rpms. By chance one of my friends put his hand on the headlight and...no more buzz. However, after looking at the headlight assembly, I find no identifiable adjustment for that problem. And...the headlight adjustments that I do find seem to be tight enough. Any suggestions? Tnx. Idaho John
 
Hi John and welcome to the forum.

There are a lot of wires inside the headlight nacelle on most bikes. It could be a wire against something or even the headlight ring itself as it only mounts with one screw at the bottom and the top is held on with a spring type setup. Maybe a bit more tension on the spring would keep it tighter to the housing.
 
Thanks for the shout, I have been off the web for a few days due to some problems with my connection, so missed your post. Tnx again.
 
John,

glider's suggestions may very well help you do away with the buzz.

However, your problem may mirror my recent experiences.

I noticed a buzzing a couple of months ago; it was very faint. Over time, the buzzing grew louder, and more annoying, especially while sitting at stop lights at idle. Eventually, it got to the point that while riding at night, I could see the my headlight beam jumping around on highway signs and other items ahead of me.

It was now to the point that I could grab the headlight, and feel it rock up/down as I moved it around. The headlight housing on my Wide Glide is attached to the mounting bracket utilizing four rivets. The rivets have started to lose their "pinch". So now my headlight buzzes like an electric shaver.

I went to the dealer, who was aware of this issue as he stated he had about 5 other Wide Glides with new headlights on order for the same thing.

The first new headlight the dealer received for my bike already had loose rivets. Dealer told me he was sending it back for a new one. The second headlight received by the dealer did not fit my trim ring and dealer assumed Harley sent him the wrong part number.

I'm now waiting on my third headlight... and my bike still sounds like an electric shaver.

Check to see if this may be your problem. Hopefully you won't have the same issues with your dealer getting the right part...
 
Last edited:
Wide Glide: my friend you hit the nail on the head. I was on the road last weekend and a gentleman riding an older Road Glide was admiring the bob and i shared with him the problem with the buzz. He checked under the light and immediately noted the loose rivets. His comment to me was "Harley's are a pain in the (EDIT), but worth it." And...he encouraged me to head back to the dealer. At the dealer the service mgr commented that he was afraid that this was a problem with the dyna series headlights and also has one on order for me. I am hopeful that this will be easily resolved and not something that continues in perpetuity. Idaho John

Please read this...

A Friendly Reminder - Harley Davidson Community

 
Last edited by a moderator:
After less than 4,000 miles on my '07 FXDWG this mystery vibration/buzz showed up. It was pretty hard to ID but after patiently listening, changing cruising RPMs to get it to come and go..and feeling around very carefully figured it out to be the headlight mount. Apparantly a weld, or rivet on the bottom of the stock headlight bucket gave way or got loose and began to sing. A song that I didn't really enjoy too much. Fortunately this is covered under warranty, and will be a N/C repair. Interesting that the replacement part is not the same as the OEM headlight bucket! Obviously this part has been a problem and has been replaced with another part #. "Hey Harley, If you knew this part was going to go bad, why not replace it BEFORE I had to hang over the handlebars to discover it?"
 
Last edited:
Wyde Glyde Bry said:
I'm now waiting on my third headlight... and my bike still sounds like an electric shaver.

Check to see if this may be your problem. Hopefully you won't have the same issues with your dealer getting the right part...
Click to expand...
Sounds familiar. This may be why the new replacement part for the headlight bucket is different from the OEM part. They've hopefully recognized the problem and redesigned the part. Mine is in the shop for this issue now!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top