This is a new one. Melting Norge Headlight

[azccj]

Today while I was out riding, I happened to look at the low beam headlights on my Norge. It appears that the black plastic housings around both of the projector beam lenses are melting and there are small glass chips sitting on the same melted plastic. Upon a closer look, it looks like both glass lenses are starting to crack and that is where the glass bits are coming from. The bike has the stock headlight bulbs from the factory, has never fallen over and has never been off road.

Has anyone else seen this problem before?

 

[cheese]

Huh..how old / mileage? I'll check mine when I get home. Mine is 2007 bought new this spring, now has 5000 miles.

 

[RJVB]

There have been posts about this on one of the board predecessors before. The black plastic is known to 'bubble', and I for one definitely have some black specks on the inside of the array (though more in front of the high beam lenses, curiously).

I'd hope the glass bits are more a result of vibration than of overheating: it shouldn't get hot enough in there to melt glass!!

 

[RJVB]

Went down to check mine. I do see some fine dust in the array, but nothing on the lenses that suggests it's coming from there. However, lighting the lowbeam lenses up from the side with a led lamp, they appear decidedly milky. I'm guessing that's to give a more uniform light output?

 

[azccj]

cheese wrote:

Huh..how old / mileage? I'll check mine when I get home. Mine is 2007 bought new this spring, now has 5000 miles.

Mine is a 2007 with 14K miles.

 

[kenrad]

My reflector blistering was noticed just after I purchased it in fall of 2007. The dealer said he would check with Moto Guzzi but heard nothing back. Last week he photographed it and sent the issue to Moto Guzzi again. My warranty expires next week!
Probably won't hear anything this time as well, especially as my warrany is up.

 

[motobob]

I don't know how much this relates to your problem but I just had some service work done and was told that there is a recall notice out from Guzzi about the light bulbs and the connections. Service guy said he would deal with it at next service. If the plastic seems to be melting the bulbs must be getting to hot or there is not enough ventilation to deal with the existing heat thats generated.
Bob

 

[azccj]

motobob wrote:

I don't know how much this relates to your problem but I just had some service work done and was told that there is a recall notice out from Guzzi about the light bulbs and the connections. Service guy said he would deal with it at next service. If the plastic seems to be melting the bulbs must be getting to hot or there is not enough ventilation to deal with the existing heat thats generated.
Bob

The recall had to do with the wire that attaches to the bulb. The original ones would short out and cause the engine to shut down. The replacements have a piece of protective sheathing over the wire to protect it.

 

[RJVB]

The recall was about the lowbeam connections/wiring that could get damaged through heat and/or vibrations and then cause a short-circuit that would blow one of the main fuses, killing the bike wherever it happened. A different issue.

kenrad, your dealer took action inside your warranty period, that should be enough ... though MG could of course reject the claim as something not covered...

 

[cheese]

Checked mine last night and found the black plastic to be starting to melt. Can the headlight assembly be taken apart? Perhaps some alumin(i)um heat tape might help, or a lower wattage bulb?

 

[RJVB]

I suppose you could disassemble the assembly that holds the lens, if you remove the array from the head subframe. Not sure that'd help a lot though.

Mine has about 33k km on the clock, the black plastic is wrinkled but doesn't seem to be getting any worse/alarming.

It may be more effective to drill a number of venting holes in the clear plastic and in the back, to allow for a cooling airflow. If daytime running headlights aren't obligatory, you could install a switch to be able to cut the supply to the bulbs, OR a dimmer (does that exist

 

[Brian UK]

You can take the front clear plastic cover off, but it is difficult as it is glued on all round the edge.
I took mine off because the individual light units inside were loose on the adjusters, so bounced up and down a lot. I foundthat the little ball joints were loose, so I put a spring on each one.
Wish I had also but some heat shield on the black plastic, as mine is bubbling too.
I glued the front back on with silicone rubber.

 

[cheese]

Will show my dealer and get his opinion. If he says he'll replace it, perhaps I'll attempt disassembly before I turn it in, just to see if I can do it. If so, I'll try some tape to see if it deflects the heat enough to stop the melting..

 

[Matteo]

I had mine warrantied by Moto International and the replacement (with low beam recall) did the same thing. I wanted to open up the lenses to paint the black reflector silver but cant get it apart.

 

[vivo]

I'm sort of confused by the willingness to attempt repairs or remedies to alter what clearly is a design defect... Plain and simple, whomever is responsible for designing the headlamp system, regardless of the age of the components, has choosen materials and construction methods that are causing premature failure and I can't see how that can be disputed and not adjusted by the manufacturer within the warranty period...


Vivo

 

[bswan]

Bought my 2007 Norge new in April from Speakers, now has 1900 miles and has the same problem. Will talk with the local dealer next week when I find out how MG wants to handle the heated grips that don't work and left front caliper that isn't fully engaging. I agree with the previous comment, this is an clear flaw in the material, you have to believe MG will replace. I'll report back on progress, please do the same.

 

[ncassidy]

My 07 Norge with 20,000 miles on her has the same apparent melting. Actually it looks like the top black finish is bubbling up. Without further inspection, i am not sure if the bubbling is at the surface or goes all the through the plastic. It does not look like it will get any worse. I have my doubts that MG will do anything about it. I reported that my plastic lower fairing was cracking at the mounts and heard nothing. I did follow up too, by asking the dealer if he had heard anything. My front rotors are also warped, or so I think and got no satisfaction on that either. I am now out of warranty so I plan on replacing the rotors at some time.

 

[RJVB]

The plastic gets hot, it seems perfectly normal that some warping or bubbling occurs. As Noel said, I don't expect it to get any worse, and I don't see a reason why MG would grant a claim on such a purely cosmetic and minor issue. (They do grant claims on cosmetic issues though: the bubbling paint around the Stelvio tank hole is an example.)

For the lower fairing mounts, there *is* a design fault (if not only in the type of plastic), esp. the upper mount. Applying some glue or cement on the inside of the mount (invisible!) ought to prevent cracking, and that's a solution I can live with. Nothing and nobody is perfect

 

[azccj]

ncassidy wrote:

My 07 Norge with 20,000 miles on her has the same apparent melting. Actually it looks like the top black finish is bubbling up. Without further inspection, i am not sure if the bubbling is at the surface or goes all the through the plastic. It does not look like it will get any worse. I have my doubts that MG will do anything about it. I reported that my plastic lower fairing was cracking at the mounts and heard nothing. I did follow up too, by asking the dealer if he had heard anything. My front rotors are also warped, or so I think and got no satisfaction on that either. I am now out of warranty so I plan on replacing the rotors at some time.

About the rotor problems you are having. Before you go spending $500.00 out of your own pocket for new rotors, spend $50.00 on new sintered pads instead and see if that doesn't fix the problem after some hard stops to remove the old pad material from the rotors.

 

[azccj]

RJVB wrote:

The plastic gets hot, it seems perfectly normal that some warping or bubbling occurs. As Noel said, I don't expect it to get any worse, and I don't see a reason why MG would grant a claim on such a purely cosmetic and minor issue. (They do grant claims on cosmetic issues though: the bubbling paint around the Stelvio tank hole is an example.)

For the lower fairing mounts, there *is* a design fault (if not only in the type of plastic), esp. the upper mount. Applying some glue or cement on the inside of the mount (invisible!) ought to prevent cracking, and that's a solution I can live with. Nothing and nobody is perfect

I don't know what weird place that you come from bud, but only in Guzzi world must it be "perfectly normal" for headlight housings to warp/melt. I've owned all kinds of bikes and never heard of this one before. Apparently Guzzi goes right from clay model mock up to the production model and does no testing of a completed bike before it is turned over to the general public to act as their guinea pigs to find out what parts fail. Then after laying out 15K Guzzi says to their customer, oh well that's just the way it is. I don't think so. Top cases that eject themselves, front brake rotors that pulsate, body panels that crack, headlight wires that short out, fuel filters that bulge and then pop, and now headlights that melt their housings. And that's just on the Norge. And Guzzi wonders why they can't sell more than 5000 bikes a year. I don't know who is more to blame here, Guzzi for selling an untested bike, or us for appearently putting up with it and accepting Guzzi's attitude of, oh that's just the way it is.