This is a new one. Melting Norge Headlight

[Mike.C]

FWIW an HID bulb conversion will run a lot cooler and probably prevent the heat damage.

As to wether it should fall to the owner to fix such an issue... !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RJVB]

I come from a weird place where one reads and doesn't put words in one another's mouth Plastic that gets heated over a certain temperature will show the signs of it, THAT seems perfectly normal to me. A melting headlight housing, or one that warps to become unusable, that's not normal, indeed

 

[vivo]

Cosmetic issues are still issues, aren't they? I do agree that plastic melts when it gets too hot. Too HOT. Too hot over an extended period of time causing cosmetic damages.... Yep, it would be nice if the lamp assembly actually was designed so that excessive heat build up would not cause stress on the plastic components. You know, that's exactly the responsibility of the designer and said design is faulty when it does not perform over a certain life expectancy, I would think so at least? If it's unimportant then, it's just not worth talking about but when guys are becoming concerned that something is causing parts of the headlamp assembly to begin to slowly destroy the integrety of the finish or plastic parts near to the lamp assembly then don't you think they should have those concerns addressed?

But, I have a Griso .... I should mind my own business

Vivo

 

[mg_sparky]

I've got the same issue. Wether it's a critical issue or not is in the eye of the owner.

As a suggestion I recommend that you check the headlight alignment. I found mine to excessively depressed, which likely lead directly to the over-heating of the light housing. I attribute this error to dealer set up not the manufacturer. Finding a shop competent in motorcycle mechanics is much more challenging than finding an excellent motorcycle.

Anyone know how to start a survey, to see how many of us have misadjusted headlights?

Kurt

 

[Matteo]

I have checked alignment and watched my dealer do it. Any higher and the road wont be visible. I have also tried white light bulbs to no avail. I see making the reflector metallic color instead of black as the only solution so it will reflect not absorb heat. If I can pry my lens cover off without breaking it I will try that this winter. As I wrote earlier I had the lens warrantied, installed white bulbs and still got some wrinkles.

 

[RoseFarmer]

Sorry for the late post, but I believe we have an answer regarding this.
1 Heat rises!!! So we believe that if the lamps are adjusted , even close, they will not cause this
2 We figure it is the lens of the lamp amplifying direct sunlight when the machines are sitting in direct sunlight.Think burning ants with a magnifying glass.
All we did was take a tactical flashlight of high output and waved across the headlamp and lo and behold the light was concentrated on this exact location.
So I believe this would most likey crop-up on machines parked in direct sunlight on a continuing basis.Do you use the same spot for parking?
I also feel this would not happen while machine is in operation, as air flow would be sufficient to keep the temp down.
I had some pictures but can not find them, maybe someone can try this and post some.

 

[RJVB]

Good one! One probably doesn't even need the additional light being reflected by the lenses, everyone who's ever laid hands on a dark synthetic surface under something transparent (glass or plastic) knows that surface can get cookin' hot.

 

[Matteo]

RoseFarmer wrote:

Sorry for the late post, but I believe we have an answer regarding this.
1 Heat rises!!! So we believe that if the lamps are adjusted , even close, they will not cause this
2 We figure it is the lens of the lamp amplifying direct sunlight when the machines are sitting in direct sunlight.Think burning ants with a magnifying glass.
All we did was take a tactical flashlight of high output and waved across the headlamp and lo and behold the light was concentrated on this exact location.
So I believe this would most likey crop-up on machines parked in direct sunlight on a continuing basis.Do you use the same spot for parking?
I also feel this would not happen while machine is in operation, as air flow would be sufficient to keep the temp down.
I had some pictures but can not find them, maybe someone can try this and post some.

Mine is garaged at night and parked in the shade at work. I use my brights most of the time which show no wrinkles, just a few hours of running low beams creased my reflectors. Another note, we don't get very high or strong sunlight in Alaska, it is always lower in the sky, when it happened last year we hardly had any sun as it rained all summer.

 

[azccj]

Mine has never been parked in the sun for any length of time, never taken to work and is only in the sun while I'm riding it but for gas stops and food breaks. Also, when you you use a magnifying glass, the light is being concentrated in a very tight point, maybe 2-3 mm not 4 square inches. But please, if you get a new one in without any sign of melting, go park it in the sun and see if anything happens. My bet is it wont melt, at least not from the sunlight hitting it but I've been wrong before. On mine not only is the black plastic melted but both low beam lenses are chipping away. You can actually see cracks in the edges of the directional lenses and glass chips all over the black plastic.

If someone is able to get one of these things apart, please post pictures of how you did it. When I looked to do this a few weeks ago I discovered that the clear plastic lens is glued to the black plastic body of the headlight assembly. The glue/sealant appears to be soft white silicone which would be easy to cut through except the clear lens sits in a grove in the black plastic assembly making direct cutting of the sealant very difficult without removing at least some of the black plastic lip. I decided that the chance of cracking the lens or breaking the assembly wasn't worth the risk without a spare on hand.

If someone has an extra Norge headlamp assembly, broken or not, that got replaced under warranty sitting around and wouldn't mind sending it to me, (I'll pay the shipping), I'll be more than happy to see if I can get it apart without damaging it and then post pictures on how to do it.

 

[misterg]

Anybody had any luck with the melting headlight reflector issue? As in, an actual permanent fix? Was pretty ticked to find mine melting after only 1000mi. or so. After taking a closer look, I wondered if perhaps the gap around the perimeter of the low beam lamp is too small to allow any cooling air? The gap around the hi beam lamps is much larger on my machine. Haven't taken apart the back side of the fairing yet, to see if this dimension may be adjustable. Figured I'd take a survey of those aflicted before contacting my dealer. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks, Chuck

 

[maverick9611]

my front outer bezel did some weird plastic distortion.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

I would look at the bulb(s) being used.

Odds are, some previous dodo put in a significantly higher wattage bulb(s) than the rated one(s), because they read on the internet, that it was “better” than stock.

I’ve seen this many times.

I speak these words of my Italian Grandmother, the wisest woman I ever knew, 1000x a year at my workshop…

“Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should.”

 

[scottmastrocinque]

I should have written this too which really highlights the issue at hand.

Halogen bulbs generate light by converting energy to heat. In fact, almost 90% of the energy consumed is converted to heat.

This is why putting a 75W bulb in a circuit designed for 35W, causes wiring to overheat and melt and generates enough heat to melt surrounding materials.

 

[V700Steve]

Read up on what Jim at RoseFarm said here. I changed the plastic receptors for bulbs to ones made from porcelain with good results for heat. Some under warranty, mostly on Stelvio's. On Norges the ground wire was an issue at one time and re-routed, and had to put extra insulation on the power wire. This was on factory new bikes in 08.