Replacing a burnt out headlight bulb on a Suzuki Burgman 400

30364 Views 30 Replies 21 Participants Last post by crs110454, 14 d ago

Tomx

Discussion Starter · Mar 13, 2006

Replacing a burnt out headlight bulb on a Suzuki Burgman 400.

1. Sit on a low stool in front of, and facing, the scooter, almost as if you where about to milk a cow. If no stool is available, a case of beer will work also. Stick your hand up behind the front Tupperware cowling and feel for the electrical connector attached to the back of the burnt out bulb. Yank it off.

2. Grab the little tab on the round rubber cowling thingy that protects the bulb from crap getting on the bulb and dripping into the chromy headlight reflector area. Yank it out.

3. With your fingers, take two or three minutes to feel around for the little metal springy clip that holds the bulb in place. You’ll know you’ve found it when its sharp end cuts into your finger. Play with the clip for another five or six minutes until you figure out how to unlatch it.

4. Now, here’s the tricky part. Yank out the bulb, but do not, I repeat, do not allow the bulb to slip out of your fingers (now numb and bloody from playing with that clip thing). If you allow it to slip out of your fingers, it will immediately drop into this huge canyon of a hole between the outer and inner panels of the plastic fairing on the side of your scooter and tumble down into the chasm, until reaching its resting point deep down near the floorboard.

Try to reach in and pull it out. If that fails, call your wife to the garage and have her give it a try. “Honey, your hands are smaller than mine.”

If she can’t reach it either, you have two choices. Figure out how to remove the entire outer panel to retrieve the bulb, or just forget about it and leave it there. I mean, who will ever know? (Flash forward five years. You’ve traded in the 400 for a Burgman 1250 and the buyer of your old 400 decides to do some repair work. “Hey, Martha, looky here. I took off this fairing piece and look what I found. Some idiot must have dropped a burnt out bulb down here.”

Installing the new bulb:

Reverse the process, but don’t, I repeat don’t, allow the bulb to slip out of your fingers.

- Tom

A True Life Story

See less See more

Reactions: 2

1 - 20 of 31 Posts

Buffalo

· #2 · Mar 13, 2006

This is so good Tom :lol: , maybe you should cross post it in the Jesters forum. BTY the procedure is the same for the 650 except you don't have to worry about losing the bulb if you drop it.

Maxfun

· #3 · Mar 13, 2006

Also be very carefull not to pull that clip thing or or drop it. If you do and cannot find the clip, you have to buy a whole new light assembly...
when replacing my bulbs on the 650, one clip on the left side came undone and pulled away from the housing and I dropped in into the faring. I had to take it to dealership. They took the faring off and front assembly and found the clip luckily.....still cost me $75 bucks.
now I know how to do this.
STeve

dav the hibby

· #4 · Jul 29, 2006

hi tomx you should be on stage i never :lol: :lol: :lol:
in my visit to this forum i had a burnt out bulb i did not
not drop the wire thing but i broke the clip that the wire thing
hooks on to oh for small hands the rubber thing is keeping the bulb in place heres hoping it stays in place till MOT

scribbler

· #5 · Jul 30, 2006

Ok, so the instructions for replacing a burnt out bulb have been given in a style I actually sort'a understand.

My high beam went out a couple of weeks ago, and today I took my 400 in to my Suzuki guy at Far West Cycle. He's a decent guy, and he was appalled at the $65 for the replacement he looked up for me. He asked me to ask 'those guys on your Burgman list' about decent alternatives so he could order something of good quality and low price for me (like I say, he's a good guy).

So... now that I sort of know how to do the job, do you have any advice on alternatives to the offical Suzuki bulb?

asolof

· #6 · Jul 30, 2006

Replacement + Upgrade:

Headlights: Silverstar H4-ST
/ 9003 / HB2 12V watts=55/60

billmeek

· #7 · Jul 31, 2006

Standard H4 automotive bulb. Less than $10 at any auto parts store. Only modification required is to bend the little metal clips on the bulb flat since the space isn't as wide as the Burgman stock bulb.

scribbler

· #8 · Jul 31, 2006

asolof said:
Replacement + Upgrade:

Headlights: Silverstar H4-ST
/ 9003 / HB2 12V watts=55/60

I think you are suggesting something to replace my headlights... but I'm afraid I don't understand what you are saying.

Is it that I ought to get a lightbulb known as a Silverstar H4-ST? What is the significance of the '9003 and HB2' bits?

Burgienewb

· #9 · Aug 1, 2006

Thanks a lot for taking the time to post this. I noticed yesterday that one high beam wasn't working. Called the dealer and they said $65 for a bulb and they are on back order!

Burgienewb

· #10 · Aug 10, 2006

Replaced one yesterday...thanks to the instructions and some pics, it took 5 minutes at the very most! Of course, I have small hands

scribbler

· #11 · Aug 12, 2006

Well, I got a couple of H-4 bulbs from the local auto supply, and, not being a mechanically inclined sort of guy, I had a local guy who mostly does auto repair (but who worked on his own bikes for years) do the job. His ten dollar labor, plus the twenty for the bulbs came to less than half the cost of one of the Suzuki bulbs-- and now I've got high beams on both lights!

I would have gotten the Silverstars, but the auto supply store was out of them. Next time!

The owner of the local Suzuki shop asked me to report back to him-- so he can offer this solution too!

Burgienewb

· #12 · Sep 8, 2006

I love my new bulbs... and try it yourself next time- it's really, really simple. Took me a whole minute to replace mine. Easier for me than making an appointment and trying to get it somewhere during work hours.

bfish

· #13 · Oct 7, 2006

I've been told by a fellow AN400 rider that he tried H-4 bulbs and they blew his fuse, because they are too high wattage. Any thoughts?

Also, does the "factory fresh" AN400 have one or both bulbs lit when high beams are on?

Thanks in advance!

db297

· #14 · Oct 7, 2006

I have a k3 400 and saw that on high beam, only one light was on. I asked about this in another thread, and was told both lights were suppose to be on when high beams are on. I have yet to use my high beams so I haven't replaced the light yet. Thus, I cannot verify that.

db

asolof

· #15 · Oct 7, 2006

I have a k6 b400 with H4 Silverstars. Both left and right bulbs function for both low and high beams.

billmeek

· #16 · Oct 9, 2006

bfish said:
I've been told by a fellow AN400 rider that he tried H-4 bulbs and they blew his fuse, because they are too high wattage. Any thoughts?

I have 2003 Burgman 400 with 25,000+ miles. A good portion of those miles are with H4 bulbs installed and I've never had a blown fuse.

db297

· #17 · Apr 30, 2008

I tried to use these instructions about a week ago, but just couldn't do it. I found the wires that were leading to the bulb, but was afraid to pull. I didn't know exactly what to "yank out". I sure didn't want to pull a wire loose from solder, or it's connection point, and then ruin the darn thing. I spent 45 minutes messing with it, and finally gave up.

Did some searching in the gallery, and found some pics that saved the day. I saw this pic that showed me exactly what to "yank out"
http://burgmanusa.com/gallery/Nakes-Bur ... 4.jpg.html

Then I saw this pic that showed me the boot:
http://burgmanusa.com/gallery/Nakes-Bur ... 3.jpg.html

Then I saw this pic showing me the "springy" thing:
http://burgmanusa.com/gallery/Nakes-Bur ... 4.jpg.html

The first pic was the biggy - showing me the square black connector that the wires run into. Once I found that, I was no longer afraid to "yank" it off.

It took me about 5 minutes to get ready, 10 minutes to replace both bulbs, and 5 minutes to clean up. Cool!

I just want to thank Tomx for the great instructions, and Nake for the great pics.
db

See less See more

Reactions: 1

dadyswat

· #18 · May 1, 2008

So Tom is this for the K7? If not do you bleed as much on the K7?

motorpap1

· #19 · May 22, 2008

I found it hard to understand how to replace the bulb without being able to see the --"Wire Connector"-- The Rubber Seal with a Tab" -- "The Spring clip" The first time I held a small hand mirrow above the Tire and could then see the articles described.. Which made it easier. I then discovered that if I turned the wheel to one side and layed on my back I could easily see the features head on and had no problems to remove and replace the Bulbs I used the H4 bulb,,(much much cheaper) Flattened the tabs and install was easy; Let me know if you try this

gashadow

· #20 · Jul 15, 2008

I replaced the headlight bulb on a 2007 Suzuki Burgman 400 that we just bought. I replaced it because it wasn't lit up on low beams, only high beams. I followed all of the directions here. I don't think I could have done it without these directions. I replaced it with the standard H4 bulb that is supposed to have both high and low beams. The only problem is that after replacing it, the low beam on that bulb doesn't light, only the high beam. Same as it was before I replaced it. Any ideas?

1 - 20 of 31 Posts