OK, how the h*ll do I get these damn plastic tabs out??

I've been screwing with the little plastic holders underneath the headlights on my bike for 20 minutes trying to figure out how in the HELL to get them out. Push; doesn't work. Pull; doesn't work. Rip them off with a pair of pliers; almost to that point!!

Help!

 

it shouldn't be this hard to replace a light bulb.....

 

Nevermind...I just push them after the backside. What a pain in the ass.

 

I cut all mine off the first time to get the bodywork off. Now I push in the middle "pin" to remove, and to install I push in the main hollow "rivet"--then push in the pin. Two steps.
New ones are cheap.

 

FYI: new ones (OEM) are decidedly NOT CHEAP. I just paid $4 each for these damn things at the local dealer. Incidentally, the ones that were in the bike were apparently not OEM as they were completely different from the ones I got from the dealer.

I pulled 4 screws, 10 bolts & 3 (should have been 7, but some were missing) plastic inserts to remove the fairing/cowl & get at the lights. I highly recommend pulling it if you're going to replaced a bulb.

I had trouble getting the plug to come off, so much so that I bent the wire that holds the bulb in. Bent it back in place with no issues, but in the future I'm going to spray the contacts with a cleaner/lubricant to avoid this in the future. It's easier to pull the rubber dust/water barrier & unpin the bulb BEFORE you unplug the fitting.

Lesson learned!

Sweat my ASS off outside doing this in the sun....the humidity here is terrible lately.

 

I changed my bulbs from the backside. All by feel as you can't see a thing.....

As for the ones under the bike that hold the 2 halves of the fairings together....I cut the pain in ass things off!!

 

What plastic holders are you talking about. Do you mean the small round black fairing clips?

 

I bought a fairing bolt set on ebay to replace all my corroded nasty fairing bolts when I bought my bike. It also came with cheapy clips. Those damn things are easy to get out and put back in. And I haven't lost one yet in 6,000 miles.

The ones on the bottom - when they finally do break - will be replaced with a zip tie.

 

If what is being spoken of here are those fairing clips, yes, they are crap. And OEM are a stupid price. But these work out to about 50 cents each, $5.00 for a pack of 10. They fit a bit tighter than OEM but the fit better, they remove better, and they are much sturdier The M6 are the size you want I think. I have been using them for a couple years now. SLowly I am replacing all the OEM as they break on me.

home : Bolt Motorcycle Hardware

 

That's the ones.

 

I always plug the bulb in first beofe the insertion, also helpts to install that rubber donut thing, so you can button up everything nice. I had a situation wtih H4 bulbs where the pins were too large for the three plug on my harness, I made use of a cordless dremel and a shop magnifiying glass, I ground off some of the metal on all three pins, and problem solved. Used dialetic grease on the plugs and they went in nice. I recently got these conversion rings for the non-honda bulbs that fit into the headlight bezel wonderfully. Before, I used to trim off a few of the tabs and always had a cock-eyed bulb, it only took 18 years to get that one sorted oot. Things to get better with age, except wimmins, and your body. Its all into the shitter from there. Nuff Sed Cheers...

 

I miss the 1/4 turn bolts.

 

Yep, those where the days! I can whip my mid farings off in less time that it takes me to get my midget screwdriver oot of my tool box. Is that politically correct? Maybe little person screwdriver???

 

Latuditally deficient.

 

Some pics from this edeavor:





This threaded insert had been crossthreaded by the PO & basically stripped out of the plastic of the fairing, but left in place. I'm hitting up the local hardware store today to see if I can find a suitable replacement:


Old plastic tabs:


New plastic tabs (OEM):

 

That fourth photo appears to be a well nut with the rubber either worn, ripped or cut off. And like you said, cross threaded. New well nuts are readily available from your local stealership. I haven't looked for a source for those after market. Fifth photo appears to be an after market fairing clip. Or possibly one from a different bike. Your OEM is not a good clip. I think most would agree here. They are flimsey and if you use them anywhere that they are subject to any abuse, such as any of the lower parts of your fairings, they are going to break and as you have discovered, they are expensive to replace.

The link to Bolt Fasteners will give you a great alternative to these clips. Many here have used them and sing high praises for them.

 

Actually, it pulled directly out of the fairing next to the windscreen. It's molded into the fairing & not available at the dealer.

 

This is what the well nut looks like new. You simply slip the new well nut into the proper hole in your plastics. As you screw in the bolt, the rubber outter portion will expand and compress against the plastics to hold it in place. Once in, they tend to stay in place when you next remove the bolt. Crank the bolt down too hard and you end up with what you have in your photo, which is basically a useless fastener.

 

These damn plastic tabs turned the first oil change on my new to me VFR from a planned 20 minute oil change to a 90 minute swear fest.

Once you figure them out, they are easy to use and actually pretty smart little things. Push the centre in to release them, and pull the centre pin way out to put them back in.

 

Unfortunately, the ones the PO used weren't exactly like that. My Toyota pickup uses a similar tab, but the ones that were on here were a PITA. You're right about the swearfest~