License plate light lens bolt - 2009 GS

[SpyderHub]

Hi,The license plate light lens fell off the other day. I found the lens (!) but not the single bolt that holds it on. My local dealer wants $120 for a new unit, and it would be a PIA to fit judging by the way the wire runs way back into the bike, even if I was daft enough to pay that sort of money. Anyone know what kind of threads are on the missing bolt? I went to take off the light base to take into a hardware store, but the unit seems to be wired to the bike via the swinging arm! It has crossed my mind the Spyder would fit down the wide aisles in Home Depot ......

Thanks for any help, Gerard.

[ARtraveler]

Hi,The license plate light lens fell off the other day. I found the lens (!) but not the single bolt that holds it on. My local dealer wants $120 for a new unit, and it would be a PIA to fit judging by the way the wire runs way back into the bike, even if I was daft enough to pay that sort of money. Anyone know what kind of threads are on the missing bolt? I went to take off the light base to take into a hardware store, but the unit seems to be wired to the bike via the swinging arm! It has crossed my mind the Spyder would fit down the wide aisles in Home Depot ......

Thanks for any help, Gerard.

$120 to replace is a whole lot if you can come up with plan B, C, D, or more to get a couple replacement screws. Why not drive to your local neighborhood ACE or similar hardware. Park up front and get the helpful ACE hardware man to let you go through the assorted screw bins to come up with the fix?

[Chupaca]

they are selling you the whole light assembly and overpriced at that... most auto parts stores have very helpful personel who would be happy to help you. I ordered a new cover from ebay or amazon where the reflector becomes a light and it came with that screw for twenty bucks. If I'm not mistaken it is a 5mm screw...

[Big Arm]

First off.....get a new dealer. My lens fell off my '08 the first yr, I had it. Replacement price was about $45.00, but dealer replaced it for free. Use silicone around the edge and on the screw.

[WA5VHU]

Is yours the same as mine on my RS as in the picture below? If so, are you talking about the single sheet metal screw that holds the "box" that is the reflector and bottom clear lens on to the rest of the assembly?

If that is what you are talking about then all you need is a sheet metal screw that will fit the hole in the inner bracket and isn't too long. Go to the hardware store if you don't have a screw collection at home.



And ignore the cracked reflector and the plastic jewel glued to the reflector. That story is for another day.

[r1100rider]

Is yours the same as mine on my RS as in the picture below? If so, are you talking about the single sheet metal screw that holds the "box" that is the reflector and bottom clear lens on to the rest of the assembly?

If that is what you are talking about then all you need is a sheet metal screw that will fit the hole in the inner bracket and isn't too long. Go to the hardware store if you don't have a screw collection at home.



And ignore the cracked reflector and the plastic jewel glued to the reflector. That story is for another day.

A sheet medal screw will work be sure to dip the screw in whether strip glue before. You install then as others have said silicone over the head this happened to a lot of people in the beginning my self included the whole lite change out isn't as bad as you think but the wires do run up the fender and plug into the area above the splash guard

[Bob L]

I looked up the part for an 09 GS on gear head micro-phish and I "think" it is either

36

250000348

Torx Truss Screw M6 X 16 | Europe

$5.99

or

79

250000303

Torx Truss Screw M6 X 20

$5.99

http://www.gearhead.com/oem-parts/ca...ar/55678/55835

[amusher]

I went to Walmart and bought a $6 LED clearance light, took the reflector and housing off and wired the LED in. Now I have another taillight. Its not wired for a brake light, just a tail. I don't ride at night so I don't really need it to light up the license plate. You would have to drill some holes in the bottom of it to allow light to shine on the plate then cover it with clear plastic or something to keep the water out of it.

[SpyderHub]

Thanks to everyone for their prompt response to this. I just thought I'd check in to see if anyone had noticed the post since yesterday, to find 165 people had read the post and there were seven helpful replies already. Wow!

I hadn't seen the Gearhead site before and that has the assembly for $49.99 which is interesting. I guess the guy at the local dealership dreamed up a number knowing it was going to be excessive.

My wife bought this machine in NJ, but since we moved to CA our nearest dealer is an hour and a half a way and I haven't had much dealings with him. I figure the original dealer would have found me the screw OK.

I've gone through my own bolt collection but nothing fits. I think this is some sort of weird coarse thread that I don't have. Rather than having a proper "nut" on the receiving end, it is just a piece of flat metal with a slightly twisted hole punched through it.

The last step is go over to the nice folks at Orchard Supply Hardware and see what I can find there. I was hoping to remove the part so I could find it in air conditioned splendor, rather than the sauna that is the parking lot, but I'll head over now and see what they have in 5 mm coarse metric thread.

I just bought a tube of thread lock for the Spyder, as I found several bodywork screws had come loose when I replaced the HT leads to get it firing on both cylinders again. Ironically it was the during the test drive to see had I fixed the poor running that the lens fell off. Fix one problem and another pops up. I like the idea of a dab of silicone on the screw head as there isn't much thread for the thread lock to grip.

Thanks again to everyone,
Gerard.

[AMTJIM]

My first cover cracked right around the screw, so all I had left was a little plastic looking washer shaped chunk and the screw. They yanked one off a spyder on the lot after being blamed and then I showed them the rash of similar failures.
As mentioned, use more than just the screw if you get a new one, the cover is weak..some type of adhesive around te edges. Another option is to go to a car or moto accessory store and get an LED license plate or some LED light and yank the old light off and stick the new LED on there.

[WackyDan]

Having silicone on the new screw won't save it. It will keep it on another few thousand miles.... Mine is still somewhere up on the blue ridge parkway.

This is what I replaced it with...
http://www.amazon.com/Technologies-T...eye+tail+light

[cptjam]

If you have all the pieces except the bolt, drill a hole, buy a bolt and nylon lock nut and fix it. You can get fancy, have the bolt head on the inside, and use a nylock acorn nut! For a plastic box with a little light in it, they are pretty proud of it! Tag lights for bikes are cheap. Reflector dots that hold the plate are a buck. Good luck, and have fun! Joe

[jcthorne]

If you loose another one, you can get replacement lenses only from Custom Dynamics for $20. They also work as tail light as well as licence plate light. You still have to glue it on, but much cheaper than buying the whole enchilada from BRP.

The F3 uses the same lens. I am on number 4 but this one on until the LED lamp burns out......

[amusher]

I posted a comment earlier but here's a picture of my $6 Walmart taillight to replace the cheap reflector BRP puts on there..

[MinisterMItch]

2008 GS SM5. I ordered all the pieces online...fits great. (I had to replace the fender. It was nicely hand painted "Back Off My Ass". Not the best words for a Minister. Now I've got to either splice the light or find how deep the wire goes to plug it in. Any advice?
IMG-20160826-WA0003 (1).jpg

[obiwanbill]

If you loose another one, you can get replacement lenses only from Custom Dynamics for $20. They also work as tail light as well as licence plate light. You still have to glue it on, but much cheaper than buying the whole enchilada from BRP.

The F3 uses the same lens. I am on number 4 but this one on until the LED lamp burns out......

I lost one and dealer replaced for free. After second one fell off, I got one of these from Ebay. I wrapped black plastic tape around the seam where the lens housing meets the black plastic on the fender. Now it's not just the screw that hold it on.