How To: Installing LED Lights on F3T/LTD

[dsvogel]

Installing anything but “regular” bulbs in the Headlights of the new F3T/Limited’s is impossible to do by going through the Lateral Service Panels because of the bulk of LED bulbs. I installed XenonDepot bulbs and in order to use the dust boot, I had to install the boot on the bulbs first. Pushing that mess through the tiny opening was impossible ... I tried for hours over the course of 3 days.

I want to give a lot of thanks to SpyRyd for giving me suggestions on how to accomplish this feat. I took some pics during the process and wanted to share with the community. The F3 — especially the triple black — looks better with LED headlights IMHO! It’s not a bad job to do, and will probably take you an hour per side if you are the careful type. It could be done quicker... I'll be installing on a friends new F3 this week and expect the whole process to take an hour now that I know what I'm doing.

If you think I could edit something to be clearer, please let me know, or contribute your own pictures for clarification. As always, do at your own risk, and typical disclaimers apply.

Body Panel Removal

Most of the instructions for removing body panels are in your Owners Manual (starting pg 43 in mine), so I’m going to gloss over how to remove most of these panels, and just list them. I recommend doing one side first, installing the LED headlight bulb, and then reinstalling panels. That gives you the other side to reference if you have an extra screw or ‘push pin’ plastic rivet left over.

Remove the…

• Lateral Service Panel
• Front Service Cover (under the headlights)
• Side Panel
• Mirror Cover (painted plastic surrounding the blinker. See thread link)

These panels are not covered in the Owner’s Manual, but also need to be removed.

• Nose. This is the painted piece that sits above the headlights and below the windshield. You should see that at the bottom of this piece, there is a Torx bolt and nut.

⁃ Loosen this bolt nut, but don’t remove yet.
⁃ The top lip of this panel clips in, so pulling on it will release the clips.
⁃ Remove the bolt and nut being careful not to lose either in the bike.

• Console/Speakers cover. This is one large piece that snaps into place. I found pulling on the left/right edges easiest for snapping it out. When reinstalling, make sure all clips are going into their designated holes and not "missing" else they could be bent. (You can skip removing this cover ... see below)

[dsvogel]

(UPDATE: You can probably skip this step, because you don't need to mess with the aiming cable! Leaving this information here in case someone needs to remove these panels.)

Now you are ready to remove the last panel that gives you full access to work on your headlights. These are the panels that run on top of the gas tank, on either side of the key ignition. You need to remove this panel in order to access the headlight aiming cable which prevents you from pulling your headlights out in order to access the backs of them.


How you remove these is not intuitive, you will think you are going to break these panels, and when they pop, you are going to scream “OMG!!!” because you will swear you just broke them. Here’s how to remove them:

• This panel runs from the gas tank fill, forward and under your mirror.
• Make sure that the front tip is clear of any body panels, and that all plastic rivets have been removed
• If you have any accessories attached to this panel (like LED turn signals) make sure they are disconnected FIRST!
• Grab the front HALF of this panel and pull on it — away from the body, not up — as if the back of the panel is on a pivot near the key ignition.
• Keep pulling until it makes a loud pop!
• Scream “OMG!! I THINK I BROKE IT!!!”
• Notice no pieces broke off…
• Remember you are going to have to do this one more time for the other side, except this time you know what to expect. It’ll give you the same apprehension that opening a Pillsbury biscuit container does.

Interestingly enough, putting this panel back on is the easiest, quietest, most uneventful task as compared to what it took to get on. It easily pops back into place with a subtle click.

Here’s some pics of the underside of this panel for reference...


This is the side closest to the ignition/gas fill. There is a tab near the key, and another at the very tip.



Edge view



Tab at tip



Tab by key


And here is a picture of the body where the panel is removed from

[dsvogel]

(UPDATE: You can skip the Aiming Cable step too, because you don't need to mess with the aiming cable! Leaving this information here in case someone needs to see how the aiming cable is attached. The back of the headlight can be easily accessed with enough room to work by removing the four bolts and angling the outside edge of the headlight away from the body.)

Now that the “OMG Panel” is removed, you should see a bolt with a retaining clip. This is the headlight aiming cable, and will prevent you from pulling the headlight out.



Using a flat-head screwdriver, remove the retaining clip. The bolt head will stay in position.

Out of an abundance of caution, I used a electrical wire fish and taped it to this bolt to make it easier to bring it back to position. My fish would not fit through the hole, so I reached under the bolt and removed the cable with my fingers and held it.



Then I taped the fish to the bolt to hold it. I found that pulling out a lot of the fish and placing the reel on the passenger seat was the most manageable.




Accessing the back of the Headlight

Before you do anything notice the position of your OEM bulb. Look inside the bulb and notice the small “shade” that looks like a bowl. It is pointing up. This will be important to note because you will want your LED to be in the same position. Also notice the metal flange at the base of the bulb. Notice that the flat side of this flange is at the bottom. If you get this positioning correct with your LED bulb, you shouldn’t have to aim it after install.



Their are four Torx bolts that hold the headlight on to the bike. Remove the four bolts, taking care not to lose any inside the bike.

Pull the headlight enclosure out far enough that you can work behind it with both hands. You will have to push on the aiming cable/fish to help it. I elected not to pull the housing all the way out because it is hard to navigate the aiming cable back through the guts of the bike, even with the fish. Just pull on the outside edge of the headlight far enough to reach the bulb wiring harness. Once disconnected, you should have plenty of room to work. Steps continue below...

[dsvogel]

Remove the OEM Bulb using instructions from your manual (starting on page 142 in mine). Remove the dust boot first, using one or more of the three pull tabs. Release the bulb retainer clips and then remove the OEM bulb. Now you want to prep your LED Bulb. The XD bulbs come with a plastic flange that you will have to install by pressing on (flat bottom about 4:00 position) and turning clockwise to click (to about the 6:00 position). Pay attention to the plastic deflector for the LED at the tip. You will want the flange and deflector to mimic the orientation of the bulb you are taking out. I found that I had to install the dust boot first, then the flange. Be careful which way you install the boot.

IN THIS PICTURE I HAD THE BOOT ON BACKWARDS! It should come over the flange and part of the bulb.



(With the dust boot installed correctly,) pull it backwards over the heat sync (inside out) and then insert the bulb so that the flat side of the flange is down. The tabs of the flange will fall into slots in the back of the headlight. You will have to flatten the dust boot with one hand, while working the retainer clips over the boot to hold it into place.



Once locked into place turn the dust boot back (right side out) and work over the opening, using the tabs.




If your LED light has the flexible copper-tin braided heat syncs, open them up so that they look like a bow on a present. Connect the ballast to the bulb and the stock headlight wiring.

[dsvogel]

First, before you start buttoning up this side of the bike, turn on your F3 and make sure the bulb lights up and the position of the bulb is correct and secure. Test normal and high beams. You don’t want to find this stuff out after you put the bike back together!

If all is good, you can shove the wiring and ballast into the frame, and reattach your headlight housing back to the bike. Some of the Torx bolts are far enough back that they are easy to drop and lose (I know, I lost one, and never did find it!). For the rest, I used a tool to hold and begin to thread the bolt enough that I could then ratchet it in without fear of it falling.




Remove the tape from the fish while holding on to the aiming cable.
Using your fingers and a thin screwdriver, guide the aiming cable bolt back into its hole.




Reattach the retaining clip for the aiming cable bolt.

At this point, you can reinstall the “OMG Panel” and the side panel but leave the rest undone so that you can install the other bulb. Then install the panels in reverse as listed in the first post. There is plenty of room for the heat sync from what I could see, although it looks tight after buttoning up. I think a fan-based heat sync bulb will fit fine in here, too.

(Looking into lateral service panel area up to back of headlight)



And for comparison, this is why it's worth the effort...




It's actually not a bad install, just more involved than your typical farkle. I hope you've found this helpful! Post any questions, and one of us that have been through the process hopefully can help.

Good Luck!

[SpyRyd]

Excellent tutorial, Derek.

[Guzzi]

You state: "I think a fan based Led will fit too" How about the clearance on the left side Light with the air cleaner box? Any photo of that side? I have the latest Philips Ultinon Led set with the fixed heat sink. Don't look like there will be enough room on the left side. Any thoughts?

[Midian]

Thanks so much for the info and taking the time to give us a step-by-step!

[dsvogel]

UPDATE! So I had the opportunity to do another XenonDepot headlight install tonight and decided to see how quickly I could do it. It turns out, I was able to easily swap out the headlights without having to mess with the "OMG Panel" or the aiming cable. After removing the nose piece, I removed the four bolts for the headlight, and after disconnecting the bulb harness, had enough clearance to easily work behind the headlight by angling the outside edge of the headlight away from the bike. The aiming cable attaches to the headlight closer to the center of the bike. All of the steps for installing the LED bulbs still apply, and the only thing I had to do different this time was reach in and push the ballast and wiring back and out of the way so that I could push the headlight back into position and bolt it down.

This is now a pretty easy-peasy install on the F3T/LTD, and I could probably do both headlights in about 20 minutes!

So, if you've been hesitant about the process, I don't think it's daunting anymore.

[MMMII]

The XD bulbs come with a plastic flange that you will have to install by pressing on (flat bottom about 4:00 position) and turning clockwise to click (to about the 6:00 position). Pay attention to the plastic deflector for the LED at the tip. You will want the flange and deflector to mimic the orientation of the bulb you are taking out. I found that I had to install the dust boot first, then the flange. Be careful which way you install the boot.

Checking for understanding.... You installed with the deflector on the bottom so the light is blocked at 6 o'clock?