So, I am going over the R65 in preparation for taking her on her longest road trip yet -> down to the MOA rally and back, which will likely be a bit over 2000 miles round trip. I was contemplating getting an LED replacement (Beacon 2) tail light from Rick at Motorrad Elektrik so I wouldn't have to worry about tail/brake light bulb replacements, and I took off the tail light lense to see the wiring in the OEM configuration.
Zoinks ! The tail light lens is starting to crack in the middle, caused by a large circular melted area from the lower (license plate) bulb. Apparently the PO decided to replace the 5W bulb that goes in there with a 25W 1156 bulb. The brake light is a 25W 1156 bulb, but it is more recessed and farther away from the plastic lens than the lower bulb. Riding around with the 25W lower bulb was very visible (I wondered why it seemed so bright!!) but apparently the plastic lense doesn't like all those watts so close to it.. I found a 1003 12W bulb and replaced the 25W bulb - hopefully that will do for now without melting things more. I think that I'll still plan on getting the LED replacement assembly with less heat, but now gotta glue/expoy up the crack to stop it from spreading until I get a replacement tail light lense.
Just wanted to point this out to others as I've seen the melted taillight situation on other airheads, too. The 25W (or higher) 1157 bulbs are easy to find and fit that lower socket, but there is too much heat too close to the plastic, it seems....
