Has any one on the forum had a problem with a milky film inside the headlight? I asked my local dealer and he looked at a couple of new bikes and they all have the problem.I actually noticed it the day I picked the bike up.
Wonder if its an isolated problem or endemic to the 14r.

Ya, noticed it on a few new 14R's... Looks like they did not clean before they assembled the lenses to the body. Have been trying to find something to get in there and clean it with.

Yep same here. Glad its not just mine. Thought i had an broken seal or something around the headlight

Mine too, looks crap. Can't see any way of getting in there to clean the lens other than through the bulb hole or by dismantling the headlight. I had a similar thing develop on my '04 R1 but that was after 20k miles, not from new!

I checked mine and I'm not seeing what you fellas are describing. Is it inside the lexan outer lens or on the hemispherical inner lens?

Mine is clean, but have imperfections on the tach glass,, dealer swears its the protective
Plastic, after an hour of staring at it he says they will replace it, never heard back and this was the day I picked it up

@Seno: is the film evenly applied everywhere or is it splotchy?
It could be a diffuser.

It is all over the inside of my lenses, high & low beams... HID's made it more obvious...

have imperfections on the tach glass,, dealer swears its the protective
Plastic, after an hour of staring at it he says they will replace it, never heard back and this was the day I picked it up

If it appears as etched spots, could be spatters from a once loose brake / clutch reservoir cap. 3M polishing compound will fix that up. I would personally take that approach first before letting the dealership fuch with your bike.

Can you post a pic of yours...I have what I think you are describing too...round circular clear/white blemishes that look like it is clouded up or fog like?

It is definitely on the inside of the lens right out of the factory crate.

NJW

If it appears as etched spots, could be spatters from a once loose brake / clutch reservoir cap. 3M polishing compound will fix that up. I would personally take that approach first before letting the dealership fuch with your bike.

Agreed!!!!
Especially when he tried to put a knife on the edge of the tach to prove that it was the shipping protective plastic

Just checked, mine has film too

Thanks guys, looks like Mr Kawasaki has a problem.
My light looks like it has a fine misty milky coating on the inside of the plastic outer lens , and I pointed it out to the dealer when I picked it up .Said he would look into it.I think we should pester our dealers for replacement headlights.If they get enough complaints they will have to replace them under warranty.

Just to be sure... what you guys are seeing is an opacity of the outer lens? Because mine are crystal clear.

Thats it mate . an opacity ....on the inside.

I'm going to try a few things to clean mine today..... Have been thinking about it an going to use pressurized water & a compressor to dry it. It's worth a shot...

Seno,

If you spray water inside it, you may never be able to remove it unless it evaporates over several days depending on how much water is inside the lens.....

I will be interested to see what the dealerships say about replacing the entire lens under warranty instead of the owners trying to get that film out of there ourselves?/

NJW

I can't see how you can get in there to clean the inside of the covers. Removing the bulbs is no good 'cos you've then got the projector beam lenses in the way. maybe the front covers can be seperated from the housing when the lamp units are removed but it's difficult to see with them in situ and the exploded diagrams in the FSM aren't much good either. Using a high pressure jet wash sounds like a recipe for disaster thet'll really f**k up your lights.

* Last updated by: pegscraper on 7/3/2012 @ 3:41 PM *

It sounds like a problem with the plastic headlight lens itself.....not anything on it. Prolly only way to fix it is to replace the lens. If its not a big deal as far as looks or headlight operation I'd prolly forget about it myself.

I think it for stopping condensation inside the headlight housing not shore but I think thats what its there for. Oh by the way I have it on mine too...

Okay...THIS is what everyone's referring to....Minus the bugs that is!

What I THINK it is...is NOT the inside of the outer lens...but the inner convex design...meaning...that's supposed to be there,and it's the surface of the inner lamp projector being directed at the lens.I could be wrong...but it looks that way to me.I think anyone trying to 'remove' that from the inside there...they're asking for problems...scratches or something they won't be able to remove.There's really no way in unless you crack that outer assembly off there....I wouldn't.

My 07 had the same thing.The inner glass lens...that's what I think it is...and perfectly normal.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 7/5/2012 @ 9:16 PM *

Grn14,

Sound good to me...

Just got back from a nearly 4 thousand mile tour. I haven't seen this "film" in my headlights.

Grn's pics give me a comparison reference. I'll take a close look tomorrow and see if I've got and just haven't noticed.

Been thru some big temp differences in the last two weeks; even as much as 40 degrees F inside an hour's time. If environment is a factor, I should be seeing it. Haven't taken notice.

Will post up if I see it or not!

pab

7/13: Yup! Got the film too. Looks nasty but never noticed it until I looked for it, at night in a darkened garage.
I'm guessing its a non-issue as long as function isn't compromised. Just a cosmetic error. If you really want ot see at night, you change the system to the radiant blue light aftermarket bulbs anyway, right? Do most all my riding in the daylight.
pb

* Last updated by: PaulAB on 7/13/2012 @ 4:11 PM *

If you notice...it's virtually invisible when looking straight into the beam(I didn't take a pic of that naturally)...OR...having the light shining out and away from the center spot of each bulb.See that wedge?(I'm calling it a wedge..that dark lightless 'line and very center 'shadow'That's the bulb shape itself...the tip of it.There's NO opaqueness in that 'wedge' area of the beam.If it was on the inside...any perimeter light would be showing a bigger area....and I doubt that wedge would be as prominent as it is.Could be wrong here.You can see it's clearly 'outlined' by the perimeter 'opaque' light.

My guess is...the outer lens is actually totally clear(and it is with the lights off)...it's the beam that's creating an illusion of 'film inside'.On the sides there...the beam looks kinda orange yellow...if ya look straight in...it looks bright almost white.Same color as that 'film'.

That's the lamp beam shining on the inside there...that's the color of the convex glass lens.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 7/6/2012 @ 9:39 PM *