How to Remove and Install the Position Light Bulbs

Unless otherwise noted, the following steps refer to the left‑side position bulb.

＜Removing the Position Bulb Socket 1＞

Pull the position bulb socket out with your fingers.

It was stuck and wouldn’t come out easily, so I tried pulling with pliers…

＜Broken Socket End＞

To my surprise, the surface tore off easily.
So, don’t grab the thin rubber part with pliers or similar tools.

＜Removing the Position Bulb Socket 2＞

I managed to pull out the tip of the socket, but the wiring is short and doesn’t give much slack—this is as far as it goes.
I forced it a bit and pulled out another 10mm.

However, repeating this too many times might damage the terminals or wiring inside the socket.

＜Removing the Front Panel＞

So, if the wiring doesn’t have enough slack, the best way to avoid stressing it is to remove the front panel.
But removing the front panel is a bit of a hassle…

For details, see the maintenance record “How to Remove the Front Cowl and Panel etc.”

あわせて読みたい

How to remove front cowl and panels etc. Following the side and rear, this section summaries the maintenance record ‘How to remove and install front cowl and panels etc.’. If the front cowl panel ca…

＜Removed Position Bulb Socket＞

And here it is, pulled out.

＜Removing the Position Bulb＞

Next, just pull the position bulb out with your fingers.

Warning: Right after turning on the headlights (with the engine running), the bulb gets extremely hot. Do not touch it.

＜Replacement Position Bulb＞

This time, instead of reusing the old bulb, I’ll install a T10 LED bulb prepared in the maintenance record “Assembling the LED Position Bulb Kit.”

For assembly details, see the maintenance record “Assembling the LED Position Bulb Kit.”

あわせて読みたい

Assembling the LED Position Bulb Kit Instead of simply swapping a halogen bulb for a store-bought LED bulb, this guide explains how to assemble an LED bulb yourself.The R125 uses two position bu…

Now let’s compare the old and new bulbs.

＜Bulb Side＞

Left: Halogen bulb … 1.3g
Right: LED bulb … 1.3g

Both weigh 1.3g, but the LED bulb is about 1mm longer.

＜Socket Side＞

Left: Halogen bulb
Right: LED bulb

The shapes differ, but the mounting section is the same, so they fit fine.
However, if the LED section’s outer diameter exceeds 13mm, it may not pass through the hole in the headlight unit.

Insert the LED bulb into the socket and check if it lights up.

＜Lighting Check＞

LEDs have polarity—if installed backwards, they won’t light.
So, if it doesn’t light, flip the terminals and reinsert.

Polarity of the position bulb socket:

+: Yellow wire with black stripe
-: Black wire

I aligned the red mark on the LED bulb with the yellow/black stripe side.

Then insert the socket back into the headlight unit hole.
Repeat the same process for the right‑side position bulb.

＜Installed State＞

The LED has three light‑emitting points, so it looks lively.

Now let’s compare the lighting before and after replacement.

＜Before: Halogen Bulb＞

＜After: LED Bulb＞

The LED reproduces the halogen bulb’s color well.
The reflections inside the light change the shading, giving a different impression.

This time, to match the color of the low‑beam LED headlights (6000K), I prepared a warm‑white LED.
Let’s see if the colors match.

Note: The installation of the low‑beam LED headlights will be covered in a later article.

＜Before: Halogen Bulb＞

＜After: LED Bulb (Warm White)＞

“Hmm, the color doesn’t quite match.”

Comparison Before and After (Right Side) 2

＜Reference: LED Bulb (White)＞

“This one seems to match better…”

Still, I think the warm‑white bulb offers better visibility, so I’ll call it a compromise.