Stelvio NTX spotlights

Hi everyone,

When I bought my Stelvio the previous owner had disconnected the spotlights due to fears of shorting blowing the main fuse. A couple of in-line blade fuse holders complete with 7.5 amp fuses duly arrived courtesy of Ebay and I set about installing them. The quality of engineering by Guzzi and Hella revealed in the process is really quite shocking.

  1. The former owner had “disconnected” the lamps by cutting through the cable where it exits the rubber boot at the back of the lamp
  2. I was surprised but then realised he had no choice if he wanted to leave the spots on the bike as the crimped connectors had been attached after the wires had been passed through two tiny holes in the rubber boot
  3. Directly above these holes is a much larger moulded channel designed for cable ingress!
  4. I realised that I would have to take the spots off to put this mess right only to find…
  5. They are secured by nasty self tapping steel bolts which have been screwed into the soft alloy shell of the spots. The metal of both the bolts and shell was corroded presumably by galvanic corrosion.

I have now put it all back together the way a sane person would have done it in the first place but I am left deeply disconcerted. What will I discover next?

Keep an eye on the mounting brackets as they snap Guzzi have a mark 3 version out now

Thanks Keith,

I wish I hadn’t asked!

Richard

Not a major issue I have 20000 miles on my Stelvio and have snapped both left and right bracket’s the part number for the latest mk 3 version is 883991 and cost £11.61 plus vat ,Just don’t go to the outer Hebrides I have been twice and on both occasions one of the brackets broke. Off to Germany tonight. carrying a few spares, plugs, caps, stainless rocker cover bolts and rocker cover gaskets plus the litre of oil I bought when the bike was new and have never needed.
Regards Keith

I’ve heard shocking things about the spotlights. Although I have the standard model, I did order many of the NTX items including the engine bars and spotlights which were fitted by the dealer before collection. They are therefore under the same warranty as the bike.

At some point, I’ll take a close look at the brackets as I’m slowly but surely becoming a bit paranoid! My initial take was to let them fail and be replaced under warranty, then refit my own system after two years if they had been troublesome.

My likes: Well spaced and positioned to make the bike appear wider, integral switch with dashboard display.

My dislikes: Vulnerable in a drop, multiple reports of failures!

Perhaps a better system would be smaller LEDs tucked in a bit so they are protected by the engine bars in a drop and also less likely to be rattled to death.

I don’t have a clue which mark of bracket I have, which doesn’t fill me with joy…

Jon

I had also read quite a bit about the wiring being chaffed in the OE Hella fog-lights and blowing the main lighting fuse so I fitted in-line fuses almost straight away, I used the standard type 2-blade white plug at each end so fitting to the bike took a matter of seconds. When I removed the rubber boot from the Hella lights I saw that the wires hadn’t been stored as stated in the Hella manual (comes with the bike) and there was already evidence of the wires rubbing against the body of the lamp. I can fully understand how the conductor can become exposed and short-out over time when they are not fitted correctly.
I have since replaced the Hella lights with some LED units as they are smaller, brighter and draw less current. Hopefully the lower weight will reduce the chance of fracture to the mounting as well?

Hi Litch,

In mine the red woven insulator was missing completely on one side and there was evidence of rubbing on both sides. I have put heat shrink wrap over the spade connectors and the red woven insulator (cut in two to give me a bit for each side) over that. What did you make of the wires not being routed through the channel Hella so thoughtfully provided?

Richard

The Hella installation instructions show the wires being routed through the two small holes, I have no idea what the larger hole is for but certainly the two small holes are the correct method.
I was going to scan a copy of the mounting instructions but my scanner doesn’t like my new PC.

Hi Litch,

I would like to see the Hella manual (did not come with my bike). I have re-routed the cable through the larger hole as this means the individual wires do not have to be separated until inside the lamp housing which I prefer. I know it is all fixable and it seems most of us have done so but the original workmanship just seems so half-arsed!

Yours,

Richard

I will have another go at the scanner this week and if I can get it talking to my PC I will post the instructions.

Thanks Litch,

Much appreciated.

Rich

Hello LitchAlso have been aware of the negative view of the Hella spotlights, so have been considering LED replacements. Which ones did you get?Thanks

Hi everyone,

Came home yesterday to find that one of the bolts I had used to reinstall the lamps had fallen out. (To sort out the problems caused by corrosion damage/over-tightening of the original self tapped holes I had drilled them out oversize and tapped a new thread and then used stainless steel bolts to mount them). I cannot be bothered to have another go at producing a secure, corrosion resistant mounting so I am now parting company with the Hella spots. Bought these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190958900113?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%7CR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D190958900113%26_rdc%3D1 from Ebay. Less than forty quid for the pair! They arrived this afternoon and initial inspection suggests thay have the Hella units beaten on quality. I will be installing them over the next few days and will keep you all updated.

Merry Christmas,

Richard

Hi everyone,

Not installed yet (it is Christmas and cold outside and I don’t have a garage!) but I have fitted waterproof 2 pin connectors to the spotlights and tested them. In my opinion, they are superior to the Hella units in all aspects except the bulb mounting. The bulbs in the Hella units are retained by a spring clip which makes bulb changing easy. In the Chinese units they are retained by two screws, which would be fine except for a design flaw in the moulding. The bulb retaining recess is oversized. This means the screws have to be overtightened (particularly on the earth strap side). I got away with it on one lamp but had to grind out the overtightened screw on the other and then cut a tin plate shim in order to retain the bulb securely. OK, not exactly plug and play but I am still glad to have ditched the Hella units .My game plan is to sell the Hella units on Ebay. I reckon I could make a profit on the deal!

Happy New Year!

Richard