Headlight Bucket cracks

So at 15k my '11 SE has developed cracks near the mounting holes in the plastic bucket.  Orwig has been taking care of my bike while I'm working out of state for a while, and his engineering brain is on the case!  The question is has anyone come up with any preventive measures to prevent what appears to be the common problem?

Wayne thinks that the tightening of the mounting bolt might be pulling the metal insert out of the plastic and causing the stress.  

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Yo, George.

Yours ever have an OEM w/s on it?

Bill

Bill Hagan wrote:

Yo, George.

Yours ever have an OEM w/s on it?

Bill

Not sure about the first 8k of her life but it doesn't look like it. I just use the removable screen as a GRiSO should be ridden naked and the use of protection should be only under certain circumstances.

The plastic buckets are fragile. If it doesn't break there, the rim is likely to snap off. Some buckets are extruded more thinly than others. Cracks across the body are not unusual either. The bucket seems to be the same as the V7, Breva & Nevada, if not others. I still have not unearthed the ideal metal replacement bucket.

Ha!

In my case, the bracket that holds the shell and that of the (OEM) screen were "not quite right."

Not much off in alignment, but enough.  A guy like me knows what to do in such cases ... turn the fastener harder.

I did not realize the damage I had done until I decided to get into the shell to connect some (absolutely worthless) led lights attached to my hand guards.

That led to the new shell.

I later sent the POS OEM w/s to Pete who no doubt has some Guzzi Special Tool #324 made for such problems.

I thereafter got the Dart screen -- some of us continue to believe protection has its value, if only to augment our egos.  

That was a MUCH better fit, but I noticed that even with it, my main bracket might -- like me -- be a bit off.  I was very careful this time around, but you might have Wayne check that bracket for trueness.  As does Pete, Wayne probably has tools to measure such things to the micron, not, as do I, to the moron.  

Bill

MalG wrote:

The plastic buckets are fragile. If it doesn't break there, the rim is likely to snap off. Some buckets are extruded more thinly than others. Cracks across the body are not unusual either. The bucket seems to be the same as the V7, Breva & Nevada, if not others. I still have not unearthed the ideal metal replacement bucket.

Yeh I bought one of those off of Ebay and it's too deep. I've seen some folks make it work with mods but I just went ahead and sourced another OEM.

The headlight buckets are cheap garbage and the price Guzzi want for a replacement is a disgrace.

Totally agree.

My GRiSO has developed the 2 telltale cracks from each side of the mounts, after a 1000 mile fast blast around the Scottish Highlands. I drilled the ends of the cracks to stop them running any further and inserted 2 rubber grommets and it seems to have prevented things from getting worse. I must agree with other forumites on here about the thickness and quality of the plastic shell, which could be age - hardening IMHO.