TOPIC:

So over the past 10 years of owning my Z1, I've had to replace a burned out tail light bulb 5 or 6 times.
This is both with the original wiring, and a new wiring harness, as well as an aftermarket housing and the stock Z1 light housing.

The fact that it's the first light to burn out makes sense given that it's the one that's on all the time, but still I think 5 times in 10k-15k miles is excessive.

Is this something anyone else is experiencing?

In most cases the light bulb didn´t burned out. The intensive vibrations, like a loose light bulb socket, can break the light bulb filament really quick.

Oh I definitely agree.
After the third time or so of it happening, I looked into LED bulbs, but the general consensus I found was that those were even less durable than the standard ones. That was a few years ago however.

I know Webike sells some pretty nice LED panels that fit inside the standard Z1 lens.  I'll probably look into that.

It doesn't help that most of my riding is at 75-85mph just to keep up with traffic  (texas... the one star state.... it's like mad max here).

For sure something is wrong. I've owned my 1977 KZ650-C1 since it was new (44 years / more than 62,000 miles) and it still has the original bulb that works fine.  Ed

Vibration is the problem. It'll kill bulbs quicker than a quick thing. Make sure all the rear fender and light bracket bolts are tight and the rubber dampers are in place and still er,.... Rubber rather than solid/split blocks of old rock solid ex rubber. 

The quality of bulbs produced today probably has something to do with it.

I would look into the led panel. More for the instant on benefit.

I initially tried a Philips led bulb and that didn't work. You need a well-designed and polished reflector to match the output of a bulb with older taillights. The led was much dimmer compared to the bulb. This was 4 years ago though. 

You may be pushing a higher voltage through the incandescents causing them to die faster.

 

Yea, I'll likely get this:

japan.webike.net/products/19873418.html

I just need to see if I'll need a resistor to keep the brake light failure indicator from turning on in the tach.

Almost all of the bulbs on my Z1B are original...including the tail light.

I upgraded to all LED’s on my ‘78. I had to leave the brake light dash light as incandescent to get everything to work. if I tried to install an LED in its place the brake light failure relay would make the dash bulb glow dimly. I upgraded to LED flasher units and everything works sweet. Does the Z1 have the brake light failure relay?

Z1's were fairly notorious for overcharging.  Mama Kaw made many mods to the voltage regulators because of it.

After making sure the battery is fully charged & healthy, check the running voltage.  14.2V ~ 14.5V @ 3,000 RPM is fine.  Over 15V is not.   It could be that overvoltage is reducing bulb life.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

checking charging voltage is a good idea... though the wiring harness is brand new and the RR is a new PMC unit as well.