Adjusting the headlight throw

[colm_c]

I've fitted a set of HIDs to the dipped and main beam - and they're excellent!

They're a bit high though - I've flipped the switch/lever to the down position at the back of the lightpod and this made a good bit of a difference, turning the screw in the middle of the lever either way didn't make any difference that I could see.

Any info on how to adjust the throw? both vertically and/or right to left?

 

[AdamA]

Does it not say in the manual?

 

[Funners]

No it doesn't say in't manwell....just "take to your authorised BMW dealer for adjsutment"

however...
the center one is up/down...
the rhs upper corner one is left/right
I discovered my up/down was stripped and had to perform Surgery to fix it...
this may be your problem as when the adjusters are working the difference if fairly noticable...

 

[colm_c]

Nope, it says to flick the lever down when the bike is heavily loaded otherwise take to a BMW motorrad official technician to adjust.

 

[colm_c]

No it doesn't say in't manwell....just "take to your authorised BMW dealer for adjsutment"

however...
the center one is up/down...
the rhs upper corner one is left/right
I discovered my up/down was stripped and had to perform Surgery to fix it...
this may be your problem as when the adjusters are working the difference if fairly noticable...

How would it get stripped? Is the Surgery major? or can I get it done under warranty?

 

[Funners]

How would it get stripped? Is the Surgery major? or can I get it done under warranty?

the arm inside is just hard plastic and the threaded adjuster goes thru it, so that when you move the adjuster is moves the arm in/out to move the internal reflector to alter the aim...
if the threaded portion of this arm strips (for whatever reason) then the adjsuters no longer work....
surgery, involved me drilling a hole in the bottom of the headlight, fitting a nut to the end of the adjsuter and re-sealing the light unit... about 20 mins work once the light was out...
it WILL be covered under warranty but if your dealer is a bit arsey he make take the view that the HID did it...(it didn't as they actually run COOLER than normal but) so I'd remove the HID before taking it to them..

 

[colm_c]

the arm inside is just hard plastic and the threaded adjuster goes thru it, so that when you move the adjuster is moves the arm in/out to move the internal reflector to alter the aim...
if the threaded portion of this arm strips (for whatever reason) then the adjsuters no longer work....
surgery, involved me drilling a hole in the bottom of the headlight, fitting a nut to the end of the adjsuter and re-sealing the light unit... about 20 mins work once the light was out...
it WILL be covered under warranty but if your dealer is a bit arsey he make take the view that the HID did it...(it didn't as they actually run COOLER than normal but) so I'd remove the HID before taking it to them..

Thanks Funners.

I've a 12k service coming up, I'll take the HID kit out before and get them to replace it while it's getting a service.

 

[AdamA]

Would the big holes in the back of the covers on removing the HIDs not kinda give the game away?

 

[colm_c]

Would the big holes in the back of the covers on removing the HIDs not kinda give the game away?

The new kits from Les have new caps with the cables already in them so no need to drill anything, I can just swop back in the original caps and bulbs.

 

[Funners]

Would the big holes in the back of the covers on removing the HIDs not kinda give the game away?

Rubber bungs are your friend...

The new kits from Les have new caps with the cables already in them so no need to drill anything, I can just swop back in the original caps and bulbs.

or indeed this....

 

[AdamA]

Rubber bungs are your friend...

And still an obvious marker that something has been done to the lights.


But Les's kits at least seem to have that covered.

 

[SilverFish]

Here's the section from the 12GS RepRom on how to check and adjust the headlight beam throw:

I used it as above, but still had to adjust it down some more to prevent blinding some motorists (maybe they were a bit more tetchy than others, but I dont know).

*edit*

Just realised the reprom is USA spec, so in the top image showing the light cast against the wall, for us britisher types the cast light needs to be on the LHS of the centre line, not the RHS as illustrated.

 

[colm_c]

Looks like there's nothing wrong with the adjustor, it just doesn't go down as low as I'd like it!

Oh well.

 

[Funners]

Looks like there's nothing wrong with the adjustor, it just doesn't go down as low as I'd like it!

Oh well.

Thats exactly what mine was doing....going so far then stopping whilst still pointing at the stars....
you should be able to manually adjust it a long way down...
and only have to tuse the dip lever when you are loaded

 

[colm_c]

Thats exactly what mine was doing....going so far then stopping whilst still pointing at the stars....
you should be able to manually adjust it a long way down...
and only have to tuse the dip lever when you are loaded

It's far from pointing at the stars, it's just below level at the moment.

 

[shugie]

It's far from pointing at the stars, it's just below level at the moment.

That's the best I could do with mine, but it passed its MOT no problem. The issue with HIDs is that a lot of light comes out of the top half of the reflector and is a bit dazzling. I tend to tape across this part of the reflector, seems to cut down on light in the wrong place but not where you want light to be.

 

[Padge]

Colm
A few things I've noticed since my change to HID:
I'm very conscious of them dazzling other drivers as I feel this is dangerous (doesn't make you more conspicuous as some Amadán think riding with thier headlight on).

I find the HID's on my Adventure don't dazzle at a distance and make the bike very conspicuous especially with normal fog lights... I do find I get problems in traffice though.
If your light is angled slightly down it's probably at the right position, but it's still gonna dazzle that car in front of you in traffic as it almost lines up with their rear view mirror (if you're right behind it) as you get a few meters away it falls out of line with mirror so not a problem.
As much as it pi$$es some motorists off, I don't see any point changing it as you'd have to give a 20degree downward tilt to keep em happy.

Be careful using the adjuster too much to drop the light. The little arm and screw adjust is conected to a small cup and ball inside the light housing and they just love popping out causing the light to point skyward.

 

[colm_c]

Colm
A few things I've noticed since my change to HID:
I'm very conscious of them dazzling other drivers as I feel this is dangerous (doesn't make you more conspicuous as some Amadán think riding with thier headlight on).

I find the HID's on my Adventure don't dazzle at a distance and make the bike very conspicuous especially with normal fog lights... I do find I get problems in traffice though.
If your light is angled slightly down it's probably at the right position, but it's still gonna dazzle that car in front of you in traffic as it almost lines up with their rear view mirror (if you're right behind it) as you get a few meters away it falls out of line with mirror so not a problem.
As much as it pi$$es some motorists off, I don't see any point changing it as you'd have to give a 20degree downward tilt to keep em happy.

Be careful using the adjuster too much to drop the light. The little arm and screw adjust is conected to a small cup and ball inside the light housing and they just love popping out causing the light to point skyward.

I've had pretty much the same experience - the lights are only dazzling when right up behind someone or filtering through traffic - from a distance they make the bike stand out more.

 

[AdamA]

the lights are only dazzling when right up behind someone or filtering through traffic

Quite frankly, they can cope for the few seconds you will be dazzling them.
It's not like you are dazzling them out on the open road where they might run off at high speed cos they are momentarily blinded.

 

[Padge]

Quite frankly, they can cope for the few seconds you will be dazzling them.
It's not like you are dazzling them out on the open road where they might run off at high speed cos they are momentarily blinded.

The problem is not them running off the road.. That ain't gonna happen.
They just can't judge what's coming towards them (Speed, distance, what type of vehicle) so they keep their line or worse veer onto your side.
Especially important when filtering so they can tell the difference between a bike coming up behind and just aonther car/white van with a badly adjusted headlight in the gridlock

I've had pretty much the same experience - the lights are only dazzling when right up behind someone or filtering through traffic - from a distance they make the bike stand out more.

Depending on your riding you could set the lights up for what you need.
If I'm commuting I'd adjust the lights to a low setting so the higher flip of the adjust lever would have them at the "normal" height or lower and flip em down when in stop go traffic.

I found that cars were more prone to cut across you if they couldn't clearly idenify what it is and how far away it is.

Made a big difference commuting on the hellhole M50 (along with White helmet and sam-browne)