Lights (again)

[Yodagoat]

The lights on my 1150 are utter shite. I have tried adjusting them but when i have a useable dipped beam my main beam points really high. Is this normal?
I've read all about HID's which i'm keen to do, but I dont want to upgrade lights that only needed correctly adjusted.
Are aux lights better than HID's?

 

[stolzy]

The lights are crap for two reasons.

Firstly they are no where near bright enough and secondly they don't point where you want them to. Anyone who has tried to do alpine passes at night will testify to this - they illuminate the wall in front, but not the road in the direction you're turning.

The first can be solved by HIDs which work great. The second, I presume by some auxiliary lights appropriatly adjusted.

 

[Boxergs]

Many on here swear by Hid's. I had both dipped and main beam done but what with blown bulbs and corroding ballasts I went back to standard bulbs and fitted a light bar and standart spots instead. Now I still have a good spread of light when I need it on unlit roads and there is the 3 light triangle which makes the bike more conspicuous to other road users.

All down to personal preference really.

 

[essjay]

A HID conversion to your dipped beam will make a huge difference. Personally I'm not too keen on HID'ing your high beam as it takes a few seconds to warm up to full brightness. Your best best for max light I think is the following:

HID dipped beam but adjusted low so your are not blinding drivers ahead of you
HID fogs
Osram Nightbreaker Bulb in your high beam
As a bonus something like Hella FF50 spots (again with the Osram Nightbreaker bulbs) switched with your high beam or if you want to go mental, get the FF50's hid'ified.....

Again, personally, I've never had a blown HID bulb or rusty ballast.

 

[waterloo700]

I swapped bulbes from Osram to Phillips (as recommended in Ride mag). Big improvement but that's on an 1100 which, as everyone who matters will agree, is a much superior bike!

 

[Onwalkabout]

For your adjustment woes there are two screws beside the high beam you can use to adjust the beam, so you get a decent (?) throw from the low beam without the high beam trying to light the clouds. The standard lights are crap however, and without changing the bulbs you won't have a lot of joy. I have HIDs on high and low. High is a little slow at lighting up (2 or three seconds from cold) but after they warm up a little they come on almost immediately. Besides, the low beam is so good it is not a huge issue. I would certainly recommend HIDs for the low beam at the very least.

 

[Yodagoat]

Thanks for that guys.

Onwalkaout, are the adjustment screws the two on the left of the main beam?

Thanks again

Mike

 

[DutchBryn]

If adjusting headlight 'throw', do make sure your screw driver is as exact a fit as possible. Very soft heads, those m. screws.

 

[Mech]

HID on dip you wont regret it best mod on a bike i have ever done don't use main now

Mech