Night Riding (headlights)

OB_Dingo

Registered
Two nights ago I took off for a nice 70 mile ride that took me through portions of San Diego, and then darker, undeveloped areas along Hwy 76, then Hwy 395 (Del Dios Highway too!).

When it came to those darker stretches of curving roads, the low beam just does not inspire one's confidence on unfamiliar roads. I had it on high beam every chance I had, and that was great, but I always flip it to low before it nails a car coming into view. During those short stretches, parts of the road ahead seem to just fall off the face of the planet. Even at 45-50, I'd hate to find something in the road at an inopportune moment.

Has anyone played with the height of the beam? Has it bought you much? Has anyone done it successfully without aiming it high enough to bother the oncoming traffic?
 
There is a light bulb, called the Stanley Raybrig Hyper Halogen bulb...draws the same amperage as a std 55/60 watt bulb , but puts out equivelent light of 125/130 bulb...Retails for about 50 dollars and Las Vegas Police dept, use them in all their bikes out here...They seem to have a visability problem, that people tend to run into them on their motorcycles out here...This bulb is extremely bright but still considered legal in most areas...
 
Dingo, there's nothing wrong with your head lights, they just need to be adjusted. I had the same problem with my busa. When I first got the bike my low beam was pointed at pavement and just about useless. Very scary when you switch from high to low on an unlit road as you found out.

Unfortunately, adjusting the low beam on the Busa is a pain in the ass. You need a long philips screw driver with a fairly thin shaft. Remove the pop fasteners from the access cover under the head light and remove the cover. You then have to find the guide slot for the screw driver shaft that leads to the vertical height adjustment for the low beam. The end of the philips engages this little metal gear wheel way up inside the headlight assembly. I had to repeat the adjustment several times before I was happy with it. I have my low beam set so that when I am 4-5 car lengths back from a standard size car the top of the beam is near the top of the trunk line.
 
Dingo, as a general rule the higher you have your beam adjusted, the better you will fare riding twisties at night, in my experience. You don't want it set so high that it pisses off oncoming drivers. But when you have your bike heeled over in a turn at night, having the beam set way up allows you to see farther "up" through the turn.

A bulb that burns the weeds off the sides of the road is always a good thing. My next suggestion, again based on experience, is to adjust it as high as you can get away with.
 
Thanks for the info everyone.

I'll first try out adjusting the original bulb.

The other bulb is intriguing though. I'm going to have to look into that.
 
I got artic blue lights at an output of 110w for my bike at S.P.W. JT was a big help.. Really cool lights too!!

Sabor
 
S.P.W. Located in Oxnard, CA Telephone:
1-805-385-3676 Ask for JT

Lights I ordered were:

H7 Artic Blue Bulb by NOKYA ($20)
9005 (H3) Blue Bulb by NOKYA ($20)
RayBright High Intensity 1157 (tail lights)($10ea.)

There are hyperwhite lights to but that is the only colors they have right now. The (H3 & H7) use stock power but put out 110w. Picture daylight with a tinge of blue and that is what it is like at night with HI/LOW on!!

Sabor
 
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