MT-09 owners - Have you ridden at night and survived?
Discussion
Specifically the 2017/18 model...
The headlight is pants. I collected mine a fortnight a go and only rode it for the second time on Friday. Rode home from work in the dark along some lanes that I've used for years, and ridden R6s, R1s and my previous Street Triple along, and never noticed a particular issue at night before. But this was bloody useless. As soon as you pitch into a corner you loose all sight and sense of where you are on the road.
Yamaha offer auxiliary lights for it but I don't think I should really have to consider changing or adding extra lights to a brand new bike!
I've seen a couple of YouTubes about it but anyone on here had the same problem?
The headlight is pants. I collected mine a fortnight a go and only rode it for the second time on Friday. Rode home from work in the dark along some lanes that I've used for years, and ridden R6s, R1s and my previous Street Triple along, and never noticed a particular issue at night before. But this was bloody useless. As soon as you pitch into a corner you loose all sight and sense of where you are on the road.
Yamaha offer auxiliary lights for it but I don't think I should really have to consider changing or adding extra lights to a brand new bike!
I've seen a couple of YouTubes about it but anyone on here had the same problem?
It looks like the beam is set far too low on that example, either the rear of the bike has been raised or the rider weighs feck all, they can be adjusted upwards, I would sit on the bike behind a parked car at the distance you would normally follow at 30mph then adjust the beam height so its just below the height of the rear window as a rule of thumb.
N0ddie said:
It's not something I've actually noticed or thought to myself whilst riding, though I tend to look where I'm going as opposed to focusing on my headlight pattern 
I'll remember to give that a go next time... :Pnunpuncher said:
I rode one at night and I did not survive.
If I could get a copy of your death certificate, to put in my case to Yamaha, that would be great! Shadow R1 said:
I've used the xsr at night.
No problem with it's light.
I had the 700 recently too - they're just normal headlights aren't they? I didn't have a problem with that either.No problem with it's light.
MotorsportTom said:
Best way to avoid complaining about headlights on modern or bigger bikes.
Buy an old 2 stroke enduro bike with really soft suspension. Ride that at night and you will vow to never complain about a proper headlight on a proper bike again
Not just 2 strokes ! The xt500 headlight was so bad i used to wait for a car to go past so i could follow it through unlit back roads , 6v light thats main use seemed to be lighting up the front mudguard .Buy an old 2 stroke enduro bike with really soft suspension. Ride that at night and you will vow to never complain about a proper headlight on a proper bike again
I used to do 20 miles of fast, unlit D/C on my old CG125. Candles for lights front and rear. The only lights on the road were at roundabouts, about ten miles apart. Luckily I was usually riding after midnight which meant relatively little traffic. I actually hung LED lights off my backpack, the little repeater lights that cyclists use!
Nothing compares to the light on a Triumph Explorer XRT, it's better than most car headlights!
Nothing compares to the light on a Triumph Explorer XRT, it's better than most car headlights!
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