full beam?

[DucatiGary]

not another anti biker post (my name might give that one away) but can we have a kind word in the ear of those a little short in head dept and ask them not to run round in daylight with full beam on?

i went to town today and counted 7 bikes with full beam on . . . . why? it was 14:00 oclock ffs

it just shouts im a newb biker who doesnt have a clue, can we all ask them not to do it pls as its giving us a bad name.

taa

[Hooli]

cant say ive ever seen the point meself, if someone doesnt see a dipped light they wont see a mainbeam one either.

[agent006]

It's usually the ones on a dark bike in dark leathers and a dark helmet that feel the need to use full beam.

[EvoBarry]

Annoyingly, my Fazer has daytime running lights so I don't even get the choice of switching them off when the suns behind me. Quite worrying on occasions I must say

[freddytin]

agent006 said:

It's usually the ones on a dark bike in dark leathers and a dark helmet that feel the need to use full beam.

Would stand out better than "Dayglo Derrick" in daylight ,..... if, the headlight was switched off.

Can't say I've noticed any bikes on full beam here in the North West. Just the usual Beemer X5 herberts, with their ridiculously bright eye level lights .

[Twit]

EvoBarry said:

Annoyingly, my Fazer has daytime running lights so I don't even get the choice of switching them off when the suns behind me. Quite worrying on occasions I must say

Same with my 1200 rt. In fact the lights on that are so bright on dip that I get so many people ranting at me thinking I'm on full. God knows what it would be like if I was on full!

[Silent1]

It's even better when someone adjusts their headlights when they're not sat on the bike meaning as soon as they sit on it they're lighting the sky up again, meaning dipped beam is more like Retina beam. Countless times i saw it when i was on my bike.

[Carl-H]

Really annoys me when people do this. Had a bloke following me and I just could not tell how close he was or where he was going. Don't see too many though.

[y2blade]

cant say ive ever noticed this on cars or bikes!!!

[DucatiGary]

headlights, dipped headlights or normal headlights.

non of them bother me, put them on if you want, they dont harm anyone.

full beam blinds people, even if its only 2 headlights as stated above the newer bikes have really powerfull lights now and on full (high) beam its kinda painfull, even in daylight.

I would do it back to them if it wasnt for the fact id be blinding them also and could possibly cause a accident.

[y2blade]

why not just give them a quick "flash" ??

im sure they'd notice and dip theirs!!

Edited by y2blade on Monday 11th February 13:54

[Hyperion]

I've never seen a biker on full beam deliberately either.
The only time it looks like they're on full beam is if they accelerate hard - the back squats down and up goes the beam.

[Twit]

y2blade said:

why not just give them a quick "flash" ??

im sure they'd notice and dip theirs!!

Edited by y2blade on Monday 11th February 13:54

People do that to me literally every journey, I have never ever owned another vehicle that upsets people with lights so much. Thing is it is always on dip cos' you really never need full beam and they are properly adjusted! I think in my case its because the RT is just so tall and the whole front of the huge fairing is just lights! I think there are five on the front and 4 come on when its dipped with the fifth on when full beam kicks in!

[Busa_Rush]

Twit said:

y2blade said:

why not just give them a quick "flash" ??

im sure they'd notice and dip theirs!!

Edited by y2blade on Monday 11th February 13:54

People do that to me literally every journey, I have never ever owned another vehicle that upsets people with lights so much. Thing is it is always on dip cos' you really never need full beam and they are properly adjusted! I think in my case its because the RT is just so tall and the whole front of the huge fairing is just lights! I think there are five on the front and 4 come on when its dipped with the fifth on when full beam kicks in!

Twit, sounds like you need to get your headlight adjusted down a bit, mine from the factory was the same. Doesn't help that your bike is softly spring so when you accelerate it points the headlight up.

Not only will it piss people off but it makes them think you're flashing them when you approach a junction so they pull acorss you and it also stops car drivers seeing how far away you are at night . . . you're just a bright light, the eye can't tell how far away you are if it's too bright.

[y2blade]

Busa_Rush said:

Twit said:

y2blade said:

why not just give them a quick "flash" ??

im sure they'd notice and dip theirs!!

Edited by y2blade on Monday 11th February 13:54

People do that to me literally every journey, I have never ever owned another vehicle that upsets people with lights so much. Thing is it is always on dip cos' you really never need full beam and they are properly adjusted! I think in my case its because the RT is just so tall and the whole front of the huge fairing is just lights! I think there are five on the front and 4 come on when its dipped with the fifth on when full beam kicks in!

Twit, sounds like you need to get your headlight adjusted down a bit, mine from the factory was the same. Doesn't help that your bike is softly spring so when you accelerate it points the headlight up.

Not only will it piss people off but it makes them think you're flashing them when you approach a junction so they pull acorss you and it also stops car drivers seeing how far away you are at night . . . you're just a bright light, the eye can't tell how far away you are if it's too bright.

good point Busa

[Twit]

Fair point! Its going in for a service in the next 2 weeks, so I'll get them to look at it. Its driving me mad, so much so that one time I got flashed I slowed down to show the guy behind that I wasnt on full beam!! Think he realised...

[black-k1]

Twit said:

Fair point! Its going in for a service in the next 2 weeks, so I'll get them to look at it. Its driving me mad, so much so that one time I got flashed I slowed down to show the guy behind that I wasnt on full beam!! Think he realised...

The BMWs have a very simple to use headlight adjuster in the fairing. At the back of the headlight, inside the fairing towards the near side, there will be a white(ish) plastic nut with a small plastic lever mechanism over the top of it.

Looking at it from the back it looks something like:

    -----
   /     \
  /       \
+===========+
  \       /
   \     /
    -----

The lever can be flipped down to instantly lower the beam of the headlight. (Useful if you have added a heavy pillion and/or luggage.) You can also turn the nut clockwise (as you look at it from the back of the bike) to lower the beam height.

Try this (not in strong sunlight as you want easily be able to see the beam). Put your bike on its main stand pointing at a wall about 5 to 10m away. On dip beam the ‘cut off’ line should be obvious. If you have a piece of chalk, mark the cut off line on the wall. Turn the adjuster until the cut off line is about 20 – 30mm lower than it was before then try riding the bike. If further adjustment is needed, repeat the process.

[Twit]

Thanks for that. I'll check it a bit later!

[Fire99]

I get it alot on my daily commute and even considering im a biker i can certainly understand how the car drivers feel when i take the car.

In the TVR even if i dip the mirror i still get blinded by the side mirrors.
Saying that Vans who load the back up and dont know how to adjust their beam are just as bad.. (brand new vans as well so they have in-car adjusters)
And dont get me started on Range Rovers with their projector headlight thingies..

Rant over!

but i do agree some bikers are making themselves (and the rest of us) unpopluar with the full beam filtering thing..

[Hooli]

bike lights always seem to be out of adjustment when you get them - do dealers ever check?
the light on the 14 was so high & far right i could see over the crash barrier but NOT the barrier itself. i guess so many people only ride by day that they dont notice.