I mean that maybe rotating whole light to create shallow v shaped cutoff may help on left turns... Some more light to left side... I currently use hella Bi-halogen projector (with 35w hid) for hi/lo beam. And Bosch working light (with 50w HID) when i need light to whole front sector. Pattern is nice even and round, ~180 degrees horizontal and vertical...
Wouldn't rotating the light just rotate the hard cuttoff from horizontal towards vertical? I am not sure where the V-shape comes from... but what's up with the Euro regulators anyways; someone's not got their thinkin' cap on putting a hard horizontal cuttoff on a motorcycle (unless nobody leans in Europe).
Hi Meaty. Dunno if you guys get the same lens as us Arsetralians do, but the low beam lens here seems to be a "universal" type fitting, in that as far as I can tell you get the left hand drive or right hand drive effect by just turning the light housing in the frame and using the alternate screw holes. This means the lens isn't actually cut to throw a proper side pattern, and will always give a less then ideal result. It sucks balls. I tried adjusting mine but it just made it worse. So I made it so the HID doesn't blind oncoming drivers, but it sure burns the eyeballs out of folks I pass as it reflects into their eyes via the side mirror. That problem is difficult to adjust out with the weird lens. I have managed to minimise the effect, but it remains. I'd love a proper lens, life would be so much simpler in the dark.
Hi Godsilla, I don't think there is a solution. The hard-cutoff was designed for cars that don't lean in corners. For a car no matter what they are doing it always look like this: For a motorcycle, leaned in a corner the inside of the corner looses illumination: I would call this a fatal flaw (I feel in jeopardy every time I ride at night). On a curvy highway through the hills I was passed by an 18-wheeler because I couldn't see through the corners... as soon as you "fix" this then you blind cars/peds when you are not in a corner.
I noticed when I switch over to the adventure setup.. the way it sits stationary and doesnt turn with the forks is kinda wonky... as opposed to my acerbis mask that the lights turn when I turn ... I havent dialed in my lighting but winter and the first flakes are heereeee
So turn the high beam on in the corner and off in the straight. It's a good reason to stick with the halogen high beam instead of HID. There are a couple of ways to fix this. Use a dim bulb in a lens with lousy cutoff. Your eyes will adjust to less overall light, but you have about the same amount of stray light above the cutoff. Adjusting the beam pattern as you turn also works, but implementing it well is tricky.
Hey Luke, yeah, maybe just running the high beam is the way to go. It's not like I am a car w/ two high beam halogens, or a import-modder w/9000K HIDs in crappy halogen housings. They hurt my eyes. So remove the cutoff and put a lower output bulb in there, or get a cutoff that automatically stays level as you turn... what about a dark heavy fluid sandwiched between two plates of glass? Probably wouldn't respond fast enough. I went looking for an animated GIF of one of those things they used to (still?) sell but all I found worth posting was this:
Um, could you be a little more specific? There's a lot of 'things' for sale Anything that depends on gravity isn't likely to work very well- there's that whole centrifugal force thing. The one that lets bikes lean way over without falling. Oh, and, nice picture.
Dont just use the high ... thats all I have on my faring setup until I get a 90mm flood and without a flood, sharp mtn cornering sucks bad... its ok on straight roads but man do I have a hard time between that and the reflection without the dash cover ... I had to put a temporary visor made of a plastic jug the top 3/4of light (think baseball cap) to keep it from flashing up the faring
Yeah... they were two pieces of glass making a thin, vertical sandwich that was partially filled with blue liquid, and it would rock back and forth to make waves. Does that crappy description help? If the fluid was viscous enough it would not be too jumpy, but not too viscous so that it would respond quickly to leaning... probably not a happy medium eh? Maybe a damping structure to keep a thinner fluid from being too jumpy?
Its just cheap Bi-Halogen version with aftermarket HID... And with both HCR and DCR stamps... Current setup, total 85w of HID lights... High beam, low beam and flood. All lights on. Distant to barn is ~210m (~689ft)
HAMSAR LIGHTING http://www.hamsar.com/Content/EN/Products_Browse.aspx?ProductType=Lighting An offroad racing group was touting this mfg - MADE IN CANADA 90mm Low Beam projector in case you were wondering, the 640a uses 90mm lamps so these might be direct replacements BUT this lamp uses less than ONE AMP. DOT approved. They also pimp other lamps such as HIDs in the 90mm housing: Interestingly they don't offer a high beam HID; all their high beams are halogen (H9s). Anyone know why? Just another alternative.
HMMMMM! One of the tabs on my Low beam is broken, this could be just the fix! LED even! Ouch $399 for 1 LED low beam! I did buy a pair of the ADVMonster aux LED lights, oh my god bright and there are new models, even brighter just released!
Yeah, good lamps are not cheap; the stock ZKWs are... well let me look... hey, less that $200 from Munn Racing. So you would pay a premium for an LED low beam. It uses about 1A, and the halogens are using 4-5 amps (out of 9-14A available from the charging system). The only good reasons I can see are (a) if you really needed amps for something else (heated gear, etc.) or (b) you'd like to not change a bulb for some time (as the LEDs last alot longer than halogens or HID capsules).
W2S, Are you running both hi and lo beams together? Been using that system down here in C. America on the hell for curvey roads with switchbacks from hell. Seems to work pretty good for me. I have 35W HIDs on both sides. Heck of a lot of light with both fired up and no dead time shifting beams going from low to hi. Run 1 on lo, 2 on hi, 2 into the corners. bill
I am going to try one of these http://www.adventure-spec.com/shop/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=79 you can have them in 2 different lenses bought one 2ndhand for 50euro, good to try one
