Proper way to aim headlight

[gapper]

Hello there

well i finally road my bike at night the other day on my way home from work. wow were the low ever bad, almost pointed at the ground, would not wan to be on the Hwy at night , switched to High beam and much better. i was wondering is there a proper way to aim the head light? on a car you simply line up the lights at a certain height at a known distance and you are good to go. is there a simply way to do it on the bike or is it just a buy guess and by golly!

thanks

 

[650Skull]

No it is not guess work. If you don't have a manual it is important that you do. It is covered in the Clymer but not the haynes.

A = Height at the centre of your light

B = 16ft,( 5Meters), from a wall and

A = center of the High beam light on the wall, with a rider on the bike. Level surface and make sure the wall is a light colour to mark the A, center height

 

[xjwmx]

It's going to vary with what you're using for a light. I have a Bosch shell with an H4 bulb and I just did center height of shell to center of beam at 25 feet (any other distance would be the same center) on high beam. It aims just over the trunk on cars in front of me but not into their mirror.

Someday I'm going to park in the middle of a long, lonely stretch of road and simply aim it where it lets me see the furthest. That would be the best postion,

 

[650Skull]

It's going to vary with what you're using for a light. I have a Bosch shell with an H4 bulb and I just did center height of shell to center of beam at 25 feet (any other distance would be the same center) on high beam. It aims just over the trunk on cars in front of me but not into their mirror.

Someday I'm going to park in the middle of a long, lonely stretch of road and simply aim it where it lets me see the furthest. That would be the best postion,

xjwmx, lol, not a very responsabe answer, teaching a novice to do things in a half arsed manner could cause an accident

gapper, To clear up my statment

A = Center of the headlight from the ground with a person sitting on the bike.
A = the same height on a wall, mark it. Adjust the high beam so the center is on the mark, A, at a distance of 5 meters.

That is by the Manual. Here and Here. are a couple of links, there is a discrepancy as one has the headlight set up for 2" below mark A on the wall.The priciple is the same

 

[gggGary]

Really a tape measure and all? Can't say as I have ever done that on a bike, flat road at night is my "tool" And flat is optional around here. I think you need a 10mm wrench with you if the headlight assembly is still stock.

 

[xjwmx]

xjwmx, lol, not a very responsabe answer, teaching a novice to do things in a half arsed manner could cause an accident

If I'm half-assed then you can't be more than about 1/1000th assed. I told him to do exactly what you told him to do. Worry about your own self

And...what is the purpose of the light? To see as well as possible. Simply aim the light such that you can see as well as possible and you've won the game, impossible to argue with. But maybe not for you.

 

[xjwmx]

Really a tape measure and all? Can't say as I have ever done that on a bike, flat road at night is my "tool" And flat is optional around here. I think you need a 10mm wrench with you if the headlight assembly is still stock.

That's almost as irresponsible as me Do you want to cause an accident?

 

[Tomterrific]

I have adjusted lights for years. The way I do it is:

While I'm riding, I reach over the bars and grab teh top of the headlight and yank it up.

Too high? I use my fist to hammer it back down.

Perfect,
Tom Graham

 

[gggGary]

I have adjusted lights for years. The way I do it is:

While I'm riding, I reach over the bars and grab teh top of the headlight and yank it up.

Too high? I use my fist to hammer it back down.

Perfect,
Tom Graham

I was try'n to be more scientiffical than that.

 

[DirtyErnie]

Responsibility depends on the traffic level of the straight, flat road you've selected. See " Lake of the Woods County, MN"

 

[xjwmx]

If you do lots of wheelies it might pay to point it toward the sky.

 

[XSLeo]

Your High beam should be just a bit below the centerline of the headlight. This helps not blind oncoming traffic.
On all the xs's I've had it takes a Phillips head screwdriver to adjust. One on the chrome headlight trim ring to adjust left to right and one under the headlight for up and down.
Leo