Triumphrat

hkt100 · 08-01-2007

Does anyone have a simple adjustment remedy so the headlight footprint actually hits the road in front and not the overhead power lines?

Slap me if I am wrong but is it possible to adjust without replacing the lights?

Every time a tech adjusts the side bolts, the cantankerous thing assumes first position again.

Are all headlights maladjusted like this?

RonD · 08-01-2007

right the way i do it is when its dark take the bike out, find a nice stetch of road where someone wont run over you.(very important)
slacken the two side bolts on your headlight turn your lights on ,and position the light footprint where you think its ok , retension the headlight nuts( not very tecknical but it works.)
havent done my bonny yet as its ok ,but there is usualy two screws in bottom of the shell for sideways adjustment..

pabonne · 08-01-2007

To get the stock headlight to illuminate the road it's best to drive in daylight. The best I could ever do was to get the beam to shine half-way up the tree line and I think at that point the lamp was pointed directly at the front fender.

Seriously, the trick is to make sure the little rubber washers turn with the lamp. You want the whole assembly to angle down. Otherwise, like you're discovering, it just settles back into the owl-spotting position. Part of what you're fighting is an ungodly amount of wires jutting from the back of the lamp. Since they're coming in from below, there's a natural pull there that wants to angle the lamp upward.

BTW - I did end up replacing the stocker with a Sylvania Silverstar H6024 sealed beam lamp. Huge huge difference.

mn9130s · 08-01-2007

There have been a couple of threads here about headlight aiming, you can use the search function & find them pretty quickly. I just replaced the headlamp with a Cibie unit & an Osram bulb I got from Daniel Stern. No comparison, I never could get the stocker hi beam to stop illuminating the trees. I guess that was from when Triumphs were used in WW2, you could spot incoming Nazi bombers. I've noticed that people in cars seem to actually see me now, I changed out the horn for dual Fiamms for those that still dont.

raproe · 08-01-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by pabonne

... BTW - I did end up replacing the stocker with a Sylvania Silverstar H6024 sealed beam lamp. Huge huge difference.

+1. It's much better than stock.

Rich

ohiorider · 08-01-2007

A basic adjustment procedure I use is the following. (Also, replaced the stock lamp assembly with the Syl 6024 lamp, per Raproe response). Much better than stock. I use electrical tape for the horizontal mark.

Bob
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Getting a correctly aimed headlight is straightforward. You need to make a couple of measurements and then aim the light at a flat wall, as follows:

With the bike on its wheels and you astride, have a helper measure the distance from the floor to the center of the headlight lens.

Pick a flat wall where you can locate the bike so the headlight is 17 feet from the wall. Place a horizontal mark on the wall two (2) inches lower than the height of the center of the headlight.

The headlight beam (on low beam) should be relatively flat on the top, and may rise rather sharply at the right edge. Adjust the headlight vertically so that the flat top of the beam is just up to that line (marked two inches down at 17 feet).

Horizontal adjustment should center the beam ahead of the line of the bike.

Paul Glaves
Paul is the Technical Editor of the BMW Owners News, the monthly magazine of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. Paul can be contacted at PGlaves@aol.com

357Bob · 08-01-2007

I aim my low beam where it just almost shines in the back window of cars in front of me. It shines on the trunk lid. But that is with an H4 with sharp cut-off line.

wenzel850 · 08-01-2007

Not me, I aim my high beam so that it shines at the same height as most outside rear view mirrors. I want the cagers to see my sorry old arse before they run it over. Then I ride in the left side of the lane and make sure they see me. Of course this didn't work real well this am. A woman driving a Harley Davidson F-150 tried real hard to take my space on the highway at the same time I was in it.

I see people adjusting their day/night mirror in the middle of the day, then I'm pretty sure they know I'm behind them.

Yea I'm sure I piss off some drivers, but like the great Waldo Wild Wheels always said 'better to piss them off than to be run down by them', old Waldo he was a smart man.

For you who don't know who Waldo is. He's one of the voices in my head..

rfespinosa · 08-02-2007

I find it impossible to get both the low and high beam aimed correctly because there is too much difference in aim between the two. If I set the high beam where I want it then the low beam is too low. If I set the low beam where I want it then the high beam is too high.

We need a medium and a high beam.

Getting to the point of the original question, I have not had a problem with the aim changing on it's own, the key is the rubber bushing and steel washer and the nut being tight.

Ron

hkt100 · 08-02-2007

Thanks for the tips. Since I am in Hong Kong, I am unfamiliar with those replacement parts. I did put a brighter bulb in when I first got the Bonnie.
Maybe I'll try to reset with lower tension on the rubber washers.