I have done a lot of reading about headlights on this site, and there's a lot of good discussion (much of it concerning the 1050, which is very different from the 955), but no definitive answers, so I thought I would contribute some thoughts.
A fast-ish night ride in poor conditions a few nights ago led me to resolve to do something about the lights. 98% of the time, average to acceptable; 2% of the time frighteningly poor. The beam pattern as the bike came to me (9 years old, 3 owners) was as follows:
Dipped beam - good side-to-side spread, poor range but good enough for moderate riding with other vehicles about. Huge dark hole in the middle of the beam, right in front of the bike. Like someone with a gap in their front teeth.
Main beam - nice white cone, but hits the road 50ft in front of the bike and too narrow. As soon as the road gets curvy, main beam disappears and dipped beam is actually the better of the two. Any significant corner has you riding into a black space.
The dipped pattern suggests to me that the beams are set too far apart and don't overlap. The main beam suggests the opposite - too much overlap. My plan of action is to get the beam pattern as perfect as it can be with the original lights before I consider expensive upgrades. That way I will know I am not wasting my money.
I took off the cockpit fairing (mirrors, infill panels, 2 screen screws, 10 allen bolts) first. I had already successfully changed a bulb without taking it off, but the adjusters are just too inaccessible for my big hands, so off it came. I lined the bike up about 20 ft from my garage door as the light started to fade. I put some permanent marker spots level with the bulb tips and marked a line about 3" below this. (If you haven't done this before, there is an excellent how-to here).
What I found was that the LH beam was about right, perhaps a little low, but the 'flick' up to the left (we ride on the left here) was in the right place. However, I could not see any beam from the RH lamp, even when I covered the LH with some cloth. And yet it looked quite bright to the eyes ... Then I looked again and realised that the RH dipped beam was set so low it didn't even hit the garage door. It was lighting up the ground. I adjusted it so that it was level with the LH beam, and moved both of them left and right, but I could not replicate the 'black hole' in the middle that is so obvious on the road. So I left the horizontal adjustment pretty much as it was.
All went back together the next morning (don't forget to reconnect the indicators and pilot lamp) and the following day I tested it on the way into work. It is much, much better. The dipped beam is a solid mass of white with a good cut-off, right where it needs to be, although there is still a slight dark spot in the middle. I thought I might have set them a little too high, but nobody flashed me, so perhaps it's OK. The main beam is also quite good in terms of distance, now that it is pointing where it should be, but it is still far too narrow.
It seems to me that the problem here is not light intensity but the pattern of the lenses. My ST1300 had the same set-up (2 x H4) but the lights were stunningly good, as good as my car's, so it's not the power that is lacking. This leads me to think that increasing the light output of the bulbs isn't a solution, as you will only get a brighter version of an imperfect pattern. Perhaps HIDs throw the light differently - I don't know. But I suspect that the perfect solution for me will probably be very precise alignment of the existing set-up, maybe replace the bulbs with high-efficiency alternatives (those that are sold as '+50%', '+80%' and so on) and two additional spots to the sides to light up the areas either side of the cone of main beam. Dipped beam is now acceptable for me, it's only main beam that I need to improve. I'm not keen on adding ugly additions to a very sleek bike (if I wanted that I would have bought a BMW), so something very small, discreet and powerful will be what I am looking for, perhaps mounted below the indicators or the mirrors.
Any other thoughts very welcome.
A fast-ish night ride in poor conditions a few nights ago led me to resolve to do something about the lights. 98% of the time, average to acceptable; 2% of the time frighteningly poor. The beam pattern as the bike came to me (9 years old, 3 owners) was as follows:
Dipped beam - good side-to-side spread, poor range but good enough for moderate riding with other vehicles about. Huge dark hole in the middle of the beam, right in front of the bike. Like someone with a gap in their front teeth.
Main beam - nice white cone, but hits the road 50ft in front of the bike and too narrow. As soon as the road gets curvy, main beam disappears and dipped beam is actually the better of the two. Any significant corner has you riding into a black space.
The dipped pattern suggests to me that the beams are set too far apart and don't overlap. The main beam suggests the opposite - too much overlap. My plan of action is to get the beam pattern as perfect as it can be with the original lights before I consider expensive upgrades. That way I will know I am not wasting my money.
I took off the cockpit fairing (mirrors, infill panels, 2 screen screws, 10 allen bolts) first. I had already successfully changed a bulb without taking it off, but the adjusters are just too inaccessible for my big hands, so off it came. I lined the bike up about 20 ft from my garage door as the light started to fade. I put some permanent marker spots level with the bulb tips and marked a line about 3" below this. (If you haven't done this before, there is an excellent how-to here).
What I found was that the LH beam was about right, perhaps a little low, but the 'flick' up to the left (we ride on the left here) was in the right place. However, I could not see any beam from the RH lamp, even when I covered the LH with some cloth. And yet it looked quite bright to the eyes ... Then I looked again and realised that the RH dipped beam was set so low it didn't even hit the garage door. It was lighting up the ground. I adjusted it so that it was level with the LH beam, and moved both of them left and right, but I could not replicate the 'black hole' in the middle that is so obvious on the road. So I left the horizontal adjustment pretty much as it was.
All went back together the next morning (don't forget to reconnect the indicators and pilot lamp) and the following day I tested it on the way into work. It is much, much better. The dipped beam is a solid mass of white with a good cut-off, right where it needs to be, although there is still a slight dark spot in the middle. I thought I might have set them a little too high, but nobody flashed me, so perhaps it's OK. The main beam is also quite good in terms of distance, now that it is pointing where it should be, but it is still far too narrow.
It seems to me that the problem here is not light intensity but the pattern of the lenses. My ST1300 had the same set-up (2 x H4) but the lights were stunningly good, as good as my car's, so it's not the power that is lacking. This leads me to think that increasing the light output of the bulbs isn't a solution, as you will only get a brighter version of an imperfect pattern. Perhaps HIDs throw the light differently - I don't know. But I suspect that the perfect solution for me will probably be very precise alignment of the existing set-up, maybe replace the bulbs with high-efficiency alternatives (those that are sold as '+50%', '+80%' and so on) and two additional spots to the sides to light up the areas either side of the cone of main beam. Dipped beam is now acceptable for me, it's only main beam that I need to improve. I'm not keen on adding ugly additions to a very sleek bike (if I wanted that I would have bought a BMW), so something very small, discreet and powerful will be what I am looking for, perhaps mounted below the indicators or the mirrors.
Any other thoughts very welcome.
I rode to work in fog this morning, when you can see the beam patterns very clearly. Left dip is much brighter than the right-hand, and the dark spot between them is still there. That's either the RH lens diffusing the beam more, or an issue with voltage drop. Main beam is pretty good in a straight line, but poor to the sides. More work to be done!
