I can't imagine there is a good answer to this but is there anything that can be done about the headlight spread at night while going through sharp curves leaned over? I am totally blind doing this unless I remember to switch on the high beams. They help some.
I have never had this problem on any other bike.
Maybe aiming the left side more right? I dont think I could do that enough to help. As it is the left side shoots up into the air and the right side shoots down into the ground. Everything is fine while not leaned or leaned a little.
The only thing I could suggest is auxiliary lighting. Maybe mounting some LED Lights on the fork tubes, I've seen quite a few adv and touring bikes with this setup but never got a chance and questioned the riders about them.
You joke with that, but there are HID setups worn on your helmet. Granted, they are meant for off roaders who love to ride trails at night, but they provide plenty of light in the direction you look.
More complicated setup (but without the headgear) would be auxiliary lights just for lighting turns, controlled by a tilt sensor.
I rarely ride at night and then there are streetlights galore.
Recall one late evening ride back from the Nurburgring to Spangdahlem. Found my 4th gen (both lights on) woefully inadequate in fast/sharp turns too. Slow down the only recourse
I know when I rode off road (early/mid-80's), I put dual headlights on my ATC, one was a spot beam and one wide beam, this was also something that Honda also did on their Baja racers (2 and 3 wheelers) but I think this was more for high speed runs than for corners. The helmet light is also a good idea but would be limited by battery or tied to a cable. Check out Mouse McCoy's setup in the movie 'Dust to Glory'.
Am I the only 5th gen guy to notice this? If I am leaning hard at about 40mph I honestly can not see in front of me. I can see the ground on my right nicely about 10 feet in front of me. And I can see bloody Saturn and her 7 rings in the sky to my left and up. The light beam from my bike is flat like a piece of plywood. Again it's fine going straight. I guess aux lighting is the only help and that would totally experimental and pricy to boot. Oh well.
Apparently that is exactly why BMW went to adaptive lighting as optional on the K1600GT. That is a downside to fairing mounted lighting systems... My Duc is possibly the worst: low shines down at the front wheel and the highs light the night sky or trees above the roadway...
Assuming your VFR's headlights are aimed correctly you'll just have to use main beams. The cutout on dipped beam to protect oncoming drivers means less illumination on RH bends. The most cost effective solution is to use main beams on dark, twisty roads and dip them for oncoming vehicles as required. You'd have to switch aux lights the same way so not much to be gained.
My frame mounted BMW R100RS light seems fine. I think is a much less "flat" beam. And a single lamp as well.
I have not had the VFR for very long. And for the most part the lights are fine at night. I just hit this one 270 degree tight highway on-ramp that I have a lot of fun with in daylight, but the first time at night and I almost crapped myself. I threw her into it and was instantly blind..
I must adapt. But really I was shocked that honda would put me in that situation.
I've noticed fifth gen low beams really stink. Even for straight ahead. Worthless for spotting deer on the roadsides. I now have a policy when riding at night, esp. in deer country. If I can use my highbeams, I can go 50 - 55 mph max. If I can't, following traffic or with on-coming traffic, 35 - 40 mph is max. Turns are even worse.
I've always thought AnikMankar's fifth gen with the aux. lights looked like a good solution. What say you Anik?
Like Dutchy says, slowing down is the only sensible thing to do.
My frame mounted BMW R100RS light seems fine. I think is a much less "flat" beam. And a single lamp as well.
I have not had the VFR for very long. And for the most part the lights are fine at night. I just hit this one 270 degree tight highway on-ramp that I have a lot of fun with in daylight, but the first time at night and I almost crapped myself. I threw her into it and was instantly blind..
I must adapt. But really I was shocked that honda would put me in that situation.
You are not the first to notice it. High beams are the only solution for the 5G.
Occasionally we do night rides and the guy in front is at a distinct disadvantage...picture 5-8 bikes with their high beams on and mirrors folded just a bit so as not to blind the rider(s) in front of you and you are presented with an awesome ride - for riders 2-8 but the lead is almost blind upon the first few feet leaning into right hander even with the brights on.
I just got one of these and it is a low voltage marvel. China has LED tech in the bag. Installed as a headlight and it is amazing. Easy to mount and wire to any pos and neg. Toss in a switch if you want. Bob's your uncle!
I've got LED bulbs in my 5th gen & even before these never had a problem on dark roads. High beam is there for use when its dark & no oncoming traffic. At 40-50mph, I can run with low beams with no problems. That said in the UK most country roads have a white centre line & a white edge line at the side of the road which helps. But in the dry I can run roads without the edge lines.
I've got LED bulbs in my 5th gen & even before these never had a problem on dark roads. High beam is there for use when its dark & no oncoming traffic. At 40-50mph, I can run with low beams with no problems. That said in the UK most country roads have a white centre line & a white edge line at the side of the road which helps. But in the dry I can run roads without the edge lines.
I get the whole High Low beam thing. Been riding 45 years. Never had, or at least I dont remember having, a bike with lights like this. I know the road. I can get round the curve. I just cant see in front of me when well leaned over. So I have been going slower or using high beams when I can. I like the auxillary lights thing. Have to aim them just right to be effective in this situation.
I learned long ago to be very carefull with high beams. If we flash a cop here by accident he WILL pull you over and that should be avoided.It's just habit.
Not sure of USA light cutoff alignment, but in UK its 2ft at 25yds, so low beam cuts off at around 60yds. We also have a high left side angle, so its shows more of a left turn than a right.
Wait a second. I DID lave to lower my high beams as they were way to high and I could see better with the lows then the highs. I will still lower them just a touch more so they are just right. But I wonder if the highs and lows are independantly adjustable? Pretty sure that raising the low beams would be a big help.
You will 2 holes on your upper dash cowl. These are to lower or raise the headlight assembly using a cross head screw driver. The body of the headlight moves - this impacts both high and low beam together
You will 2 holes on your upper dash cowl. These are to lower or raise the headlight assembly using a cross head screw driver. The body of the headlight moves - this impacts both high and low beam together
Anik, curious as to how much this draw off your power source. When I run my heated grips and highbeams, my LED voltage meter blinks red at idle, so I have to turn off the grips when at a stop. I wonder if it would be bad to power these up as well. I ride a lot after dark (especially going into the fall here in the Northeast US) so these are really appealing.
When I installed the LED headlight, the cutoff was so sharp even on high, that when I leaned over I couldn't see through the corner. I used to just grab my light and pull it up if it was an empty area. The halogen projector I had before spilled a lot more light up when the high beam was on. Eventually, I installed some Denali D2's on my forks. Fog spread on one light and spot on the other seems to do the job nicely. As a plus, they're brighter when I hit the high beams and people seem to notice them.
I've got the Denali D2's but there are probably a lot of other great LED aux lights out there now as well.
"I must adapt. But really I was shocked that honda would put me in that situation."
First time for everything but blaming the manufacturer for causing you to ride into a corner too hot in the dark is a new one.
I think its common knowledge and more to the point that most seasoned riders do not ride at night the same way they ride in daylite.
Add some lights and congratulate yourself ... a wiser thing than blaming Honda.
Ya know Mr. Case, just as a for instance, I had an 82 900F. It didnt do this. I had a 79 XL500. IT didnt do this either. I had triumphs and guzzi's and BMW's and norton and I dont even remember what else. None of them did this. Some had crappy lighting, but it was crappy going straight OR cornering. So ya you bet your @ss I am surprised this more modern bike does this.
And of course I ride different at night. I know all about over running the headlight and I don't do this. But for god sakes you should be able to go round a curve without being blind.
After a lifetime of riding bikes that didnt do this I remain surprised, if you dont mind. And really I cant think of who else to be surprised at, other then mother Honda herself.
At your own sugestion you say add some lights. Really? I never HAD to do that before. Again I am surprised. You got me on the congradulate yourself part. I dont even know how to answer that.
I started this thread to see if perhaps my bike has been set up wrong or tampered with. It's new to me.
EDIT: I see now that you don't have a 5th gen. Maybe the 6th gen bikes dont do this. I don't know. Doesn't matter because the 5th gen bikes apparently do and you don't know about it because you don't have one. Whatever. It's a weakness I didn't know about and now I do. As I said. I will adapt.
It's a problem with all newer (better) lights. They're designed with a crisp cuttoff to focus usable light on the road and to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. This is great for cars, and good for motorcycles traveling level. Better lights for a while had a crisp cutoff on the low beam and lots of spill with the high beam, so the fix was just to flick on the high beams when you leaned the bike over. My led headlamp also has a crisp cutoff on the high beam, as do other lights now. It allows for better focus of the available light onto the patch of road in front of me, but fails when leaning. I actually contacted the manufacturer since I had one of the lights very early in their availablity. I'm not sure if they've changed them at all, but a less crisp high beam would help with this.
You can sort of see what you're dealing with in this picture, but the solution is actually that you need worse (less focused) light.
Maybe you can find some aux. lights from Vision X. I have 1 @2500 lumens and 1 @3000 lumens... aimed at the left and right side of the road/ditch..a couple of hundred feet out. Got them for critter avoidance...a big issue here in BC, day or night. Side benefit..great illumination at lean angle... so whatever Honda provided as a basis can be improved on according to each riders personal requirements.
Maybe you can find some aux. lights from Vision X. I have 1 @2500 lumens and 1 @3000 lumens... aimed at the left and right side of the road/ditch..a couple of hundred feet out. Got them for critter avoidance...a big issue here in BC, day or night. Side benefit..great illumination at lean angle... so whatever Honda provided as a basis can be improved on according to each riders personal requirements.
How do you use them? Like high beams or can they be left on when in traffic?
Started by Suitcase, Sep 17 2013 01:58 http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/75990-latest-additions-to-silver/
I posted the above item here...but dont get how to copy/paste it to this thread ..but to answer your question ...both lites are wired direct from the battery on a fused circuit that also powers my 12v charger port. The lites come on/off via a simple weather proof marine grade rocker switch. Due to the intensity of the lites, I do not use them at night when there is oncoming traffic, but as a side note, I have used them in daylite when I have seen drivers deciding to pull out of a side-lane into my path, and using them that way has saved my butt a few times
Edited October 12, 2014 by Suitcase
So, I know it's a bit of a zombie thread, but I found a solution other than buying a BMW.
Also, I know it won't fit a stock (or not stock) VFR, but it'll fit my xVFR. It's also not cheap, but, I've had their original 8700 for at least 6 years now and it's been a great light. So, I guess, if anyone has suggestions for what to do with a single, non-adaptive, 7 inch round light, I might be looking for suggestions. . . maybe I'll craigslist it or see if I can find a local café bike nut or something?
