Author Topic: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018  (Read 3971 times)

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Offline brettchallenger

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High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« on: February 17, 2019, 14:02:55 »
Hello Folks,

My headlight alignment is all over the place.  Main bead too high and low beam too low.  Given that it is such a pain to do - instrument cluster out etc.  I don't want to adjust just by guessing, only to find that after re-fitting everything, the adjustment is still not correct.  Does anyone know of a adjustment procedure which includes measuring the beam height on a wall at a presribed distance?

Thanks in advance.

Offline Paz324

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Re: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2019, 14:12:58 »
If I remember correctly there are 2 different legal measurements for headlight aim which depends on the height of the actual headlight and the "DIY" method requires tape and roughly 4 meters between the wall and headlight for a decent adjustment..

The following is a snippet I found online which describes the process.

~

To check and set the alignment properly you’re going to need a friend, and a ruler or tape measure. Get a friend to sit on the bike to hold is upright, then measure the distance from the ground to the centreline of the bulb.

This is important as different rules apply depending on the bulb height I.e up to 850mm from the ground and ones that are over 850mm from the ground.

Create a mark on a wall or garage door, at the same height as your headlight bulb is from the ground. This line will be called the “horizontal zero percent line”. Next, draw a vertical line up from the ground crossing the “horizontal zero percent line” and extending about 300mm passed it. This line is the “vertical zero percent line”.

Start with the bike’s front tyre touching the vertical zero percent line, then wheel it back just under 4 meters (3.81 meters) away from the wall. Now have a friend sit on the bike in the normal riding position. It’s important to ensure that your tyres are correctly inflated as this will affect the reading.

Bulbs below 850mm from the ground
If the centre of your motorbike’s headlight bulb is less than 850mm from the ground, then with your bike in the position described above, the top projection of the dipped beam should be between 20mm to 80mm below the horizontal zero percent line.

Bulbs above 850mm from the ground
In this instance, with your bike in the position described above, the top of the dipped beam projection should be between 50mm and 110mm below the horizontal zero percent line. If your bike is within the tolerances then the next step is to check your beams positioning against the vertical zero percent line. If not, adjust your headlight beam until it does fall within tolerance. Most motorcycles have a knob at the back of the headlight unit allowing for easy adjustment.

Vertical zero percent line
All UK specification motorcycles should be designed to be ridden on the left hand-hand side of the road. In lighting terms this means that the light from the headlight should not aim to the right, potentially dazzling oncoming vehicles. Most UK bikes will have a headlight that kicks up to left. It is important that this kick-up doesn’t start immediately from the vertical zero percent line. To test this MOT technicians will use what is a called a 2% line, but on your wall or garage door, just ensure there is a gap of around 100mm between the vertical zero percent line and the area where your headlight starts to kick up.

If your headlight doesn’t have any kick up at all that’s OK. If it kicks up to the right, or direct from the vertical zero percent line, then you can use a shroud or a mask to hide this. This should only be a temporary measure, but make sure it doesn’t cover too much of the headlight, as it’s at the MOT tester’s discretion as to whether it unduly reduces the light output from the unit.

Although it might sound complicated, checking your motorcycle headlights for correct alignment is relatively simple. It only takes 10 minutes, and could be the difference between an MOT pass or a failure.

Offline brettchallenger

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Re: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2019, 14:20:07 »
Thanks Paz324, I will do this.  All I need to do now is find a flat piece of land,my drive slopes up to my garage will will make any measurements I take meaningless if I do it there.

Offline Paz324

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Re: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2019, 18:12:00 »
Sadly flat ground is recommended, I'm surprised they didn't make that clear in the directions I found.

Offline Joe Rocket

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Re: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2019, 18:42:51 »
Hasn't your garage got a flat floor for 4m? Just asking.........  :whistle:
So how's it going so far then?

Offline vstroman

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Re: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2019, 21:54:14 »
The headlights are so easy to adjust on the twin headlight model I have, another reason not to like the beaked/stacked headlight models.

Offline brettchallenger

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Re: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2019, 22:22:19 »
Hi Joe

Yes, had to go an measure up.  I have fixed shelving and a workbench at the end of the garage which is 5.5 metres long.  So even with them in the way, I should have just about enough room to do this.

By the way, I found a very useful video on this if people are interested  - 

Offline Paz324

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Re: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2019, 02:55:35 »
I'd take most of what delboy says with a pinch of salt, he's been caught out a few times peddling poor advice and claiming things which just aren't true..

Offline Gassoon

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Re: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« Reply #8 on: February 18, 2019, 08:42:02 »
He made a mess of my chandeliers, that's for certain
"I am a dignified citizen of the area, not a fox-faced vagabond in an over-fancy hat!"

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Offline tallpaul

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Re: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« Reply #9 on: February 18, 2019, 15:12:25 »
 lol
Old enough to know better, but still too young to care...

Offline Jules-iow

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Re: High/low beam adjustment. V-strom 650 2018
« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2019, 21:55:42 »
Is this just to adjust the low beam alignment? the 2017+ DL650 has separate bulbs for high and low beams. I have been struggling to get mine to aim with any sense since I found that the low beam was hitting motorway overpasses when two up with luggage! (big sorry to any drivers coming the opposite way that night!). High beam can be adjusted fairly [/size]easily but low b[/size]eam takes an hour what with stripping the plastics off. I'd like to get it legal.