..just a quick one...took the bike out for the first nite ride (got it Dec 01)...and I have to say the headlight is terrible!

..riding on country roads, couldn't see more than 20' in front of me w/hi-beam on..??..low beam is useless...

Is this normal?..hope it just needs an adjustment..

I thought the lights on my Buell were ok at best, but wow!

 

Did you check out the headlight to make sure it is pointed forward? The brackets tend to be a little loose, even when the bolt and nut are fully tightened,resulting in a headlight that is pointed down at the road after a few miles of travel. I ended up putting a 3/8" star washer INSIDE the bracket (on the outside won't help) to tighten things up. It's still not the best headlight on a bike by far (Anyone else ever ride a Yamaha R1 at night!? *daylight!*), but getting it pointed ahead should help a bit.

 

[>:] Hmmmm... I thought that it was just my Fatty head lap that was not brighter than a candle... It sucks.

O.K. then, what is a good upgrade for the stock head lamp bulb that will not melt anything or draw too much on the system wiring etc.?

Thanks in advance,

Mark

 

Yeah I know what you mean! I changed the bulb to a sylvania and it helped some...

 

Mine had the same problem when new, was aimed way low. Followed owner's manual instructions on how to aim it.
Did that, worked great...really illuminates wellout front and sides on low and way out front on high.
Might be worth a try. Maybe I got lucky?

 

Mine is tightened down, but it will still wind up pointing itself down after a while. It's because it's rubber mounted and winds up shaking so much it starts to move down. I can only see about 6-8 feet in front of me. Definitely not good for riding at night. There is a thread on here explaining how to get rid of the rubber mounts. I need to follow those instructions and get rid of the shaking issue. Sounds like you could probably benefit from the same thing.

 

thanks all...I'll check the manual and straighten it out.

 

Got an 06 FXSTI and had the same problem. I installed a head lamp ring and then a PIAA bulb, that worked real good. I later installed an aftermarket "rocket" style headlamp, and it really does shine. My guess is the shape of the reflector in the lamp. It has a regular 60/55 watt bulb, would like to have tried the PIAA, but I broke it [:@].

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I'm concerned about greatly shortened bulb life due to no vibe dampening
if I remove the rubber mount. There's a reason Harley mounted that thing in rubber.
So far it only needed one re-adjustment in 4000 miles since first timeI did it. My fork
bag is mounted above the headlight and rests on it. My HD rain suit is packed tightly in that bag,
I believe that helped to dampen the shaking headlight syndrome it had before I mounted the bag.
Thanks for the tip anyway.

 

Sure there's a reason for dampening the mount, but not to that extent. Lot of bikes use those bulbs and their headlights don't shake up and down 1/2" . Although it may be somewhat of a safety feature in the daytime as it attracts attention more than a steady light will, it's night time features really suck. I find the tensity good enough but the shaking drives me bonkers, plus hit enough bumps and it will need readjustment. Of course you won't know that until you're 50 miles from home, stayed too late and have to ride home. I will be redoing mine before spring with minimal dampening.
Ron