I tried both sides of 7 (7.5 and 6.5) and both ways I am getting a beam pattern with a kick on the left both ways which is not what I should have. At 7.5 it was a so-so pattern with a wrong-for-me left kick. At 6.5 it is a very poor pattern (no clean cutoff) and a wrong-for-me left kick. With the HID and halogen bulbs I get no kick at all.
When I get a chance I will be trying every position in a slow rotational sweep to see what is happening. My current theory is that these reflectors are extremely sensitive to rotation and can only form reasonable patterns with certain, exact positions.
I FINALLY got warm enough weather and time and opportunity to do the rotation test.
MYSTERY SOLVED. And the cause of all the problems? "7" is *NOT* neutral, even though it is the exact middle number. 8 is! As I predicted, the reflectors are INCREDIBLY sensitive to rotation. Even though I tried 7.5 originally, moving it to 8 made all the difference in the world. Just 1/2 a notch. I now have super sharp cutoff, perfectly horizontal, with no freaky pattern, no stray light, and no glare. MUCH, MUCH better pattern than the HID it replaced.
My recommendation for anyone who needs to experiment with these bulbs, unplug one side, then take the other out completely and loosen the two bolts holding it from rotating, put it back in without the heat sink, start the bike, shine it on a large white wall, and VERY SLOWLY turn it from one direction to the other and watch how quickly the pattern goes insane and make note of the correct spot. when you turn off the bike, using a flashlight you can see the numbers by looking at the bulb through the front lens. Then take it out and readjust it to that, bolt it down tight, and reassemble (with boot and heat sink, of course) and do the same with the other (they will be identical in setup/indicator number). I wish I could have taken a video to show it, but didn't have enough help or time.
I will add that although I was already unhappy with the 5000K color in principle and "look" of these bulbs, I think the CRI (color rendering index) is also too low, so everything under this type of light looks less colorful and harder to see. I will add that as a plus for halogen and HID (if I didn't already).
Also, I could test the heatsinks. They do get warm, but even after being on a hour riding, then sitting still for 5 minutes, I can place my hand on them with no discomfort.
Will update previous posts for those who follow in the future.