Hmm... well, I don't eat meat and I don't drink alcohol. Would you work for chocolate?
[...]Please note that the beam pattern is wrong, since I had the bulbs adjusted accidentally for left hand drive and will need to fix that. I noted as such on the photos. I also did not have time to properly aim/align the two headlights to each other (up/down).
So I pulled them out and rotated them the other direction, to 6.5, which is on the OTHER SIDE of 7. The result? It is even worse than before. It continues to blind all oncoming traffic with a kick that is on the left and extends into the center and the pattern is pretty whacked. I am completely baffled (and pissed). Adjustment means having to unplug them, unscrew the heatsinks (with a zillion threads), then removing the boot, then removing the retainer clip, then the bulb, then getting seatsink grease on fingers, then using an allen key to loosen and then retighten two tiny bolts on each bulb, and doing it all in reverse again to re-install.you're in the US aren't you ? In which case the kick should be to the right to illuminate street signs
I think I will have to unplug one bulb and experiment on the other without the heatsink, risking overheating, but that way I can try a bunch of settings and leave the ring unbolted so I can turn it while watching what happens.
you're in the US aren't you ? In which case the kick should be to the right to illuminate street signs
Surely that kick is more a function of the reflector?
6.5 is pretty damned near neutral
What does the beam pattern look like with a standard halogen bulb in there?
you're in the US aren't you ? In which case the kick should be to the right to illuminate street signs
Surely that kick is more a function of the reflector?
6.5 is pretty damned near neutral
hmmm confused.
Nope. I have photos that show no kick at all with HID and halogen bulbs in my C14.
hmmm confused.
I would have thought that the reflector design would be the prime driver for the beam pattern with the position of the light source being secondary.
I do not think so: I believe Kawasaki (and probably most others) use the same reflector bucket for RHD and LHD countries. The filament shield on a std. H4 low beam filament does wrap around the filament so about 180 degrees of light is shielded so slightly rotating the lamp in the housing would move the cut- off away from horizotal and you could put the higher side on either side of the bike by which direction it was rotated. All of which would lead me to believe they do use the same headlight buckets and just rotate the lamp mount (Boys!) for the country the bike will be used in.
The beam pattern on my C-14 is higher on the right but there is no step or anything, it is just a bit biased that way. So they could be simply rotating the lamp by the timing of the flange locating tab slots. ??
It is probably worth designing a different reflector bucket for most autos where they will be making millions for each type (RHD, LHD) but with sport touring motorcycles, the market is so small that it would be difficult to recover the design and tooling costs. Which is why the C-14 has a relatively small fuel tank: it is the one they were already tooled up to make for the ZX 14 and designing and tooling for an entirely new one would be expensive.
Brian
Hmm
Well the part numbers (& prices) are different but as you say that could be iether because the socket at the back is biased slightly differently or because the refelctor is different.
US 23007-0108
UK 23007-0090
On a related note the first couple of years of the Blackbirds the headlights were left & right handed (you could see a flat section on the left or right side of the dip beam reflector)
They then switched to a flat pattern that was universal.
I dont have any pics to hand(have had both) but the earlier ones showed the same clear kick up to the left I see on my GTR whilst the later ones there was no kick either way.
Based on that it appears to me that the reflector does do the cut off, but thats just my considered opinion, other opinions are always available
Well, I can snap a photo of my reflector, you can compare my reflector to your reflector (and no, I am not using 'reflector' as any kind of euphemism) and we can probably figure out if the reflector buckets are indeed different or not. That is after I find my headlight reflectors.... I think they are stored in the barn but am not sure. Of course I know where the ones in the bike are but I have another set that have been removed from the headlight ass'y that will make a better photo.
Brian
Interestingly just found a picture of a Chinese replacement headlight and that has one reflector with the cutoff on the left and one on the right
In fact looking at that chinese headlight again the side sections don't have the same very distinct almost 45 deg cutoff mine does. Wonder if its more like the US item and produces a flatter cut off ?
I (for one) am not sure what you are talking about I don't see the difference. But I am pretty sure the majority of the "cuffoff" is done by the shield in the low-beam of the H4 bulb.
Thinking about it logically for the moment if your reflectors are the same layout as that Chinese headlight you may need to rotate the bulbs differently (or just put them both at the #7 neutral position.)
Looking towards the bike I would suggest the LH light needs to be in the UK-RHD#8 position and the RH light in the US-LHD#6 position for optimal performance.
At this point you are re-hashing what I already said. 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 decent pattern with a wrong-for-me left kick. At 6.5 it is a 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.
[...]"Looking towards the bike I would suggest the LH light needs to be in the UK-RHD#8 position and the RH light in the US-LHD#6 position for optimal performance."