Adjusting headlight

[Robert Mayrand]

My headlight was way too high, and this afternoon i took upon me to adjust it properly. I followed intructions. And manage to get access to the white plastic adjusting knob, The hinge lock that must be lifted to get access was already up, found it a bit strange, but I proceed to adjust the height of the beam by turning the knob, everything was now perfect and i decided to pull down the lock, but when i did, the light drop about 5" at the mark I had 17 feet from me, is this normal? Now I have to start all over again, but it'a a bit more complicated taking into account the drop of the light when you clip down the lock.

 

Thanks!

Rob

[Roger C]

No big thing. Just adjust the knob so the headlight is higher than your mark, then pull the white lever down. May take a couple tries to get it exact.

[Robert Mayrand]

Was just wondering if it's normal, or if something was losse or broken.

 

Rob

[lkraus]

If yours is like my Hexhead, the manual says the white part is not a lock, just a lever intended to be flipped when carrying a heavy load in rear, so the beam is not pointing to the sky, or into oncoming traffic. Their first recommendation is to increase suspension preload to match the load and keep the headlight aim correct. The lever is intended for use when the preload change is inadequate.

Edited May 7, 2017 by lkraus

[Roger C]

Lkraus,

The Clymer Manual for S and RT models implies the white lever is a locking lever as the instructions for adjusting state to lift the lever up, adjust with the knob and lower the lever. Your 2006 1200RT is not covered in my manual.

[dirtrider]

My headlight was way too high, and this afternoon i took upon me to adjust it properly. I followed intructions. And manage to get access to the white plastic adjusting knob, The hinge lock that must be lifted to get access was already up, found it a bit strange, but I proceed to adjust the height of the beam by turning the knob, everything was now perfect and i decided to pull down the lock, but when i did, the light drop about 5" at the mark I had 17 feet from me, is this normal? Now I have to start all over again, but it'a a bit more complicated taking into account the drop of the light when you clip down the lock.

 

Morning Rob

 

That white plastic flip lever is not a lock, it's purpose is to move the headlight beam up & down to compensate for different loads on the bike (this is required in Europe).

 

The usage of that flip lever should be in your RIDERS manual that came with the motorcycle (probably around pages 70-80 but start around page 75 or 76).

 

I know that some repair manuals are not always correct & this headlight adjuster is one of them. The BMW repair manual is very vague on that flip lever & aftermarket repair manuals are even worse.

[GordonB]

Yes, adjust headlamp with lever down. Little known fact, the little plastic wrench used to open you oil fill can also be used to adjust that headlamp.

 

[Robert Mayrand]

Wow, finally my question might not have been so dumb after all! I've check in my owner manual but haven't seen nothing about that, but my bike is a '98 r1100rt, so might be different for the 1200, but it makes a lot of sense, since at 17'feet the lever made the light drob obout 2-3 inches, do they give an estimate as what is the additional weight when you should consider to flip this lever?

 

Thanks

Rob

[dirtrider]

Wow, finally my question might not have been so dumb after all! I've check in my owner manual but haven't seen nothing about that, but my bike is a '98 r1100rt, so might be different for the 1200, but it makes a lot of sense, since at 17'feet the lever made the light drob obout 2-3 inches, do they give an estimate as what is the additional weight when you should consider to flip this lever?

 

 

Afternoon Rob

 

That flip lever is more for the European headlight with it's very defined cut-off line.

 

I haven't ever seen a weight vs lever position but if you put a passenger & camping gear on the back of the bike then you might have to flip the lever to get proper headlight beam projection. A lot depends on rear shock preload setting vs rear weight.