Misc: Everything Else Headlights

[Howard]

I am out of touch, I have never been out of the UK, Is it still the norm' to stick bits of tape on the head light glass ?. Cheers Bill.

I used to just stick insulation tape on, nowhere specific, just so it looked like I'd tried. Now, I just turn the dip beam down low (on the car) for the few night miles I drive. We did a few French miles on a Honda last month and I think that's got a flat dip beam so it's legal for LH or RH. I usually take stick on deflectors with me so I can pretend I forgot to fit them if I'm stopped, but I can't be a###d to fit them.

 

[highbury731]

So do the MOT boys and/or the coppers have anything to say about tape on the headlight? Here in New Jersey, we are especially spoiled. Motorcycles are not inspected at all. And they don't police these damned Harleys with deafening straight pipes. That last thing I admit that I hate most passionately.

In the UK there are lots of Harleys running on open pipes. They go to 'friendly' MOT testers who pass them despite the illegally loud exhaust. Police seem to ignore them.
I love the throaty bark of my Dominator on its standard ''pear shaped' silencers, and the A10 Super Rocket I used to own on its siamese pipe and RGS silencer, but anything louder gets wearing after a while. So you go slower....
A good friend of mine told me about spending lots of money over many years making various bikes go faster. Eventually he discovered that the biggest contribution to fast long journeys was ear-plugs.
Paul

 

[SteveO]

Oddly enough, I have one of Paul Goffs LEDs fitted to my Rapide and I think it's fine (maybe I'm undiscriminating). It is in the H4 unit fitted when I bought the bike and running an Alton (though this shouldn't make any difference?). The light is bright enough to ride A roads or dual carriageways at the speed limit. Since Paul runs a Vincent himself, he should know what's required.

 

[Bill Thomas]

In the UK there are lots of Harleys running on open pipes. They go to 'friendly' MOT testers who pass them despite the illegally loud exhaust. Police seem to ignore them.
I love the throaty bark of my Dominator on its standard ''pear shaped' silencers, and the A10 Super Rocket I used to own on its siamese pipe and RGS silencer, but anything louder gets wearing after a while. So you go slower....
A good friend of mine told me about spending lots of money over many years making various bikes go faster. Eventually he discovered that the biggest contribution to fast long journeys was ear-plugs.
Paul

I used to just stick insulation tape on, nowhere specific, just so it looked like I'd tried. Now, I just turn the dip beam down low (on the car) for the few night miles I drive. We did a few French miles on a Honda last month and I think that's got a flat dip beam so it's legal for LH or RH. I usually take stick on deflectors with me so I can pretend I forgot to fit them if I'm stopped, but I can't be a###d to fit them.

I am not a good rider, But if I blind someone with my head light, They could crash into me, So I think it's one rule I try to obey. Cheers Bill.

 

[BigEd]

......... if I blind someone with my headlight they could crash into me so I think it's one rule I try to obey. Cheers Bill.

Agreed Bill. If nobody bothered to dip their lights or bothered to adjust them properly then nobody would want to ride after dark.

 

[vibrac]

I seem to remember riding an old prewar bike years ago with a headlight that physically dipped on a bowden cable lever with a push of the left thumb
Is that an option for a single focused LED headlamp?

 

[Bill Thomas]

I had an Ariel Leader, When I was young, Had a Thin bar between the handle bars, You could push and pull,
To adjust the light a bit. Cheers Bill.

 

[BigEd]

I had an Ariel Leader when I was young. It had a thin bar between the handlebars that you could push and pull to adjust the light a bit. Cheers Bill.

I remember that too. I don't think there was any pre-load adjustment on the rear suspension units so the lever allowed you to adjust the headlamp aim to allow for the weight of a passenger.

 

[vibrac]

I rember going for an MOT at a village garage years ago on a R90s BMW "The headlights too low" said the tester so I moved back on the seat and inch or so "thats OK" he said....

 

[BigEd]

I seem to remember riding an old prewar bike years ago with a headlight that physically dipped on a bowden cable lever with a push of the left thumb
Is that an option for a single focused LED headlamp?

Cable operated dip on a MotoGuzzi.