nmucat Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 So this is day two of having the bike. I put the kids to bed and pulled the bike out of the garage. A few minutes in the city and I was out in the country. First thing I notice is how easy this bike is to ride, way different than my old Honda Fury. I don't have to try to go around curves or corners, it just does it. Second I need a headlight upgrade. The light is not very bright and does not light up the road. On high the light is as bright as my old ones low. Need to work on the bulb upgrade. Now back to the ride. I was only able to put on about 30 miles, but it was a heck of a 30 mile ride, more fun than I have had in while on two wheels. I'm getting the shifts down smoothly and not popping up the front tire. When the shifts come smooth, the power continues to roll on and the bike just goes. As the power goes and curves come the bike leans in and the smile comes across my face. I cant wait for the next ride. Time for the upgrades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhakkola Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 I went for a ride and on the return it was a night ride. I was on the highway and found the low beam just too low. The high beam was better. I would be interested in a bulb upgrade but as my first bike, I don't know any better; I have nothing to compare it against other than my car. The bike is great and I love riding it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steviede Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 I was surprised at how good the high beam was actually, the low beam on the other hand just plain sucks! 2015 Matte Metallic Grey FZ-07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator Guru Posted August 8, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted August 8, 2014 I did a HID upgrade here. I am getting some replacement bulbs because they made an error so I can't report on improvements. It is not too hard to adjust the headlight. The manual says that you have to bring it to the dealer but you can do it yourself. What I do is park the bike in front of a wall or door. While sitting on the bike, aim at the wall and look where the light cut off is. I usually mark it on the wall with some chalk. Don't move the bike and take out the two 'Frankenstein' bolts and you can tilt the headlight unit forward. There are two white dials that you can turn to change the angle of the aim. Adjust and put the unit back and put the bolts back in (no need to tighten them) Start the bike, aim at the wall again and you will see a difference. Just adjust it to aim a bit higher. The Frankenstein bolts:https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33459059/hid/10_d.jpg The dials:https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33459059/hid/13_a.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryv Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 I took my first night ride last night too. Ditto on the low beam.... ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmucat Posted August 9, 2014 Author Share Posted August 9, 2014 I'll have to look into adjusting the headlight. I'm scared to change out the bulb to a brighter/hotter one b/c the last time I did that for one of my cars it hazed over the lenses from the inside. I'll have to look into the LED kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryv Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Yeah .. I think I would prefer LED too if practical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afwestpunk Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 going to be switching out the bulb soon so I'll be the guinea pig "It takes an idiot to do cool things; that's why it's cool" - FLCL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator Guru Posted August 11, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted August 11, 2014 I haven't found a LED with Hi/Lo to my liking yet. So it's HID for now. I am still not ruling out LED. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmucat Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 What LED did you put in the base of the headlight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator Guru Posted August 12, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted August 12, 2014 One of these: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33459059/bulb.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator mjh937 Posted August 12, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted August 12, 2014 I just went on my first night ride. It only took me a week to get around to it. The high beam is great. The low beam is aimed so low that I felt I was over-riding it at 25 MPH. I will be adjusting it before my next night ride. Hopefully that will work until I upgrade to LED or HID or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steviede Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 I was wondering if you could aim it, guess I'll try that for now. I want to do a projector retrofit but I still don't fully trust putting my lens in the oven... 2015 Matte Metallic Grey FZ-07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator mjh937 Posted August 12, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted August 12, 2014 Putting the lens in the oven? I am not familiar with that technique. What are you planning, steviede? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmucat Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 For some of the kits you have to remove the lens. In order to do this you must melt the seal by placing it in the oven. I think the simple plug n play kits or complete swap out is a better idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 I just took one night ride in the countryside. I used the low beam almost the entire ride. For speed higher than 90 km/h (55 mph), i used the high beam. past bikes: WR250X, KLR650, V-Strom 1000, DR650, FZ-6, SV650S, Seca II, GS400S, Seca 750, YZ80. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator mjh937 Posted September 1, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted September 1, 2014 I adjusted my headlights today. I took the light off several times in the process. Afterwards I realized that both the adjustment screws are accessible without removing the headlight. I cannot get good pictures tonight in the low light, but if I can get some good ones tomorrow I will post a how to. In the meantime it is fairly easy to see the aiming screws. If you look between the right side of the tank and the right fork you will see a brass colored screw just above and to the right of the headlight bulb. This is the high beam adjustment. Clockwise lowers the aim. Looking on the left side of the bike between the tank and fork just below and to the left of the bulb is a similar screw for low beam aim. It is also clockwise to aim lower. You will need a Phillips screwdriver to make the adjustments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmucat Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 I added a brighter bulb, brightest Sylvania bulb Wally works had. I also adjusted the light a few turns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 I did replace my bulb 2 weeks after i got my bike with sylvania silverstar ultra h4. I commute to work at night 15 miles one way and it does increase better light pattern now, can see the signs at night much better than the stock bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member crazycracka501 Posted September 7, 2014 Premium Member Share Posted September 7, 2014 I just ride with the bright on day or night, never once had anyone flash me yet. I've done quite a bit of night riding, probably 6+ hours. Make it stop!....Now make it go faster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steviede Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Putting the lens in the oven? I am not familiar with that technique. What are you planning, steviede?To do a projector you have to take the lens apart, by putting it in the oven. If you are just changing the bulb to another halogen or even and HID you just take the bulb out and put the new one in (of course with HID's there are a lot more wires and stuff to deal with) Upgrading to a new halogen or HID just gives you more light, which is good. But if you do a HID projector it gives you more light and focuses the light so you don't get hot spots. 2015 Matte Metallic Grey FZ-07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeisan Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I just went on my first night ride. It only took me a week to get around to it. The high beam is great. The low beam is aimed so low that I felt I was over-riding it at 25 MPH. I will be adjusting it before my next night ride. Hopefully that will work until I upgrade to LED or HID or something. Ditto. Did my 3rd night ride, but the first with other riders and at - lets just say - "higher than commuting speeds" haha. I felt the same about the low beam, way too low and felt like I was over riding it at nearly any speed. I used the high beam as long as I was not close enough to get the beam into the guy in front of me's mirrors and used the low beam when I could actually just use his headlights better than my low beam haha. For solo riding, it must be raised for me, no doubt. Life is good on 2 wheels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator mjh937 Posted September 12, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted September 12, 2014 I adjusted by headlight and now the low beam is great. I wrote a how to that is in the Tech Tips forum. It is super easy to adjust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeisan Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I adjusted by headlight and now the low beam is great. I wrote a how to that is in the Tech Tips forum. It is super easy to adjust. I remember your post and I'm sure I'll be referencing it this weekend! Thanks! Life is good on 2 wheels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdonalds Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I adjusted my headlights today. I took the light off several times in the process. Afterwards I realized that both the adjustment screws are accessible without removing the headlight. I cannot get good pictures tonight in the low light, but if I can get some good ones tomorrow I will post a how to. In the meantime it is fairly easy to see the aiming screws. If you look between the right side of the tank and the right fork you will see a brass colored screw just above and to the right of the headlight bulb. This is the high beam adjustment. Clockwise lowers the aim. Looking on the left side of the bike between the tank and fork just below and to the left of the bulb is a similar screw for low beam aim. It is also clockwise to aim lower. You will need a Phillips screwdriver to make the adjustments. My first post here. I just bought the FZ-07 two days ago and used it last night. The high beam was great but the low beam too low. I adjusted the screw on the left side which changed the angle of both the high and low beams. The screw on the right side didn't seem to have any effect. The low beam was too low to really help seeing far enough ahead. I hope this works. We have deer crossing the roads here so in the areas with no street lamps I keep the high beam on. The high beam is nice and bright for that purpose. By the way I really like the FZ-07; smooth, quiet, powerful, and comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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