Oh! What fun it is to drive with your headlights set to high

Post by **Rhothgar** » 06 Jun 2011, 09:29

Sounds like it could be a Christmas hit?

Guys.

Went over to Well-next-the-Sea on the CCC East Midlands jaunt organised by Franklin. Great to meet lots of new faces. Thanks to everything who made it such a pleasureable day.

Tim's BX is AMAZING. Absolutely amazing. If you haven't seen it check out the photos on the Meetings, Rallies and Get-together section of the forum. G plater ending in WTF. Not sure of the colour - some kind of Azur Blue I would imagine.

ANYWAY...

What I am posting for, is my mate adjusted my headlamps to optimum height for MOT and since then I've been playing around with the height correctors.

Now I have the level set correctly, of course, I forgot to re-adjust the headlights. My question for those that want to miss out on the story below is at the foot of this under the asterisks!

The upshot is we had to stop at Long Sutton McDonalds and lower them as every other car was flashing us on the way home. We set back late because we went to visit friends on holiday at nearby Burnham Market and didn't leave until 9.40pm!!!

Needless to say, it was quite stressful drive home. Whatever I did I got flashed. In the end I ended up purposely leaving my lights on main until I was sure that the oncoming drivers reacted and I lowered them. This was even after adjusting them down crudely at the McDonalds.

Whatever I did was not right, I left them on dipped, people flashed so I blipped them a main for a split second and then they flashed when they were dipped again. I basically couldn't win and there must have been hundreds of irritated drivers in Norfolk, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire during the 102 mile trip home.

I began thinking that it probably shows the lack of attention drivers pay to the road ahead because, for instance, when you drive down a road with bends and you see the oncoming driver's lights on high, you either flash yours or dip yours (if you're on main) before they come around the corner and if there are hedges which your lights illuminate on those corners. Most drivers see this and dip theirs too.

However, no driver on the nightmare journey home last night seemed to pay one jot of attention. When they were cornering a bend and I could see them, I dipped and they still flashed me when there were very close. They were either not paying any attention or were just being intentionally spiteful.

*************************************************************

My question is...

One of my headlamps adjusters is not working. Are they replaceable or is it the complete headlamp unit which needs replacing?

Sorry for the long winded story but I just had to get it off my chest.

Post by **CitroJim** » 06 Jun 2011, 09:37

Hi Roger,

Delighted you had a great day at Wells yesterday

I know what you mean about Tim's BX....

Sounds like your MOT man needs to go to Specsavers

Now the bad news...

Sorry about this...

If an adjuster has thrown in the towel then I'm very sorry to say that it's curtains for the whole light unit, goodnight Vienna, game over and so on

It's basically climbed down the curtain and joined the choir invisible.

A while back Xac and I tried and tried in vain to replace an adjuster mechanism and failed miserably...

That's perhaps not to say it can't be done but neither of us could find the secret

Post by **Rhothgar** » 06 Jun 2011, 10:06

CitroJim wrote:Sounds like your MOT man needs to go to Specsavers

Nah! It was my mate. Light height was bob on when he'd adjusted though but he did comment that the adjuster had lived live to the full

CitroJim wrote:It's basically climbed down the curtain and joined the choir invisible.

WHAT? You've lost me on that one.

CitroJim wrote:A while back Xac and I tried and tried in vain to replace an adjuster mechanism and failed miserably...

That's perhaps not to say it can't be done but neither of us could find the secret

I seriously doubt that it can be done if you can't do it - a man of your calibre!

Thanks for your prompt reply though. I bet a replacement headlamp won't last as long as an original in terms of its silvering!!!

You missed a great day yesterday. Drive was fantastic. Those fen roads certainly exercise the old suspension at pace. I don't think the BX's realised the bumps were there though.

We lost the competition by 1 question. Better luck next time. If only we'd driven the first bit at below the legal limit rather than on it.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 06 Jun 2011, 12:16

Hold fire there

If it is just up and down you need adjusting, then you may be lucky.

On the top adjuster there's an "adaptor" cap which basically has a hex socket in the top which you adjust and most likely has rounded off, and a hex that goes out the bottom into the actual adjuster's hex socket.
If you pop off the cap you can go direct to the adjuster, and if it's not be totally jammed up one end, make the adjustments and put the cap back in place.
The left right adjuster is on the end, and that one doesn't have a sacraficial adaptor so if it's rounded then you're in the poop.
You can, with luck and percywotsit get a flat screwdriver on the yellow bit at the back of the adjuster on the side of the headlight, and adjust it with that but if it's totally jammed then there isn't much hope.

Post by **CitroJim** » 06 Jun 2011, 12:42

Rhothgar wrote:
CitroJim wrote:It's basically climbed down the curtain and joined the choir invisible.
WHAT? You've lost me on that one.

A line from Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch...

Another way to say the parrot was dead...

Yes, i was a bit aggrieved I'd made such a mistake Roger, I have thoroughly enjoyed every East Midlands Group meet so far...

scratcher · Post by **scratcher** » 06 Jun 2011, 14:26

Hi, at least you might have annoyed some inconsiderate motorcycle drivers who drive at main beam in daylight. Oh, by the way I rode a 500cc. A7 with streamliner capable of well over100MPh every other weekend from Plymouth to Luton (249 miles) during the 1950's

Citroening · Post by **Citroening** » 06 Jun 2011, 18:29

Good to meet you yesterday Roger and glad you enjoyed the day!
Tim's BX - link- is finished in Olympique Blue which really is a great colour and is in lovely condition too!

The roads over here do give it a good workout don't they!

That was a very close competition with just the one point between you! At least you didn't get a wooden spoon, though....

We'll be definitely doing another run Jim so hopefully you won't have another calender malfunction and make the next one! There's some good Activa roads round here...

Post by **Rhothgar** » 06 Jun 2011, 21:59

Xac wrote:If it is just up and down you need adjusting, then you may be lucky. On the top adjuster there's an "adaptor" cap

Yes it is just the level that there is a problem with.

Next problem is I need to find my BoL - It comes in useful sometimes!

I couldn't see the adjuster on the top as it is through the tiny hole in the slam panel so I set about trying to take the headlamp out to get a proper look at it.

Only spent 15 minutes before it started to get dark. In the time, I pushed the indicator out, unscrewed the two top face bolts to each headlamp, undid the four top bolts for the slam panel, prised up the push in black clip which wouldn't come out entirely, undid two Torx holding the grille and then though s*d it and put it all back together! A great waste of time. Oh and I did take off the rear cover in the headlamp and could see the yellow but of the adjuster but didn't fancy trying to adjust using that.

There must be some additional fixings other than the two 10mm. bolts into the face of the slam panel?

I could have mulled over the BoL with a nice cup of tea and worked out a plan of attack.

There was no way I can see how the headlamp is coming out.

Post by **Rhothgar** » 06 Jun 2011, 22:02

scratcher wrote:Hi, at least you might have annoyed some inconsiderate motorcycle drivers who drive at main beam in daylight.

What's wrong with that? Mal-attentive car drivers need annoying when motorcycle safety is concerned. Well! For the most part.

I have my loud pipes to let people know I'm coming through on the Harley!

Post by **Rhothgar** » 06 Jun 2011, 22:04

CitroJim wrote:A line from Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch....

I should have got that one!

Don't be too aggrieved. As Sylv said in her text when I was going down the A1 (late as usual), "Calendars: Their days aren't numbered!!!".

You should get ONE!!

Post by **CitroJim** » 06 Jun 2011, 22:10

Rhothgar wrote: You should get ONE!!

That's the problem! I don't possess one

Roger, the headlight removal: Remove the grille to expose the 10mm bolt under the trim piece under the headlight.

Grille removed as follows: Remove indicators (push down the clip you can see looking down the side of the headlight and pull) remove the torx screw in each indicator hole securing the end of the grille to the front wings. Remove the two torx screws visible through the bars of the grille near the fans holding the mid parts of the grille. Now remove the two popper studs on the top of the grille panel by the slam panel. Carefully pull the inner popper out of the outer popper and then pull the outer popper out and the grille will then pop off.

Undo the 10mm bolts holding each headlight in and remove... Two 10mm bolts at the top and one under the grille trim, now nicely exposed..

Note to me: get a calendar

Post by **Rhothgar** » 08 Jun 2011, 19:48

All done, Jim.

I managed to strip it right down but it ended up that it was the horizontal adjuster and not the vertical adjuster.

A judicious spraying of Ultra 2040 loosened it up. I didn't get flashed on the way home last night so I must have done something right.

I did take the headlamp glass off too and had a poke around in there. I got as far as taking the front reflector off but didn't go as far as removing the rear main reflector.

Neither did I try to pop off the adjuster from the main reflector as I didn't want to break it but if you did get that out, you probably could wind the adjuster all the way out to look at the gear on the adjuster if any of that makes sense!