They appear to be pointing down only a few yards ahead of the bike. Never noticed this before as, in the 9 months I've had the bike, I never took it out at night. Came home the other night at 15mph! I've tried fiddling with the adjuster but even with that on the the top/highest spot, I'm nowhere near an MOTable height. Help!
luckily, unless you've had accident damage you WILL get to the bottom of this without too much effort - if you are sure it's not within the 'normal' adjustment range of the central screws' capability then it can only be that the steel bracket that connects the aluminium housing pod to the headstock is either loose, or has 'flopped' down* or is damaged. If you look at the way the headlight sits in the front fairing (as long as that is standard and undamaged and mounted correctly) then it will give you a clue. Hopefully it's * EDIT It could of course also be that the headlamp housing itself is damaged but they tend to fracture and fragment rather than distort and so get replaced.
Just a thought, Check the spring on the central adjuster is 'behind' the headlight frame as it can be fitted incorrectly and placed in front. I had this and my lights pointed down just past the front wheel as the little spring was the wrong way round! It looked odd as the headlamp was slightly recessed in the top fairing, worth a check?
Also check the headlamp hasn't worked forwards on the top mounting rubbers. I've seen this before, the lamp points down more and lamp rubs on the fairing taking the black paint off the lens surround.
Thanks Guys - apologies for this but........I presume this is a fairing off job? I need to know this so I can clear a wide space in the shed.
OK fellas. The fairing/nose cone is off and the spring was sitting in the correct position (behind the headlamp unit, not in front) but there was some crash damage to the plastic headlamp pod itself. It had been repaired with fibreglass and looked a pretty good straight repair to me. I wouldn't have thought it could "bend" because, as you say, it would fracture first. If I knew how to upload photos, I would so you can see the damage for yourself. The aluminium housing also looks straight. Again, it would fracture first or at least show signs of the beginning of a fracture, which it doesn't so I don't think there's a problem there. The spring recess (if there should be one) is damaged, but without seeing what an undamaged one looks like I cannot tell whether this would be a factor in it's "low" beams or not. At least I'm getting somewhere insofar as I've started the job! :smile:
Good thing about the 748/916 series is the minimal time and ease to remove bodywork (just as well at times!), hope you get it sorted.
Yes - it is all 3 fairings off. Don't forget to check the bracket I mentioned as it's still likely to be the cause. Just to explain fully - there is some play in the fixing holes for this steel bracket and if it's been damaged this could even compound it. If you loosen all fixings off you might be amazed at how much you can swivel the whole headlamp assy upwards. You can then lock it up in the 'raised' position if this turns out to be the culprit.
SORTED! Thanks. As you said Chris the aluminum (steel?) pod retaining casting had drooped forward and by loosening the two retaining bolts, lifting the front of the casting and retightening, I now have full beam centre height at 7/8 of actual headight height at 10m (UK requirement). I also slipped in a washer behind the adjusting spring to keep it tight when on the limit - without it, the pod could possibly come loose and I could lose the bolt and the spring. Thanks again, fellas.
