World-wide motorcycle headlamp?

Starflex · Aug 4, 2019

How it is possible that certain motorbile manufcturers uses the same headlight (same spare part code) for models that goes in Europe/US, and in Uk/Australia (where you drive the vehicle on the other side of the road).

You should have a different cutoff (opposite from one to another)...

jaycee88 · Aug 4, 2019

My motorcycle uses an H4 bulb in a freeform reflector. The bulb is clocked in the headlamp such that the low beam cutoff is flat and horizontal. The headlamp is the same assembly for all markets. All of the previous motorcycles I've owned have also had a flat horizontal cutoff for the low beam.

So I'd say that having a 'kick up' in the low beam cutoff is not mandatory for motorcycles, but I don't know the exact wording of the regulations.

Starflex · Aug 4, 2019

Jaycee,

Pretty much what I noticed too. Had a couple of instances where the spare part number does not change,regardless of the country, not only with H4 but also with other bulbs (e.g. H7).

I noticed the "kick up" on some of the beam pattern... and it was wrong in RHD countries - like if the headlight was designed for LHD but used also for RHD, despite the (wrong - pass me the term) pattern.

-Virgil- · Aug 4, 2019

The technical requirements for a motorcycle low beam are much the same all over the world. It is specified as a symmetrical beam, therefore not different for right- or left-side driving. This makes sense when you think about it: steering a motorcycle makes it lean over, so there's less reason for having an asymmetrical low beam.

In most countries, motorcycles can also use car-type headlamps, and those have asymmetrical low beams for use on the right or left side of the road.

Starflex · Aug 4, 2019

Thanks Virgil. So, we can expect that a symmetrical bulb (like the H4) would be sightly "turned" in the reflector (as Jaycee mentioned) so that the beam cutoff is flat, or evenly distrubuted on both sides.

-Virgil- · Aug 4, 2019

Yes, usually to produce a symmetrical low beam an H4 bulb (or its little brother, the 35/35w HS1, or the 45/45w version Honda used on a lot of American-model bikes) would be clocked so its shield edges are symmetrical: a 7.5° slope to the left and a 7.5° slope to the right. The reflector and/or lens optics are matched for that bulb positioning.

Starflex · Aug 4, 2019

Kudos, Virgil and Jaycee.

It is all perfectly clear now.

World-wide motorcycle headlamp?

Starflex

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jaycee88

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Starflex

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-Virgil-

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Starflex

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-Virgil-

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Starflex

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