I created a Headlight Adjustment Procedure after I had to research this subject myself. See attached MS Word file below.
I am no expert so use at your own risk. You can download it and edit it to meet your own needs and preferences.
It takes time to search for all this stuff so hopefully this will save others some time. I thought it would be a good winter project for me to document this information and post it here. Well that was last winter and just now getting this posted.
I normally don’t ride much at night but in the summer of 2016 I was leaving for a 2 week trip and to beat the heat, I left an hour or so before daylight. As I was riding along I was admiring how well the headlights lit up the tops of the trees along the roadway but I kept getting flashed by oncoming cars.
The headlights on my 2013 Tenere apparently were never adjusted before delivery. This seems to be a common problem. I searched this forum and the service manual to see how to adjust the headlights. I found everything I needed but had to search around a lot to find all the little pieces of information and best tool for this job. It seemed others had some of the same difficulties that I had. I thought it would be good if this information was all documented in one place. Once you have all this information and the right tool to turn the adjusting screw, this is a simple job. My biggest frustration was in finding the best tool for the job.
I tried 4 different options for a tool. See the list below and comments. They all work and I guess everyone will have their own preference but for me there is one clear winner here.
Tool Options Tried:
- ¼ inch drive ratchet, 2 ½ inch extension, 8 mm socket
- Nut driver with a flexible shaft, 8 mm socket
- #2 Phillips screwdriver
- Finger Bit Driver, ¼” hex to ¼” square drive adapter, and a ¼” drive 8 mm socket or you could use:
Finger Bit Driver, ¼” hex to 3/8” square drive adapter, and a 3/8” drive 8 mm socket
Comments on the Tools:
- It seems like a lot of people like option 1 and think it is easy. It was not easy for me, I had problems keeping the socket on the adjusting screw while turning it. The problem I think is that it’s too much tool going into a small space, one handed where you cannot see and the lever end of the ratchet just gets in the way.
- I thought a nut driver with a flexible shaft would be just the thing but after I tried it I did not think it was as good as option 1. I tried a 6” and a 12” flexible shaft, maybe if they were more flexible, not as stiff, this would have worked.
- The Phillips screwdriver method was ok but the problem with it was that the slot to insert the screwdriver is on the underside of the housing so you have to bend over or sit on the floor to see what you are doing. I did not like this much more if any than the first two options.
- The Finger Bit Driver was far easier for me to use than anything I tried.
Since you cannot see the adjusting screws, the best thing to do is to use the diagram in the service manual showing the location of the screws then reach in there and feel around to familiarize yourself with where they are. Then just go in with the tool in the palm of your hand, find the screw and turn the driver, all at the control of your fingertips. Easy, no frustration with it coming off the screw then trying to get it back on.
Credits:
Big Thanks to VPS1 for posting the picture of the finger bit driver link. This helped me to find the right tool for this job.
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=13260.msg210510#msg210510
I found a picture somewhere of the headlight assembly removed from the bike so you can see the adjustment screws better. I cannot find the source now to credit them but thanks, I thought it was useful to put in the procedure.
The diagram in Reply #17 above is a good reference for setting up the projection wall but I found another setup that uses a shorter distance and it worked better for me to use inside my garage so that is what I put in my procedure.
The diagram above uses a distance of: 32.8 ft (10 m) and a drop of x = 4.7 in (12 cm)
I used (see steps 1 and 3) a distance of: 25 ft (7.6 m) and a drop of x = 2 in (5.1 cm)