Headlight Comparison

[Arkyrider]

A buddy of mine has a 2013 Tenere the same as mine. While riding over the weekend we noticed that his headlight hi-beam has the same brightness as my low-beam. My hi-beam is much brighter than his. Both have had the headlight harness recall done. Anyone else ever come across this? Any suggestions as to why? Just wondering if one of us has a screwed up headlight.

 

[2112]

Check the bulb wattage, perhaps a set of 35w bulbs have got into your friends bike ?

 

[tomatocity]

I did not think there was a difference in brightness between Low and High beam, just more light.

 

[Juan]

Hi Beam and low beam use the same bulb. On low beam there is a 'shutter' which blocks part of the beam. On high beam the shutter is up (hence the clicking sound when the high beam switch is turned on). The difference you are noticing must be alignment of the headlight. It happened to me when I replaced the sub-harness. Alignment is easy but a bit of a pain as the bolts are difficult to reach.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Has his bike ever had a HIGHER wattage bulb? The headlight shells are tight and higher wattage bulbs can put out enough heat to damage the reflector. It was very tempting to buy 85W bulbs on my last Asia trip and this is the reason that I passed on them.

 

[EricV]

A buddy of mine has a 2013 Tenere the same as mine. While riding over the weekend we noticed that his headlight hi-beam has the same brightness as my low-beam. My hi-beam is much brighter than his. Both have had the headlight harness recall done. Anyone else ever come across this? Any suggestions as to why? Just wondering if one of us has a screwed up headlight.

As others have said, the high and low beams are the same wattage, due to being the same H7 single filament bulb. It's not unheard of for the bulb(s) to get put in wrong, which does affect headlight aim and perceived "brightness". I would look there first on your friend's bike. Can he hear his shutter actuate when he moves the switch from high beam to low? If not, his high beam might just be his low beam, if the shutter is not activating with the switch.

Point the bikes about 10 feet from a wall or garage door, activate the high beams. You should notice a different aim point, (higher), for the high beam. If his does not change, the shutter(s) is(are) probably not working. That could be due to a bad connection or bad harness, (never read about a bad replacement harness, but it's possible).

It would be very unusual for both shutters to fail, which makes it more suspect that something did not get plugged in, or the replacement harness has an issue. Or maybe the switch has an issue? Did he replace any switch housings?

 

[RED CAT]

Had the 2012 with headlights adjusted very low from the factory. Had to crank them up considerably. My 2014 headlights seemed much brighter in daylight compared to the 2012 as seen from the rear view mirrors of a bike up front of mine. Think they are just adjusted much higher stock. I've had vehicles flash me during day light on low beam. They are plenty bright when adjusted properly.