HIDs are required nowadays to have a leveling feature, automatic or manual, to account for how the vehicle settles back while carrying heavy loads. And, the halogen-equipped Ford Transit van we rented in Germany also had a leveling control wheel. The Honda setup has a dash-mounted level control.

Indeed, but I thought it was just automated based on a... level.

How to you set it manually? Garage door test?

You'd still adjust the headlight assemblies with a screwdriver while aimed at a wall; the service manual has a whole procedure dictating the distance from the wall, height of the bright spot, etc. Once they're both set equally and at the right angle for the unloaded car, you'd adjust them from the cabin as necessary depending on cargo load (like, three passengers + luggage versus just myself). Just adjust them until they're not shining too high while still projecting a good distance downrange.

I'm not worried about blinding drivers. They don't seem at all concerned about blinding me...

I'd prefer it if my multiple set of blinky lights caused them to have a seizure which affected the "driving" center of the brain and actually made them better, courteous drivers... I can dream, can't I??

that would be ideal!

Yeah! I'm working on getting the blinky lights properly timed and synchronized to cause the desired seizure.

With my helmet light -- which carries major lumage -- I just look up a little bit. It is easy to shoot over a car or truck and still see what's going on.

I also have my light mounted on a homemade mount (actually, recycled and modified handlebar mount) that let's me angle my P-7 up or down with easily on the fly. I can do that, if need be, but I've not yet had to do so.

The first time I wore a helmet light, the first oncoming car I encountered actually drove onto the wrong side of the road and forced me into the curb and yelled some sh*t about blinding him.

Thus, headlamps cause accidents.

bf

I've encountered oncoming riders with a lot of different lighting setups, and I've yet to figure out what the supposed benefit is to high intensity helmet mounted lighting for road riders. For that matter, I also don't understand some people's desire for 800+ lumens of light for an on-road (or MUP) commute, either.

I fully understand it for off-road: You need to be able to spotlight rocks and tree branches and dropoffs, all the little things that could seriously mess up your ride if you didn't know they were coming up. The Lupine Betty or E3-Triple make sense for 24 hour O-R events. A strong helmet light makes sense.
I just spent 5 hours riding in the dark on Saturday night, on unfamiliar roads with descents in excess of 30mph. I've got a single Supernova E3 symmetrical light mounted low on my front rack, and it was plenty of light. On my helmet I have a Princeton Tec Quad LED which I switched on when I needed to read my cue sheet. If traffic is bad during my commute, I will sometimes turn the Quad onto flasher-mode to get noticed.

Honest question to everyone: Aside from the ability to jacklight a driver like a mule deer, what's the benefit to having a 600 lumen helmet mounted lighting system for a road commute, especially one with a symmetrical lens (basically anything helmet mounted sold in the USA)?

Well where I live there are lots of potholes which simply don't show up with some lights. The holes are the same colour as the rest of the road so you need something bright to show them up. Also it allows you to compete with car headlights for visibility. These are my reasons for wanting to upgrade my bike lights.

I want a helmet light so it is directional and I can highlight certain things if necessary - including drivers!

Putting your lights up higher isn't going to help increase pothole visibility without significantly increasing the intensity of the lights you're using. The best setup for increasing shadow contrast for road hazards like rocks and potholes is to move your lights lower to the road. A longer throw-patch of light on the ground will increase shadow length for upcoming hazards and you can get away with using a lower intensity light. (Longer battery life, if you're not using a dyno.)

One of the worst visibility (of hazards) combos I've seen is a mid-power LED light mounted up on the handlebars, during a heavy rain. I noticed when I switched from halogen to LED lighting that LEDs seem to throw a "flatter" contrast light when mounted at the same position as a halogen, and especially in the rain, the reflected light off the road from my headlight made road hazards very difficult to see until I dropped my light down to the front of my rack, just above the front tire.

Well I am going to go for a high powered flash light with long throw for the handlebars, a more floody light nearer the ground and the fenix on the helmet. Which sounds a bit like what you are describing so I hope it will work better than my current solution which is the fenix on the bars.

Sometimes I'm not too sure, which is why the only helmet light I've used with any regularity is a little Planet Bike Spok. Just enough light to help me see things in major darkness, and I like to think that its flash mode helps get me some visibility above parked cars. I've thought of sticking the red taillight version on the same helmet.

If the goal is to see potholes, helmet lights are the WRONG answer. I ride 4 miles of gravel road each way every day, and it's badly potholed and washboarded. I tried using a helmet light one time, and I'm surprised I didn't break my frame or a wheel or something. I moved the light down to the bars and I could see the road irregularities just fine. I actually think someday I may get a front rack so I can put them down another 10 inches or so.

Even on that horrible surface, a Dinotte 200L (200 lumens) is plenty. If it's running smooth, I drop it to 50% power. On smooth pavement, I drop it to 25% power. I do kick it to 200L in "be seen" mode in town when I'm contending with street lights and such, even though I don't need it at all to see.

The helmet light is not for potholes it is for directional light for extra visibility. The proposed flood light would be for potholes.

uhh... simply don't look into their mirror, unless you want to Command Traffic.

i prefer helmet lights

often at a stop, at an intersection while waiting for the light to change, i simply rotate the light down.
i use a Light and Motion Arc.

Simple answer, don't wear it.

I really don't like helmet mounted lights, more so when that is the riders only light.
It really will throw me off when i'm driving and are coming up to a 4 way stop with no street lights.
I can see the riders light, but then it will turn away to the side, or back and forth real quick, making it look like the rider is either swerving and not going to stop, or look like they are intending on going a different direction through the intersection than it looks.

I like it a lot better when i can see the light pointing in the direction that the bike is currently going.

ye I wouldn't use it as my only light, as you say that would probably be a bit counter-productive.

that is an issue with the User and "appropriate use of technology"

personally, I've used helmet lights for about 15yrs, I have a lot of experience with night rides.
i raced 24hr MTB solo, and my old job, i worked graveyard shift for 6yrs, then the evening shift for 8yrs.
every day I rode in the dark at some point.

Helmet lights are by far better in performance. if a person had to choose, either one, I'd strongly suggest a helmet mount.

but

there are issues.
some states mandate that bicycles have lights mounted to the handlebar.
as many people have pointed out, many people simply can not control their head movement

bar mount lights are a bummer
you can never look thru a turn, and at some point, you end up out running the light, its either that or you end up moving the light, having dual beams, etc...

helmet mounted lights are much better.
but you do have to use them RESPONSIBLY
they are great for commanding traffic, when/if needed
they are great for dealing with hazards, at least you can look at whatever it is that happens to glance by.

here in Monterey, its raccoons and deer, the occasional coyote, fox, bob cat, etc...

but you do have to use them responsibly
and that i have witnessed, it takes awhile to get a person to become aware of their movements.

in the dirt... a handle bar light is mostly only good to light up things close, in your periphery
but... really... those things you should have already seen.

bar mount lights, if its a nice light, is expensive, and its an added theft risk if you have to park your bike.
a helmet light, well.. the battery, et al is with you. get off of bike, park, lock... and walk into store, etc...

my 2cents on lights.

175 lm isn't going to blind anyone. They get more light out of their dome light than that

You do need to remember, however, that you have the perfect system for a helmet light...your neck! Unless there is something seriously wrong with your neck, you should be able to move the light in about two thirds of a hemisphere. When you come up behind a car, tilt your head up a little. Problem solved. While meeting other cyclists on a path, turn your head a little to the side. Again problem solved.

I point mine down unless I'm in the high traffic section of my commute. My light is only 45 lumens, but I've been flashed once by a driver that I was waiting for that was taking so long to go past I kept looking at him to see if he'd stopped. I'm pretty sure it is bright enough to get people to notice when pointed directly at them.

I bought mine specifically to spotlight drivers that might otherwise ignore me. I also like it to spot turns. Otherwise it doesn't do much.

I still need brights to nail drivers that don't dim their lights when they see me. I don't do that in a car any more, but it seems like staring at someone's brights is more problematic on a bike because it generally lasts longer.

Don't forget when you shine lights in someone's eyes it acts as a sheild from their sight. We have the same problem with the local cops and their new lights. They are so bright and shining in your eyes, what ever is behind them is hidden from view.

I do my best not to put mine in someone's eyes unless it's a quick flash to get them to dim brights if they forget.

I have a DiNotte 600L which is VERY bright. I've seen these while driving a car and they are very annoying. My general rule is to avoid annoying people driving 6000 lb weapons so I try to avoid shining the light in mirrors and also crank it down to the lowest setting when it is safe to do so.

So far, I haven't been "brighted" but I have heard of this happening to DiNotte users.

I had that problem when trying to walk my bike back into DC along a stretch of MUP after the fireworks one 4th of July. I tried riding, but was getting so blinded by oncoming cyclists' very bright lights that I was either going off the pavement or nearly rear-ending pedestrians. At times, I simply couldn't see anything but a ball of HID or superbright LED light. The peds near me were complaining about them, too.