Does adjusting the Air Bag hard/soft switch change h/light aim?

[Fire34]

We have a 13 RTL. When riding at night we get flashed a lot. My question is... the switch on the dash says hard/soft - does one or the other raise or lower the front of the bike so I don't get flashed as often? Thanks guys.
Dave

[Mikey]

It will point the headlights in the air with it on soft, because the rear will be down a little more than normal. Maybe you have to adjust you headlights a little. I ride mine on high beams most of the time with LEDS in, and rarely get flashed. Now when I have the fogs lights on also, well that's a different case.

[Steve W.]

Yes, it does.

Personally, I think the "hard/soft" labeling is misleading. It should really read "high/low" for ride height.

You can test this at night. Park some place that is about 50 feet away from a wall. Use a wheel chock to prevent the bike from rolling if the area is not perfectly flat and level. Start the bike, point it toward the wall, select LOW beams. Release the parking brake, select first gear. Note the location of the headlight beam on the wall. Add some weight to the rear of the bike. I have simply stood on the passenger pegs to do this. The headlight beam should move up on the wall, due to the weight. The compressor should kick in and bring the lights down to the original position. Move your "hard/soft" switch, watch the light height change.

The use of air in the suspension makes it a very progressive system. Until the suspension travel is maxed out, either top or bottom, changing the amount of air in the system simply changes the height. Using as much height as possible, without topping out, will actually give the best ride. I have found that to be about 1 bar above the middle of the display on my wife's '17 RT, not sure if your '13 has the same display.

If the headlights are adjusted for proper projection down the road with the suspension at this height, it allows you to fine-tune how far they project by using the suspension switch. Note that adding a passenger will have no effect, as the compressor will add air to return to the same height. This will increase the pressure in the system, but the height will be the same.

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[Peteoz]

Just as an aside, as it doesn’t relate to your ‘13 Fire34……the ‘20+ RT has auto levelling, in that the air bag is raised/lowered automatically to ensure your headlights (LED) remain at a constant beam height…..I don’t know about the US, but in Aus it is mandatory for vehicles fitted with LED headlights to have an auto levelling system, as even a slight raise in LED trajectory can really blind oncoming traffic.

Pete

[Steve W.]

Just as an aside, as it doesn’t relate to your ‘13 Fire34……the ‘20+ RT has auto levelling,...

Pete

I don't know about the '13 RTL that Fire34 has, but my sister's '14 RTL and my wife's '17 RTS both have auto-levelling.

The base model might not have had the auto feature, but the S and L trims do.

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[Peteoz]

I don't know about the '13 RTL that Fire34 has, but my sister's '14 RTL and my wife's '17 RTS both have auto-levelling.

The base model might not have had the auto feature, but the S and L trims do.

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Sure, Steve, but my post was simply a comment in relation to the ‘20+ having statutory auto levelling to ensure the LED lights don’t blind oncoming traffic. That requirement for auto levelling was not mandatory previously.

Pete