lights,good or bad on 999,& are they worthit

[bike mad]

I'm thinking of buying a 999s.I've had jap and germans uptil now but I need a bike with an underseat exhaust,I'm 6,4 so the new jap stuff is to small, but am a bit worried the lights and the reliability of the 999,I like the handling of the 999 it's like my XZ12R, please give me so feed back

[HW]

OK ... I'll comit myself to giving an opinion this one. I only just tried them myself on the 749 after having the bike for 18 months and never riding after dark. Takes a bit of getting used to the high beam which is circular (roughly). My low beam is set a bit low but I always forget to adjust it until I am using it and it's not convenient to get ot the adjuster knob when riding with gloves on and in the dark. THe low beam is still a projector type affair but the top of the beam is flattened off to prevent glare for oncoming traffic. It's very on/off outside the beam area.

Verdict: acceptable. I don't worry about having to ride at night, even if I don't really enjoy it much.

[sbwells]

They are rubbish.

Can't really ride safely beyond about 60MPH in unlit areas such as the countryside. The beam doesn't give a good spread of light and I don't fell happy riding at night.

The 749/999 is apparently better that the 748/9** in this respect so they must really be crap

[Edited on 30-6-2005 by sbwells]

[HW]

Hmmm .. guess it depends on your expectations then. I've never owned a UJM (other than a Fizzy when I was 16) so I have little to compare it to.

I was relatively happy with it until you burst my bubble there! :o

[ttstu]

My previous Mille was brill. Like driving a car. The Duc is as described above. Very on/off outside the circular light and it does make fast riding in the dark difficult. But only in the countryside.

Would not be enough to prevent me buying a 999 though. There may be other reasons but the lights would not be one of them.

[tricky]

The lights work, thats all Im bothered about. You can see enough. I wouldnt use the lights as a decider on buying the bike.

[Steve M]

Originally posted by bike mad
I like the handling of the 999 it's like my XZ12R,


I think there must have been something wrong with that 999 then;)

[electricsheep]

strange, i thought that the lights on my 749 were very good

[chris999]

lights are as good as any other bike...( had a few!!)
if your that bothered get high intensity bulbs.

mind you got caught out on a summers evening in country (bug city) with iridium visor in dark playing wsb with mates--that was quite hairy.

:o:o:o:o

[Loz]

A very focussed beam with the 999.
Mind you, you're going fast enough that you get tunnel vision anyway, so what's the diff?

;)

:devil:

NP: XTC - "Apple Venus"

[Edited on 30-6-2005 by Loz]

[tricky]

The high beam does have quite a cirular look to it, may be ducati should have put a stripe across it. It would have been like the batman logo in the sky but ducati. :)

[ttstu]

Good thinking Tricky.

[Murray Mint]

I'm not at all happy with the lights, i've seen a lot better.

[bike mad]

thanks for you response,it help me, got a 999s in the end.
has any one got a workshop manual for a 999 or know of anywhere selling them cheap. thanks 2 you all

[moto748]

That's funny: several times on here I've seen people compare the 749/999 lights very favourably to the 748/996.

By this reckoning they must be really awful!
Still, I find the lights on my 748 quite acceptable, and better than some. I got one of those "20% brighter", ot whatever bulbs in the dip. As for the main, it's still the orignal factory fitting!

If you want ****-poor lights, try the 750/0990/1000SS!