2020+ Panigale V4S Headlight Question

I just took delivery of a 2021 Panigale V4S and I can't say that I noticed it before now. Are the low beams both sides or just one?

Highbeam uses both but my low beam is just one.

Stupid design.

They're all 1 side on v4

I agree totally.

The xx99 had both sides and even the Streetfighter V4 was both.

I wonder if there's a work around other than always using the highbeam.

The xx99 bikes were a visual mind .... for other motorists. Very tough to judge distance and speed with that old symmetrical design. Looks like a car coming much further away than a bike that’s flying up on you not so far away

if u were buying the bike just for the headlights it would be a S1000RR with dual BiLED projectors

Cool thing w the new headlights is that we have full control over the lights. You can shut off headlight beam and DRLs come on 100% bright, then you can use the “flash to pass” momentary high beam switch to go from 100% DRL to both high and low beams on with DRL at 20%. It’s stunning and authoritative, it demands other motorists compliance vs just requesting it. Think emergency vehicle

With key on, engine off, press the DRL button and it toggles between dim and bright DRL. Activate the high beam switch and the beams will go on

The key is to ride around with a short 7mm Allen key and keep making adjustments until it’s just right. Keep in mind the cut off line should be a little pointed down from level while you’re on the throttle, otherwise you will be either always dazzling oncoming motorists or youll be flashing them constantly as you drive down the bumpy road. It looks like a strobe bc the transition from light to no light is very tight, like laser beams as someone said on here long ago

I raised my low beam slightly from how it was delivered and dialed in my high beam.
It’s as good as it’s going to get until I fit a Rigid light bar to assist the high beam. I mostly ride at night, lighting is very important and the lights of a Panigale are supremely seductive



https://www.rigidlightshop.com/p-31...ck-housing-e-series-pro-rigid-industries.aspx
Think I could mount a light bar to the exposed section of my headlight fairing stay?
I worry it’ll mess with the aero, I am in the 200mph club.
Still considering some driving lights to mount down low, possibly on the brackets for those ...... orange reflectors. But I don’t want to ruin the bike.

maybe some slim lights up under the wings

@DucatiKev very helpful post. I didn't think of the dual headlights having that effect but it makes perfect sense. With how far apart they are compared to even the Streetfighter V4 I can see that being a problem.

I think it's a law in the US that bikes have only one "headlight." There can be an array of "driving lights," "off-road" lights and they can be called whatever extra lights. If you ask me, that too is a stupid design as it is virtually impossible to understand in a split second distance/direction/speed/ of a single point of light. Cages have a big advantage in utilizing human instinct to notice 2 horizontally positioned lights as eyes, but ya, then narrow positioning on a bike is too similar to a car very far away. There needs to be something extra for bikes. With the possibilities of lighting design with LEDs now, motorcycles need a new standard to make their vector super obvious in micro seconds. I noticed some lights projected on the ground under a bike or on the sides are really excellent at this. I've seen bicyclists with lasers pointing at the ground. You really see exactly where they are.
@DucatiKev, I bet that light bar in the wrong spot will whistle something fierce at 200mph hahaha. There's got to be something more aerodynamic.
What also makes me nuts, (just call me the Design Curmudgeon), is sports bike lights that drop & point daftly straight in a deep lean leaving where you're actually going a round a curve totally black. So why doesn't the Panigale get cornering lights as the new Multistrada? Yo Claudio! O! Caro mio, perché non metti le luci più intelligenti sulla moto premier? eiii o!

I triple stacked 3 of those light bars on my 09 KTM 530 for desert riding. One was flood and two were spots. Turned out 1 spot and 1 flood woulda prolly been a better choice. Those things are not lite or cheap and they require some juice. Spent another 2 grand upgrading the charging system. Expensive and heavy but very bright : )

S1000RR 2020+ has dual BiLED headlamps, DOT approved. Those lights dim out too

Vbreeze said:

I think it's a law in the US that bikes have only one "headlight."

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I don't think so because the Streetfighter V4 has two but they are closer together. I wonder if it has something to do with the distance that they are apart as Panigale V4's lights are a lot further apart.

bp_SFV4 said:

I don't think so because the Streetfighter V4 has two but they are closer together. I wonder if it has something to do with the distance that they are apart as Panigale V4's lights are a lot further apart.

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It is a law. It was in the 1996 Jakob Dylan Act.

Please don't bring the Wallflowers into this.

I too dislike the single sided head light. And am looking to change this hopefully in the near future. I plan on ripping out the mediocre LED projectors and retrofitting some better Bi-LED projectors on both sides. I used to do this for 848/1098's using bi-xenon projectors and it was a HUGE upgrade.

Little background on me, I used to own/operate a custom head/tail light shop and have been building custom lights since 2000.

Wish me luck fella's, hopefully I can find a good setup for all of us to use.

Post up if you get something working. I'm game.

Desmo-Duey said:

Little background on me, I used to own/operate a custom head/tail light shop and have been building custom lights since 2000.

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Oh ..... Delete that quick before Kevin sees it