Hi Hub,

I'm looking into the feasibility of taking my California ZX14 to New Zealand. In NZ, driving is on the left hand side, as opposed to the right hand side in the US.

The NZ technical compliance guy has said that my headlight will need to be converted - I guess because he expects the light spreads to the side of the road on the right instead of the left, which will result in shining into the eyes of oncoming drivers in NZ.

I have checked the headlights and the light spread, but to me it looks pretty symmetrical.

Do you have any thoughts on this? If it does need converting, do you have any suggestions that don't require changing the whole unit?

Thanks Hub!

Cheers.

Thanks for the response and the ideas, Hub.

I like your idea of the replacement bulbs, if that's what skews the light to one direction - I'll take up your suggestion and look them up and see if I can see equivalents. Unless you think it's the actual housing that directs the light in one direction?

So do you think the low beam light points straight ahead or to the right? The high beam should be straight ahead, I guess.

I'll put a posting into the ZZR1400 forum to see what the UK guys do when you do to Europe.

Cheers.

Ya mcarrollnz...what he said."off the wall bulb system"....that's my point exactly.Anyone look on the UK(or New Zealand) Kawasaki parts fiches?Methinks the bulbs and headlamp assemblies just"may" be the same as ours here in the USA.Just a thought. mcarrollnz wrote.."if that's what skews the bulbs".Well,guess that's ONE way you could adjust you headlamps.I'll stick with the factory adjustment bolts.But that's just me. Friggin Kawasaki anyway...WHAT were they thinkin!Shoulda left those beam adjusters out and just given every new purchaser a tube o' that there BULL GLUE.Woulda saved em several hundreds of thousands of dollars if they'd a just NOT had those in there.And we ended up payin for em.Geez...what customer service,eh?Our bikes are rollin relics-certainly not up to par with all those other brands!Hub...where'd ya get that there Bull Glue anyway?Hub wrote..."you'll not see a mark on my bike that has been altered from stock"....BTW HUBSTER...nice welds...mine didn't come with that little feature on the cylinder wall there.Kawasaki Strikes Again!What a ripoff-they cheated me!I want my red handle for lifting my engine out! 1)"To give you a clear view, projector headlights are a type of headlight that gives out a stronger beam to light a more focused area with very accurate light dispersion and less scatter loss. Its design works like a slide projector and it allows you to see what you need to see sooner and more vividly. In projector headlights, a filament is positioned at one focus of an elliptical and a condenser lens is placed in front of the lamp. At the image plane, just between the lens and the reflector, a shade can be found and the projection at the top edge of this shade is the one that gives the low-beam cutoff"....... 2)"Quadruple projector beam headlights adorn the ZX-14’s front cowl. The outer lights contain position lamps
and the high beams. Low beams are in the two centre lamps. All four beams on creates enough light to turn
night into day".(this former tidbit came directly from the New Zealand Kawasaki site).Exactly the same description for our 14's here in the USA.They're even called ZX14's in New Zealand-NOT zzr1400's.The electrical power outputs(including lamps) are the same in both countries on our bikes.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 4/22/2010 @ 11:19 AM *

THIS is a HOOT I'll tell ya! "wiring harness"(stow that there glue and duct tape right in yon nose piece),"three prong plug","different wattage bulb".."get some tape and some glue to slap er in there".....Hub-ya bust me up!!! ..... Now listen Up!Do ya see any zx14's runnin around NEW ZEALAND with their friggin headlamps taped,unplugged,or otherwise monkeyed(!)(you know about Monkeys,right Hubster?) with??Do ya?The whole purpose of the stock lamps is to SEE what the hell yer comin up on.Think about it(PLLLEEEAAAZZZE).Yer tellin this feller to cut off half his illumination here.If Kawi planned on shippin and sellin bikes to NEW ZEALANDers(who apparently have a greater sensitivity to light on the RIGHT LANE),don't ya think they would have made a "special edition"model...just for those "light sensitive cry babies".You know,kind of a "stealth mode" lamp cover system.Fergit about the adjusters-they don't do anything(especially with a Projector Beam lamp).But them there covers-sheeeeet...no prob.Just flip those baby's on,only on the RIGHT SIDE mind ya,and you'll NEVER have to worry about a BLINDED motorist comin at ya the other way again.We could import em over here as well...you know....don't want to Blind those folks comin at us in the left lane here either.So you'll have ya a nice "sweet spot"...ya...where ya can't see NOTHIN to yer right(or left,depending on what country yer in).That pedestrian dressed in black,you know,the one you'd be able to clearly see with your full array of lamps-well,he's just gonna have to WAKE UP and SMELL THE COFFEE!He better not even THINK about crossin the road ANYWHERE in front of ya.It'll be hell to pay if he(God forbid)should "maybe" not see ya in time.God knows-you sure aint gonna see him walkin out from the shoulder like he owned the place.Sound about right?It's pretty clear mr mcarrollnz doesn't realize the bulb assemblies are ONE UNIT.Adjust one bolt,the whole unit moves-NOT THE SINGLE BULB.Anyone here pick up on that little bit of trivia-or am I the only one to clarify the headlamp adjustment procedure for him...I mean,I will....gladly,but the manual does a nice job of instructing the owner on how and which way to focus their headlamps for any given condition.WHAT A HOOT!!!!!!! "I've jumped into the 21st century with chemistry".....there's a warning label on that tube o'glue I'm sure SOMEWHERE-"keep away from children"...and maybe somethin like..."use in a well ventilated area-purposely ingesting the vapors of this container will cause brain damage or death".....How'm I doin Bro! ...."if THEY still complain"...only complainin "they're" gonna do is-"Fuckin American-what the hell did ya think you were doin tryin to run around here on our roads with HALF yer headlamps blacked out-are you crazy or somethin?You see any cars around here runnin with their Right headlamps unplugged?...get the hell outta our country ya friggin moron!...and take "cyclops" with ya asshole"

* Last updated by: blue07 on 4/22/2010 @ 3:01 PM *

Thanks for the input and direction, fellas. Yep you're right, looks like it is one adjustable unit, most likely the same as the NZ market unit - adjusted to suit LHD or RHD conditions. The owners manual has some good detail on this too. Also, when I shine a flashlight into the low beams, it looks like the unit is skewed to shine slightly towards the right hand side of the road.

Sorry, I had failed to mention I'm from NZ and taking the bike back to reside there permanently, so I'm not worried about a temporary fix. Just wanted to get it resolved while still here in the US, before getting it back to NZ and then possibly finding I needed to order parts.

By the way, the reason I'm taking the bike back is because they are just so damn expensive in NZ. Even a 2nd hand one runs about US $13000.

Cheers.

I'm runnin 55watt HID's-highs AND lows.Aint had any cages flash me yet(course,I used those dysfunctional lamp adjustment bolts...how foolish of me)...day OR night(except to warn me there's a copper up ahead)...let me say-I use some common sense at night...I don't fly around in traffic with my brights on,natch..except during the day.Nor do LEAVE my brights on if I'm approaching a car comin at me(at any questionable distance ahead at night).Safer for them,safer for me(people tend to throw things from their cars at night when they think they can't actually be seen(or caught).

Well Bro...I wish ya all the good fortune ahead!New Zealand-AWESOME,just awesome.Be careful there,ride safe and try not to piss people off with yer spaceship!!!Those lamp assemblies will adjust right and left as well-so just experiment with em till ya get er right.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 4/22/2010 @ 3:37 PM *

Thanks Blue07.

NZ is speed camera mad like Aussie and UK, but the difference is the cameras are generally front facing, so motorcycles with the license plate on the back are pretty safe. You see the occasional speed camera photo of a 150mph rider giving the camera the finger... love it.

Cheers and safe riding, Hub and Blue07.

mcarrollnz , I took my FJR to Noo Zulland for a 5 week blast and I had to get a safety certificate for Registration when I got there, they didn't even look at the bike. if you took it to a inspection station out of town a bit they wouldn't even know it was from another country . you might get lucky.
How you getting it to NZ ?

If you took it in for five weeks only, then it was probably a temporary tourist vehicle type thing. I'm taking the bike to NZ for the bike to permanently reside there, so will be registered as a local vehicle. Thus, all the conformance stuff.

I got a quote for shipping from www.moverquest.com from LA to Lyttelton for $1270. Apparently they put the bike securely on some kind of pallet, then I guess it goes into a container.