Printable View
[QUOTE=glenfiddich;843354]Bob -- any heat issues with the hack light enclosed like that?[/QUOTE]
Hi Pete,
I spoke with John about that at the GA Mtn Rally, he said it might over heat and go dimmer, but would still be on. I don't do alot of night riding and have not noticed it going dim, but I have monitored it during the day, and can always see some light reflected from the vehicles in front of me.
[QUOTE=Bobmws;843371]Hi Pete,
I spoke with John about that at the GA Mtn Rally, he said it might over heat and go dimmer, but would still be on. I don't do alot of night riding and have not noticed it going dim, but I have monitored it during the day, and can always see some light reflected from the vehicles in front of me.[/QUOTE]
Sounds good. I've always liked the look of that nose. Mine has the recessed light and the indentation is always filled with crud, bugs, and the occasional dead bird.
Are you going to run them as driving lights or fog lights?
As a type, LEDs are very sensitive to overheating. The biggest deficiency in most inexpensive LED lights is failure to provide adequate heat sinking- so light output goes down a little as the lamp warms up.
Not mentioned so far is the dramatic shortening of life that will happen if light temps exceed a critical limit. The effect is at least as bad as hooking a tungsten bulb to a too high voltage source. Lifespan will be cut by any amount of overheating and can go directly to immediate failure if lights get hot enough.
So before I'd stick an LED normally mounted in an airstream ina housing, I'd take a real careful look at its design and just how much heat the housing might trap. A housing protecting the front but, for example, open or vented at the rear, would be preferable to a fully enclosed one.
[QUOTE=racer7;844444]As a type, LEDs are very sensitive to overheating.[/QUOTE]
Remember hearing that somewhere, maybe on this forum, but had forgotten about the issue. Thx for the reminder. I have almost settled on the Clearwater Glendas, so they certainly are not cheap. I will have to research and ensure they are not susceptible to overheating.
Again, thx for the reminder.
After looking at the various offerings in LED auxiliary lights for the past year I purchased 2 sets of the Clearwater Kristas. One set I installed on a 2012 F800GS, the other on a 2011 R1200GS. Both intallations were easy, the hardest part was taking the time to route the wires neatly. While they are expensive they are high quality. Everything for the specific bike model was included in the kits except the expandable wire loom I like to use on certain wires (probably not necessary).
The light they produce is impressive, the beams are well focused and travel a long distance. I run with them on during the day in traffic, keeping the volume control at the lowest setting. When I select the bikes highbeam they go to full power (WOW!) as well as when you hit the horn button. After several weeks with them I've had no issues with blinding oncoming traffic or vehicles in front of me and they dissapate heat very well.
Mike -- We must be related; I also use wire loom on pretty much everything on the bikes and spend hours and several beers trying to figure out the neatest way to run them. Where did you end up mounting the relay box on the wiring harness; mine's just forward of and above the horn.
I have the old style Kristas on my 07 GS and just mounted the newer (much brighter) Kristas on my '10 GSA linked to Glendas on the sidecar. It's really nice having all four controlled by one rheostat, and thanks to Mikegc I moved the controller up to the top of the foglight switch. I often compared my older Kristas to miniature suns when I hit the high beams, but these are even more powerful. Definitely low power into opposing traffic!
Hey Pete, on the 1200 I mounted it under the keyswitch in the wishbone shaped brace, it fit perfect. The harness ran down and forward from there. On the 800 I mounted it in the space behind the battery, it was like it was made for it. The install on the 800 was alittle easier/neater because the battery is up front closer to the connections (or maybe it was because it was the 2nd one). Before, I was somewhat reluctant to ride very long at night but now I enjoy riding more. These lights remind me of years ago when I installed aircraft landing lights in place of my highbeams on my cars. Cross country travel overnight was my favorite, seeing miles down the road...
I've been going the longest while with everything just wired to the battery.
Today my stuff from electricalconnection.com came in and I rerouted my existing wiring and added some advmonster.com driving lights
[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/07/2y3y2evy.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/07/e8amepuv.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/07/quvuvehy.jpg[/IMG]
This is WAY better than the stock headlight could ever do.
[img]https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/734221_10200260046729963_13374686_n.jpg[/img]
[img]https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/734273_10200260046929968_891863995_n.jpg[/img]
[img]https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/37099_10200260046169949_781176483_n.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=mike shotwell;844662]After looking at the various offerings in LED auxiliary lights for the past year I purchased 2 sets of the Clearwater Kristas. One set I installed on a 2012 F800GS, the other on a 2011 R1200GS. Both intallations were easy, the hardest part was taking the time to route the wires neatly. While they are expensive they are high quality. Everything for the specific bike model was included in the kits except the expandable wire loom I like to use on certain wires (probably not necessary).
The light they produce is impressive, the beams are well focused and travel a long distance. I run with them on during the day in traffic, keeping the volume control at the lowest setting. When I select the bikes highbeam they go to full power (WOW!) as well as when you hit the horn button. After several weeks with them I've had no issues with blinding oncoming traffic or vehicles in front of me and they dissapate heat very well.[/QUOTE]
Thanks a lot for your review, I've had my sights set on the Kristas but was undecided. I avoid riding at night but last time it was unavoidable, adn as I was out in mountainous country and open highway the lack of visibility with the stock lighting was just plain unsafe. I'm going for the kristas TODAY.
Happy rides and cheers, C
[QUOTE=glenfiddich;841476]For street bikes I'm a big fan of Motolights mounted on the calipers. .[/QUOTE]
I have used Motolights on my LT and RS. The improvement in being seen is dramatic. Since I ride on mostly 2 lane, black top, hilly, and curvy roads I find the additional light for night riding a pure safety issue.
I had the Motolights on the LT for 80,000 miles and they were like new when I sold the bike. Motolights also provides free replacement bulbs. At both rallies and over the phone they have been excellent to deal with.
:wave
I added Denalis from Twisted Throttle using their mount on the forks just below the fairing and they through a lot of light. Very pleased.
... thought I'd let y'all know how I finished it. I installed Clearwater Glendas with the amber lens cover. They do everything I wanted them to do, which is cause other drivers to see me. Based on reactions and comments, I believe they work well. I originally was looking for amber LEDs, but the Glendas came with white LEDs and amber lens covers, plus they included the white lens covers and o-ring seals as spares, so I can switch in about five minutes to white if I ever want to use them as nighttime driving lights.
Thx for your input. It helped.
Where are the photos?
[QUOTE=LDB;877791]Where are the photos?[/QUOTE]
You've heard of technophobes? Or technophiles? Well, I'm a techno-doofus. Got a digital camera but can't figure it out. Got a smartphone with camera but can't figure it out. Got a laptop with ALL the software but can't figure it out. You'll have to use your imagination but my installation looks almost identical to others posted on this thread. Sorry.