Auxiliary lights that don't empty the wallet suggestions

[oldnslow]

When I bought my 02RT it had the small PIAA lights and liked them alot, But one burned out last year so this winter I went real cheap. I went to Walmart and got a set that looks almost the same fot $20 bucks. I hooked them up a couple a weeks ago and they are real bright. I have not road at night with them yet, but my main reason for them was so people would see me in the day and I think they will work just fine for that. And for $20 dollars I thought if I don't like them I'm not out much. And I will go with a higher dollar set, but I think that I'm going to like them.

+1! I have a cheap set on my bike, 55 watt h3 bulbs. Replacement bulb is like 4 bucks. I use them in the daylight to be seen, but they are plenty bright for night time too, which is why I don't use them at night. I find that the reflected light from the road is very distracting, so I use them only for city driving at night, when the ambient city light is high and turn them off when out of town. But I use them all the time in daylight.

[JohnM]

If you Google "Pilot Driving Lights", you'll come up with some inexpensive options.

I had the PL-1010C models (PIAA clones) installed on my K75's fork legs w/ the Martin Fabrication mounts. Did a decent job.

[26667]

Hella ff50, good lights, good price

and you can, with a bit of labor and ingenuity mount them to the brake caliper housing(?) using $3 "L"brackets from home depot. There are pix somewhere on the forum. maybe oilheads. works for me.

[Bobmws]

My recent addition to the rig. ADVMonster LED's on the bike forks and one in the hack. Not giving up the FF50's on the fairing.

Mount made with aluminum, bent in the vice. Chrome spacers from ACE hardware in the bolt recess in the fork legs:

[Bobmws]

Front view, Hack LED at full power, fork LED's dimmed:

[robsryder]

My first LED aux lights were the VisionX Solstice Solo lights as shown in the link below - the seller offers a discount (see ADV vendor page for more info). These lights were easy to mount, are highly visible (to oncoming traffic), and provide decent illumination -
http://www.visionxstore.com/Motorcyc...ghts/XIL-S1103

Next I became interested in the less expensive LED lights from ADV Monster - I have several of the 3 LED and 4 LED flavors. These were also pretty easy to install and are pretty durable - there are some pretty good write-ups about testing of these lights on ADV under LED Aux Lights -
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=607184
http://stores.intuitwebsites.com/hst...Categories.bok

Similar LED lights to those sold by ADV Monster can be found at 24x7DIY. The cost seems a bit lower, but the lights come directly from China and there is less support than offered by the ADV Monster vendor -
http://24x7diy.com/index.php/cPath/23

The least expensive option that I've found are LEDs from PlasmaLEDs. The power is lower and thus these lights would not really serve for nighttime illumination. However, the LEDs are really bright and very noticeable to oncoming traffic. The 008 LEDs are water proof -
http://www.plasmaled.com/high_power_module.htm

[SeabeckS]

and you can, with a bit of labor and ingenuity mount them to the brake caliper housing(?) using $3 "L"brackets from home depot. There are pix somewhere on the forum. maybe oilheads. works for me.

Uh, shelf brackets to mount a piece of wood on the wall? Well...maybe. (NOT)

With the amount of shock and vibration from being mounted on a front wheel/fork assembly I'd be checking that "mount" for metal fatigue frequently. Like hourly at least. The FF's for example are fairly light, but the flex from even a small mass like that on a $1.49 bracket isn't something I'd want attached to my brake caliper bolts.

Just saying that I think I'd look for some better metal than a bracket that was forged out of the cheapest possible materials in a Chinese factory...YMMV.

Cheers!

[Bobmws]

Uh, shelf brackets to mount a piece of wood on the wall? Well...maybe. (NOT)

With the amount of shock and vibration from being mounted on a front wheel/fork assembly I'd be checking that "mount" for metal fatigue frequently. Like hourly at least. The FF's for example are fairly light, but the flex from even a small mass like that on a $1.49 bracket isn't something I'd want attached to my brake caliper bolts.

Just saying that I think I'd look for some better metal than a bracket that was forged out of the cheapest possible materials in a Chinese factory...YMMV.

Cheers!

C'mon Bill, we all know what the cheapest thing on a BMW is............

[SteveAikens]

When I bought my 02RT it had the small PIAA lights and liked them alot, But one burned out last year so this winter I went real cheap..

If they are the same 'small PIAA Lights' that are the 1200 or 1100x, you can slip over ot Lowes and pick up a couple Sylvania MR-16 bulb of your choice and they are a perfect fit to the housings. The MR-16s are for track-lighting - or your occasional burnt out PIAA lights.....

[SeabeckS]

C'mon Bill, we all know what the cheapest thing on a BMW is............

[WisconsinKris]

It amazes me that I can't find some micro can style single LED easily mountable lights under $50. 300 lumens maybe?

All I'm looking to light up is the shadow underneath the headlights to make going down a long dark driveway a bit easier.

I'm tempted to get a couple of 12v rechargeable flashlights and wire them up.

[robsryder]

It amazes me that I can't find some micro can style single LED easily mountable lights under $50. 300 lumens maybe?

All I'm looking to light up is the shadow underneath the headlights to make going down a long dark driveway a bit easier...

Perhaps you should take a look at these - specifically the 008 -
http://www.plasmaled.com/high_power_module.htm