Best Aux lights

[~TABASCO~]

Jaxon, aka Tabasco, runs RideOnADV, out of Ft Worth, TX. For lights, I know Baja Designs are his go to choice (and I took advantage of his group buy for an OnX lightbar), and that he makes custom brackets for the handlebars to mount small lights there (I have a set of these as well). I am so spoiled by the lighting on my bike, that I want to do something similar to my truck and my quad...

::008:: ::008::

 

[~TABASCO~]

I like the profile shot of the lights Snake, I'm going to have to do that with mine...see how they compare!

You can ride the darkest back roads or in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night with this set up.. NO PROBLEM ! Its like riding in the middle of the day... Ive tested them in both scenarios many times... Absolutely mega clear white light !

 

[~TABASCO~]

Snakebitten, what did Jaxon replace your headlights with? LED?

Mark

5K HID.... I really like LED, and the future is LED,,, But until they get the LED units smaller to fit in our housings and they can control the heat, Ill keep using the HID.. It wont be long until they get it figured out and EVERYTHING is LED....

 

[regulator]

I've had a great experience with Clearwater. Glenn (the owner) is a great guy to do business with and really stands behind his product. The lights are very well built, absolutely waterproof and last forever.

+1 for Glenn and Clearwater.

 

[spam16v]

Re: Fog Lamp / Spot light / Daytime running light ...???

This is what I run:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6Inch-25W-CREE-Slim-Led-Spot-Flood-Light-Bar-Offroad-4-4-Atv-Motorcycle-Ute-4WD-/360999869860?hash=item540d44dda4

I have mine on the engine guard, however, if I didn't have that I would place it using the two mounting points on the headlight frame, very bright. I wired directly through a fused lead and a separate switch. Fit and finish is good and looks like it was made for the bike. I hardly ever ride at noght so for me it is was all about being seen. Another reason for going direct and separate switch is if I had an electrical failure of some kind, you never know right?

I run the same bar, mounted below the headlight without an engine bar like you described. Skeene controller with Alert function and dimmed via high beam signal.

 

[patrickg450]

5K HID.... I really like LED, and the future is LED,,, But until they get the LED units smaller to fit in our housings and they can control the heat, Ill keep using the HID.. It wont be long until they get it figured out and EVERYTHING is LED....

I thought about doing the lights on the backs (front?) of the morrors. Did you add lights or swap out the whole mirror assy? What are they?

 

[~TABASCO~]

I thought about doing the lights on the backs (front?) of the morrors. Did you add lights or swap out the whole mirror assy? What are they?

The lights I use and have installed many times are not on the mirrors themselves, they are basically at the base of the mirrors.. Are these the lights your referring to ?

 

[patrickg450]

The lights I use and have installed many times are not on the mirrors themselves, they are basically at the base of the mirrors.. Are these the lights your referring to ?

yes the most top ones. tome they look like they are on the mirror back but I can be wrong, it is too dark to tell but I really like that look.

2 up top
2 white blinker
2 white stock
2 under stock



All I need ti the 2 up top. I may also change out my blinkers to the smaller slim ones I see.


Thanks Jaxon

 

[~TABASCO~]

Here they are....

 

[twinrider]

Here they are....

Nice.... Do you have a pic of the brackets you can post?

 

[HeliMark]

5K HID.... I really like LED, and the future is LED,,, But until they get the LED units smaller to fit in our housings and they can control the heat, Ill keep using the HID.. It wont be long until they get it figured out and EVERYTHING is LED....

Thanks, agree with the LED being the future. Like them, although they replaced all the lights in the hangar where I work with LED's, and boy the fans on the light's combined is noisy. Not sure if they are saving money having to drive the lights and the cooling fans.

Mark

 

[patrickg450]

DAMN IT................


yea Jax I saw those on your bike last year. I Swapped out bars and did different handguards so I can go like you. I may look at making a bracket. They are cool. They also look higher to me.


Thanks Jax, good work

 

[Masterkick]

Denali mounting bracket $57 from Revzilla. Cheap 2 3/4" LED racing lights from Walmart, $26. The bracket is great, very well made. The lights are cheap and a little flimsy. Drove 20 miles round trip for two washers at .13 cents a piece. The washers supplied with the lights were too small for the mounting bracket. Spent another $7 at AutoZone for a better on off switch. Cut half of the wires out and attached new connections due to the wires being long enough to wire to a semi truck. I'll see how long they last.

The Denali mount from Revzilla is great. I'll see how the cheap lights hold up for now. ::022::

 

[Masterkick]

Denali mounting bracket $57 from Revzilla. Cheap 2 3/4" LED racing lights from Walmart, $26. The bracket is great, very well made. The lights are cheap and a little flimsy. Drove 20 miles round trip for two washers at .13 cents a piece. The washers supplied with the lights were too small for the mounting bracket. Spent another $7 at AutoZone for a better on off switch. Cut half of the wires out and attached new connections due to the wires being long enough to wire to a semi truck. I'll see how long they last.

The Denali mount from Revzilla is great. I'll see how the cheap lights hold up for now. ::022::

Cheap lights in this case suck. Daytime marker lights at best.... I got what I paid for. Denali mount is superb....

 

[Shovelhead]

Denali mounting bracket $57 from Revzilla. Cheap 2 3/4" LED racing lights from Walmart, $26. The bracket is great, very well made. The lights are cheap and a little flimsy. Drove 20 miles round trip for two washers at .13 cents a piece. The washers supplied with the lights were too small for the mounting bracket. Spent another $7 at AutoZone for a better on off switch. Cut half of the wires out and attached new connections due to the wires being long enough to wire to a semi truck. I'll see how long they last.

The Denali mount from Revzilla is great. I'll see how the cheap lights hold up for now. ::022::

Rigging your bike under a shade tree with a dove huntin stool, 2 dogs, a rusty stock trailer, and a PBR.

A true slice of Americana right there. ::008::

::003::

 

[twinrider]

My Piaa 530LPs are still working great around 3 years on and put out a lot of useful light. Ditto for the Piaa 1100s I bought a couple years ago.

 

[Vanderwho]

OK... I need help. The more I read, the more confused I get.

I find that the OEM lighting, if properly adjusted, is adequate in essentially all scenarios except one: when leaned over in a corner, with oncoming traffic. With the sharp low-beam cutoff, almost half the light goes into the trees (on the outside of the corner) and almost half the light goes into the ditch (on the inside of the corner). What type of aux lighting would be best for illuminating the roadway while cornering, with oncoming traffic? One of the light bars? 10-degree spots? 20-degree spots? The PIAA LP530 Driving lights?

I'm concerned that lights that would do the job when leaned over would blind oncoming drivers with the bike upright, going straight down the road, requiring that I switch them on and off manually, rather than wiring them to come on with the high beam (or low beam).

I am not looking for conspicuity lighting, or to throw more light way down the road. I'm looking to light up corners. Any knowledgeable advice is genuinely appreciated!

 

[OX-34]

Vanderwho there are lots of options and that can certainly lead to confusion.

Go and have a sit on your bike and critically evaluate the visual field you need. Lights can be selected, placed and triggered to sculpt your night time visual field like in 3D.

That's what I did, though with a brutal approach:



For cornering the key is you need a round beam pattern - wider is fine. Such a light throws light up into the trees and all around you when on quiet little backroads, though not much down the line punch. When you tip over into a corner the light that was up in the trees a moment ago now also gets tipped over and shines 'around the corner'.

Pencil sharp spots and anything with a socially acceptable cut-off to not annoy oncoming drivers will be of little use when cornering as the light gets directed straight out across the apex of the bend and is pretty useless.

10W Leds with a wide/fog/Euro pattern are great for cornering.

Its your choice how and when you have these cornering lights turned on. They can be on all the time with the low beam and may get you flashed. They can be switched independently for use any time you choose. They can be switched and triggered by the high beam for when there is little to no oncoming traffic.

An extreme alternative is to have dedicated cornering lights. These are fitted pointing up at about 45 degrees and out at about 45 degrees. Oncoming drivers don't cop these lights in the face. They can be placed ipsilaterally (i.e. the one on the left points up and out to the left) OR they can be placed contralaterally (i.e. the one on the left points across the bike up and to the right).

The ipsilateral style has been adopted by some Aussie long distance riders to light up sides of the road more effectively even when riding straight. Sit on the bike and plan the visual field. The contralateral style looks a bit cockeyed but some riders prefer it as the working light sits higher from the ground when tipped and so can show more 'around the corner' and less light spills on to the road edge/rock wall/trees and bush very close to the bike.

 

[twinrider]

OK... I need help. The more I read, the more confused I get.

I find that the OEM lighting, if properly adjusted, is adequate in essentially all scenarios except one: when leaned over in a corner, with oncoming traffic. With the sharp low-beam cutoff, almost half the light goes into the trees (on the outside of the corner) and almost half the light goes into the ditch (on the inside of the corner). What type of aux lighting would be best for illuminating the roadway while cornering, with oncoming traffic? One of the light bars? 10-degree spots? 20-degree spots? The PIAA LP530 Driving lights?
I am not looking for conspicuity lighting, or to throw more light way down the road. I'm looking to light up corners. Any knowledgeable advice is genuinely appreciated!

I still have the same issue, even with my auxiliary lights. I think mounting small led lights on the handlebars angled outward would probably be the best solution. Like Tabasco's bike, but probably you'd have to point them more outward to avoid bothering oncoming traffic.

 

[OX-34]

I still have the same issue, even with my auxiliary lights. I think mounting small led lights on the handlebars angled outward would probably be the best solution. Like Tabasco's bike, but probably you'd have to point them more outward to avoid bothering oncoming traffic.

That's an ipsilateral type of dedicated cornering lights I was talking about and the angle they are set at may be determined by the height from the ground and the flash frequency from oncoming drivers.

it clearly works for Tabasco, but being bar mounted adds to the aiming complexity due to countersteering in a corner. Handy having lights you can move side to side when parked though ::008::