What are your recommendations for fog/running lights?
My night time riding has been limited (just bought my first bike earlier this year - 09 GS500-F), but as the days grow shorter my night time riding will increase. I travel a lot on the interstate, and at interstate speeds, the stock headlight just doesn't cut it for me.
Thanks in advance!
I use the Denali fog light kits.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=59214.msg677754#msg677754
Those look nice, but may be out of my desired price range (yeah, I'm cheap).
Do you happen to know the beam pattern (fog, flood, spot, pencil)? I've found some on ebay, but can't decide between the 30 degree (spot) and 8 degree (pencil) beam pattern.
The one's I'm considering are:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-X10W-Cree-LED-Flood-Pencil-Beam-Work-Driving-Light-Car-Van-Motorcycle-4WD-4X4-/310732180460?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item485914cbec&vxp=mtr (http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-X10W-Cree-LED-Flood-Pencil-Beam-Work-Driving-Light-Car-Van-Motorcycle-4WD-4X4-/310732180460?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item485914cbec&vxp=mtr)
and
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2X-Cree-LED-10W-Spot-Beam-Work-Light-Off-road-Vehicle-Driving-UTE-Boat-Bike-Jeep-/251305760716?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a82fd97cc&vxp=mtr (http://www.ebay.com/itm/2X-Cree-LED-10W-Spot-Beam-Work-Light-Off-road-Vehicle-Driving-UTE-Boat-Bike-Jeep-/251305760716?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a82fd97cc&vxp=mtr)
I haven't purchased this yet, but the lights from this seller come highly recommended on ADVRider :
http://stores.intuitwebsites.com/hstrial-QualiRegResou/-strse-8/Model-30-LED-off/Detail.bok
I know it is more expensive than the links you provided on eBay, but they are double (?) the light output and have great reviews.
Quote from: 0Bw4n on August 29, 2013, 05:39:24 PM
Those look nice, but may be out of my desired price range (yeah, I'm cheap).
Do you happen to know the beam pattern (fog, flood, spot, pencil)? I've found some on ebay, but can't decide between the 30 degree (spot) and 8 degree (pencil) beam pattern.
8 degree would be too narrow. 30 is narrow. 45 or more is nice.
The Denali come with lenses to change the spread.
They are plug & play. Come with switches, fuses and battery connections AND INSTRUCTIONS!
The really cheap method is to put on a HID kit, those guys cost less than $40 for the conversion these days and new ones only take a couple of seconds to warm up to full brightness.
Bought for my car from these guys: http://www.ddmtuning.com/Product-Categories/Motorcycle-HID-Kits-Lighting
I'll try and find a 45 degree beam pattern (so far, I haven't found any cheap ones), but I may go with one 30 or 8 degree and one 60 degree as suggested on another forum (bamarides).
As for HID conversion - I have considered it, but if I were to do an HID conversion I would want to include a projector. The lens reflector from a standard halogen isn't designed for HID. It will look brighter, but the beam pattern would be all wonky.
I will be upgrading the standard halogen bulb to a Philips extreme +80, hopefully that will help some until I get the aux. lights in.
Go the +100 :thumb:
Can the generator on a motorcycle run fog lights? I put some on a 4-wheeler and the generator couldn't keep up and eventually killed the battery. I like the idea of the extra light. I'm getting older and my eyes don't work so well at night anymore.
the little LED units draw very low current...
i have similar LED floodlight (2 units) ones in my work truck pantech ... accidentally left them on for 4 days last month while truck was at mechanics... the engine was apart so no chance the batteries got a charge ... the truck still started fine after that amount of time.... 24V system .. but 2 18w incandescent units i used to have in there would drain the batteries in about 36 hours...
:thumb:
Wow, lucky you (as far as the truck holding the charge!)
Back when I had a 4x4 (many moons ago) I accidentally left the fog lights (4 old incandescents - not even halogen) on over the weekend. Monday morning - the battery was dead as a doornail.
All of the lamps I'm looking at draw less than 1 amp, so even if I went with 4 (1 flood, 1 spot, 2 fogs) then I would still be under 4 amps and only 40 watts. LED's are marvelous little things :)
The more I think about it, though, the less I think i will go with 4. I'll be mounting these really low (I like the mount point where adidasguy has his), so I'm leaning towards just 1 spot and 1 flood. Since they'll be so low, I'm hoping the flood will act well enough so I won't need fog lights, too.
As for the Philips +100 - wish I knew about that before I ordered the +80. It's already shipped, and I got it off ebay, so no returns because I changed my mind :cry:
theres not a huge difference from the +80 to the +100 ... just a little more 'width' at about 10-15 metres/yards and very slightly better penetration out around 100-150 meters/yards ..
i had a +80 before ... was still happy with it .. just when it died (i dropped it :icon_rolleyes: ) ... the +100 were only a couple $ more so i went with that ..
you wont suffer with the +80 :thumb:
Quote from: ron freeman on August 30, 2013, 05:56:29 PM
Can the generator on a motorcycle run fog lights? I put some on a 4-wheeler and the generator couldn't keep up and eventually killed the battery. I like the idea of the extra light. I'm getting older and my eyes don't work so well at night anymore.
I think so. I have them on 2 bikes for 2 years now and always run with them on.
We have enough power for accessories like heated grips, GPS, etc.
My next purchase - 2 led lights. Thanks for the links and ideas :)
Is bolting them to where the reflector is the best way or would you suggest putting them into the air intake under the headlight?
Do not, I repeat NOT mount anything between the fender / wheel and the bottom of the headlight / fairing. One good sized bump and things collide in a brutal fashion......
What a silly question I asked ..... Goes to show " think before you speak" Thanks for the reminder big rich :) I shall place them where Adidas has em
there are tons of cheap, well built , tough leds on amazon and ebay. spending more than $70 for 3000+ lumens is completely unneeded.
ill +1 the comments about beam with. 30 degree beams work very well for me, even better for offroad excursions. I have 2 light bars that draw 18watts each, for a total of 36, that illuminate everything in front of me for quite a good way.
in the woods, the light is amazing, nothing, not a single leaf escapes it. yesterday in the woods they were lighting up trees and branches enough for other riders to ask about them, at high noon.
What aux. switches are you guys running? What about a a fuse box? I like the CP-8 from easternbeaver and the BlueSea ST Blade (6 circuit). Though, even 6 circuits may be overkill for the GS. So, I'm even condsidering the 3 circuit only fuse box/wiring harness combo from easternbeaver (3CS) http://easternbeaver.com/Main/Wiring_Kits/Fuseboxes/3_Circuit/3_circuit.html (http://easternbeaver.com/Main/Wiring_Kits/Fuseboxes/3_Circuit/3_circuit.html).
Quote from: 0Bw4n on September 02, 2013, 02:45:24 PM
What aux. switches are you guys running? What about a a fuse box? I like the CP-8 from easternbeaver and the BlueSea ST Blade (6 circuit). Though, even 6 circuits may be overkill for the GS. So, I'm even condsidering the 3 circuit only fuse box/wiring harness combo from easternbeaver (3CS) http://easternbeaver.com/Main/Wiring_Kits/Fuseboxes/3_Circuit/3_circuit.html (http://easternbeaver.com/Main/Wiring_Kits/Fuseboxes/3_Circuit/3_circuit.html).
fuse blocks ?
switches ?
extra wiring ?
yuck ! just plumb it to the headlight, if it blows the fuse try one more time. if it blows it again, then do all that other stuff.
you're just keeping the voltage regulator cooler afterall ;)
ohgood - I may just tap into the high beam, but I've already added two add-ons to the battery (battery tender and an alarm... that doesn't work yet), so I think I'll need the fuse block soon any way.
Janx101 - the +80 came in yesterday, it made a LOT of difference over stock. Makes me wonder what the +100 is like! ;)
After reading JAS6377's question on HID setup and some replies from weedahoe, I'm tempted to do a HID retrofit. Of course, I'll have to make it a game of making it as cheap as possible while still being of good quality.
Finally got all the bugs worked out yesterday.
Here's the run down:
- wiring harness from Amazon ~$8.00 - total piece of crap. 18 gauge wires, cheap 30amp fuse that blew @ under 30 amps, cheap relay that didn't work.
- 1x 60 degree flood 10w light from Amazon ~$18 - nice
- 1x 30 degree spot 10w light from Amazon ~$18 - nice
- 1x 6 terminal aux. fuse panel w/ ground block by BlueSea, used of ebay ~$22
- 10 ft red 14 gauge primary wire ~$4
- 10 ft black 14 gauge primary wire ~$4
- 3 ft red 10 gauge primary wire ~$1
- 3 ft black 10 gauge primary wire ~$1
- 1x spst 30/40A relay from radioshack ~$5
- 1x spst illuminated under dash rocker switch from radioshack ~$5
- Aux. fuse panel is towards the back, under the seat (near where the rubber band that secures the tool bag clips).
- I tapped into the running light of the brake lights to trigger the relay
- The relay sends power to the fuse panel.
- Fuse panel distributes power and ground connection to the switch.
- Switch powers the fog lights, which are mounted on the front fork where the side reflectors used to be.
Things left to do:
- clean the wiring - i left a LOT of slack so that I could play around with wire routing.
- find plastic tubes to fish wiring through so that it looks stock
- find a more water resistant swich - the current one looks good (and has less than 1mm clearance of the tank when bars are turned all the way to the left), but I want a water resistant one.
- Waterproof relay? Still debating on this
- Relay pigtail? maybe not needed.
- find a toggle switch panel? Thinking about running some other aux. electrical gizmos such as heated grips
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:thumb: nice one
I like em alot. as long as aimed properly :)
I may have aimed them a bit high - but I think they're within reason. They are aimed just a wee bit higher than the low beams on my jetta, but still under its high beams. Not that means anything to any of you since it's a purely subjective measurement ;)
I've been blinded by crazy lights before, and wouldn't want to do that to someone else. (Same reason I'm holding off on a HID mod until I can do it right).
Mind the battery drain with extra lights... I had twin headlights both running H4 (car headlights) bulbs, then I added some headed grips and after a good couple of hours of riding my battery was cactus... Unforuntley I dont have a figure in amps for how much is too much for the stock charging system.
Yeah - I am somewhat concerned about drain, which is one reason I'm thinking about converting all my lights (save the headlight) to LED. That should give me some extra wattage/amperage to play with.
Quote from: 0Bw4n on September 26, 2013, 08:55:43 PM
I may have aimed them a bit high - but I think they're within reason. They are aimed just a wee bit higher than the low beams on my jetta, but still under its high beams. Not that means anything to any of you since it's a purely subjective measurement ;)
I've been blinded by crazy lights before, and wouldn't want to do that to someone else. (Same reason I'm holding off on a HID mod until I can do it right).
thats the main thing. aim em high to get what you need from em. but NOT blind oncoming drivers or riders, and potentially get you flashed. which can totally ruin your night vision.