LED 12V Flood Lights - Anyone?

[frekeyguy]

I've been toying with the idea of using some HID's or some 12V LED spot/flood lamps, mounted to my forks.

anyone use any axillary lighting?

[BlackBeast]

Something like the Denali 2's?

[frekeyguy]

Something like the Denali 2's?

??

thinking something like this...

[GreyGhost]

Do you want to make your bike more visible or make the road and obstacles more visible? LED's will make your bike more visible but will do very little to help you see.

[jeffjones]

Do you want to make your bike more visible or make the road and obstacles more visible? LED's will make your bike more visible but will do very little to help you see.

That all depends on what type of LED's you choose.

[Rob MacLennan]

I've been toying with the idea of using some HID's or some 12V LED spot/flood lamps, mounted to my forks.

anyone use any axillary lighting?

So far I'm only using auxiliary brake lights but I've been considering these lights, for touring use on back roads (switched).

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/6158/787/

Here's an example of what they look like, in operation:

[Rotten_Ronnie]

You're not worried that if you lay down the bike in the picture all those pretty farkles are going to get crushed?

[shanekingsley]

^^ It happened to me... on both side of the bike

[Rob MacLennan]

You're not worried that if you lay down the bike in the picture all those pretty farkles are going to get crushed?

That's what crash bars are for.

[Rotten_Ronnie]

That's what crash bars are for.

Even on a street bike, you would need to mount the lights far enough in so that weak thin walled BMW crash bars that are prone to deflect inwards will leave the mounts untouched. Think of a roadside stop tip over.

If he plans to ride it offroad, then even with crash bars, he could easily lose his investment with a nice front end washout.

Ideally you want to mount them tight into the bike and low enough that a street or dirt slide/highside will let the crash bars do their job.

Note the crash bars on the F650GS below and how effective they were on a gravel road...

[Rob MacLennan]

If those bars are known to be weak, then why buy them?

[Rotten_Ronnie]

I have first hand knowledge that the crash bars on the BMW GS1200 are weak enough to bend and hit the heads, those are SW Motech mounted in the picture, and much better engineered. That bike did a highside hitting the soft gravel shoulder after crossing an 8" berm left by a grader. Poor luck, but if fyrebug plans on sticking to the pavement, then his chances of having an equipment crushing get off are substantially reduced.

If he's anything like me, it'll be a kickstand roll over somewhere miles from home near the end of a long riding day while trying to get "The Shot".

[Rob MacLennan]

I've seen the SW Mototechs for the ER6n and they look pretty solid, but the mounting points used can make all the difference.

[Wadadli]

Have a look at motolights?



http://www.motolight.com/

[Rob MacLennan]

I went through a bunch of their pictures and it looks like Motolight always seem to mount on the unsprung side. I wouldn't call that ideal.

[daught]

Take a look at http://www.ddmtuning.com/Product-Cat.../RV-ATV-Marine

They claim some of them go up to 2000 lumens. Dunno about that, but 3W LEDs can put out quite a bit of light. A few of them together could put out quite a bit.

[stevie t]

Tell me about the hard cases on the bike in this shot...ammo boxes?

[Rotten_Ronnie]

Packrat luggage rack with two ammo cans as panniers, but they're pretty heavy.

[stevie t]

Packrat luggage rack with two ammo cans as panniers, but they're pretty heavy.

I am liking them as panniers as well as sliders....if need be.
Other than weight, how do they work on long trips?
Are they bolt on, bolt off, or did you McGyver something more exotic?
What size/cal are the cans?

[casacrow]

Check out LED spotlights at a truck parts store. Some are insanely bright. A lil big though, but some have very flat profiles now.