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Headlights auxiliary lighting LED and Others.

matty

matty

Border raider.
Joined
Feb 8, 2022
Member Number
139
Posts
635
Location
England Scotish border
Seems to be a thing here in the uk ADV bikes with Auxiliary lights on in the day and at night.
I can not say i have ever done a lot of aux light instals never seen the need and only occasionals swap the stock headlights out, i fitted an XJ900 headlight to my XT600E with a modified stock cowl which was an improvement but born out of a broken light not a need to improve the light, that was a nice positive to the swap.
I once years ago had a Marcial Square spot light under the headlight off the fork yokes an a 1971 Suzuki t350J thats itIIRC.
So what light mods have you chosen to make ? Has it improved things on those dark nights? What have you used? Why? Talk LEDS? Talk projectors or even light bezels Or fairing builds? Words and Pictures?
 
I changed out a good Honda LED headlight for a better Baja Designs LED setup. I see the price has gone up.

As in this BD photo, I added the amber lens.

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I may add some small conspicuity lights eventually. The Skene systems are interesting.

 
I swapped halogen h7 bulbs on my GS for LED. Nice upgrade.
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I also added Clearwater Krista driving lights with yellow covers.
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I also added Skene P3 lights and Cyclops turn signal LEDs.
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Along with the Clearwater Billie. Admittedly this is overkill, but I got them, so why not install them?
 
JimVonBaden

I doubt it matters on your GS, but the upgrade from halogen to LED should've freed up some power. I was happy to see that the BD system doesn't take much more power than the OE light on my bike. They managed to dramatically improve the coverage without using up the bike's meager output, so the price was easier to bear.

I was thinking you had posted a video of the Skene lights. If I add any, they'll need to be small like those. Now that you've had them for awhile, do you have any complaints? Have you seen anything similar in size & capability?
 
I swapped the headlight and taillight bulbs in my KLX for LEDs.

The headlight is definitely brighter with a wider spread. It definitely has some holes in the pattern though which isn’t abnormal when swapping LED bulbs into a reflector designed for a halogen bulb.

Another benefit of the LED headlamp is that it’s not a natural color like halogen is. It stands out more in the trails or when riding with the sun low in the sky behind me.

The 2024 KLX was updated with a LED headlight stock. I considered swapping it until I saw the price. Just the housing is over $1k.

I love the tail light upgrade. It’s a little brighter but I mostly like that it’s instantly on and off. I strobe the brake light often when stopped or stopping with cars behind me to help get their attention.
 
And I’d love to add some auxiliary lighting at some point too!
 
On my Boulevard and GR650 I swapped the halogen H4 headlight bulbs for Narva H4 LED's, much better on both bikes.
On my CFMOTO 650MT I put a pair of Stedi MX 25's for better lighting at night as the stock hi-beam I found pretty much useless.
On the Boulevard I put a pair of Stedi C 4's, which are a bit brighter than the MX 25's.




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ZoomerP said:
JimVonBaden

I doubt it matters on your GS, but the upgrade from halogen to LED should've freed up some power. I was happy to see that the BD system doesn't take much more power than the OE light on my bike. They managed to dramatically improve the coverage without using up the bike's meager output, so the price was easier to bear.

I was thinking you had posted a video of the Skene lights. If I add any, they'll need to be small like those. Now that you've had them for awhile, do you have any complaints? Have you seen anything similar in size & capability?
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The new Skenes are far superior to the old ones in form fit and function. The old ones were individual LEDs on a board and tended to have random failures. The new ones are much more water sealed and reliable.

Yeah, not worried about power on my GS, it has an excess.
 
DJ_MI said:
I swapped the headlight and taillight bulbs in my KLX for LEDs.

The headlight is definitely brighter with a wider spread. It definitely has some holes in the pattern though which isn’t abnormal when swapping LED bulbs into a reflector designed for a halogen bulb.

Another benefit of the LED headlamp is that it’s not a natural color like halogen is. It stands out more in the trails or when riding with the sun low in the sky behind me.

The 2024 KLX was updated with a LED headlight stock. I considered swapping it until I saw the price. Just the housing is over $1k.

I love the tail light upgrade. It’s a little brighter but I mostly like that it’s instantly on and off. I strobe the brake light often when stopped or stopping with cars behind me to help get their attention.
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If you find the right LED for the headlight it doesn't have the holes because it is designed for the reflector style housing. Check with Cyclops as they have a good variety. Not at ebay pricing though.
 
I have an LED bulb unit in my WR250R headlight. Very bright but the rectangular housing doesn't lend itself to the LED really, the pattern is crap.
 
matty said:
Seems to be a thing here in the uk ADV bikes with Auxiliary lights on in the day and at night.
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Did the "Triangle of Safety" fad pass yet?

My eyes are annoyingly light sensitive and that nonsense drove me crazy. Come around a corner in broad daylight and some dude has train headlights pointed in to your retinas in FoR sAfEtY!

I swear aux light companies must've started that propaganda 😅
 
Cyclops LED H4 replacement bulb in my FZ07 did real good, but it reflected back off street signs. It was great on a country road, but you were dazzling your own eyes in developed areas with reflective signs. Although the light output was impressive pointing out across the hayfield, I found that the ultra bright light / reflecting back was more troublesome than it was beneficial. Ended up with Sylvania's high end H4 bulb instead and it worked real well.

I had two cyclops LED H4 bulbs. The first one failed ( it just fell apart) and it dawned on me that, unlike a dual filament bulb, I was up the creek without a paddle. They sent me a replacement, but I never got over the idea of hightailing down the interstate at night and not having a plan b if my single headlight goes kaput. Not an issue on in a cage with an headlight on each fender, and not an issue if you got a second filament. I think the replacement is still setting in my toolbox somewhere.

The night my cyclops died I was in town, so I had street lamps to light the way to my nearest auto parts where H4 bulbs are prevalent. If not able to plug an H4 back in I would've had to have my bike towed home rather than make the 20 mile trip home on a dark country highway. Something I didn't consider when I was shopping.
 
JimVonBaden said:
If you find the right LED for the headlight it doesn't have the holes because it is designed for the reflector style housing. Check with Cyclops as they have a good variety. Not at ebay pricing though.
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Thanks. Cyclops is the brand that I have.

My understanding is that it can be difficult to get a full pattern sometimes because the reflector housing is designed for a halogen bulb that emits light omnidirectionally. The LED bulb only has two emitters (well four total, 2 low & 2 high) with small domes to help distribute the light. It’s not horrible and definitely better lighting than stock but it’s there.

However I visited their site and discovered that they have a “Ultra” version of the H4 bulb which keeps the two low beam emitters on when switching to the high beams. I’m going to have to try that out!
 
I just made my own, 4 x 10W Cree Leds are all I need, plug n play. The upper pod is low beam and has a BD wide angle lense. High beam is all 4 Leds and it's plenty bright. I've got $70 in to the system for each bike.

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Worked so well I did the same thing to my XC.
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Ridefreak said:
I just made my own, 4 x 10W Cree Leds are all I need, plug n play. The upper pod is low beam and has a BD wide angle lense. High beam is all 4 Leds and it's plenty bright. I've got $70 in to the system for each bike.

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Worked so well I did the same thing to my XC.
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Very nice! :thumb
 
I run a cyclops rally with the pheonix led in it.(bike in front) sure its a little pricey, but holy sheeeiittt it is bright. I also run the voyager helmet light. that thing lights up houses in town(when I turn my head towards the houses) like a police car spot light :rofl kid is running some euro rally light stack on the bike in the back of the pic. its pretty bright also, but not as much as the cyclops. You would be hard pressed to outrun that light.

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xr-nut said:
I run a cyclops rally with the pheonix led in it.(bike in front) sure its a little pricey, but holy sheeeiittt it is bright. I also run the voyager helmet light. that thing lights up houses in town(when I turn my head towards the houses) like a police car spot light :rofl kid is running some euro rally light stack on the bike in the back of the pic. its pretty bright also, but not as much as the cyclops. You would be hard pressed to outrun that light.

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I had a similar BD setup but it was using an HID. It was blindly bright, unusable on the road but it was hard to outrun that light even in our open desert hauling ass.

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