Cheap Home-Made Under Mirror Driving/Aux Light Mount (A Home Depot Edition)

Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
812
Location
central NJ
Bike
2010 Honda ST13
+1 Not only that but 45? is practically a flood light and with any HP behind the lens (lumens) they'd probably be blinding oncoming traffic.
Good point. In fact, even with the 25? lights, the spread is too great to shine them down the road. I have mine shining down to avoid blinding oncoming traffic which is why I'm getting plenty of light directly in front of the bike.
 
Joined
Jun 26, 2009
Messages
19
Location
Ohio
Bike
2004 Honda ST
I thought you were to put the lights lower to the ground like where the fender bolts to the forks.
This way you dont blind oncoming traffic and you create a triangle of lights so you are seen and people can judge distance better.

That is what I heard and I am no expert.
 

Dave.David

Rider
Joined
Dec 9, 2016
Messages
716
Location
SB California USA
Bike
05,ST1300-04VTX1800R
STOC #
8938
I thought you were to put the lights lower to the ground like where the fender bolts to the forks.
This way you dont blind oncoming traffic and you create a triangle of lights so you are seen and people can judge distance better.

That is what I heard and I am no expert.
I think that is the best idea, and the first set of lights that count. And the extra light mounts are just that, extra.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
 

ST Gui

240Robert
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Joined
Sep 12, 2011
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9,262
Location
SF-Oakland CA
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ST1300, 2010
I thought you were to put the lights lower to the ground like where the fender bolts to the forks.
This way you dont blind oncoming traffic
That can still easily blind oncoming traffic if proper considerations aren't given to beam coverage and aiming. If the object is to be seen high output lights aren't needed and wide angle beams can't be aimed for maximum effectiveness. Properly aimed low-beam headlights can be seen at great distances without blinding and they're brighter and higher than most low mounted fork lights.

The more points of light the merrier. There's nothing magical about a 'triangle of light'. It's just additional point(s) of light. A parallelogram trapazoid or Star of David of light would be even better but ungainly. The real effect of extra points of light especially on the front is to be more readily discerned in a sea of lights and better give an impression of distance and rate of closure.

This doesn't mean much to the type of rider/driver who will pull out in front of you regardless once they realize you're on a motorcycle.
 
Joined
Aug 9, 2017
Messages
1
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Bike
2006 Honda ST1300ABS
Hey guys,
I wanted to thank everyone on this forum who had contributed to this thread - thanks to your creative ideas and good advice I was able to mount some lights under the mirrors, with some brackets I found in my "maybe some day I'll get to use those" bins... I have attached a few photos for reference.
Please don't mind the fork lights, I have not connected those yet - gotta make sure I don't run out of projects :)IMG_3248.jpgIMG_3245.jpgIMG_3246.jpg
 
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
410
Location
Lacombe, AB Canada
Bike
05 ST1300
I just finished this project a few days ago. Got the idea and plans for the brackets from a guy on here that I met at NEWSTOC this last June. But I forgot his name. Made the brackets out of 1/8 X 3/4 steel flat bar. Welded the 90• angles. 9F411465-94A3-4A84-B4E2-B0379F43226F.jpeg1A21775C-E2ED-4D89-ABAC-5D1D2B919E01.jpeg3BA736F3-AE73-494D-A490-EDA8D81469EC.jpeg923C2B8A-2772-4AD0-A6C0-8F95D0E3B5F5.jpegThey’re a flood LED, paid $3.99 for the pair on the clearance rack at Princess Auto (as I understand that’s similar to Harbour Freight south of the 49th). Rode at night with them last night and the only flashes I got from oncoming traffic were when I forgot to dim my high beams.

Note to self: get after my butler to pay a little closer attention to the bug removal detail!
 

GGely

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Joined
Oct 28, 2018
Messages
708
Location
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Bike
2001 ST1100 Non ABS
STOC #
8997
In my case, I went with the Fenix/Superbright 45* LEDs on the forks down low, triggered by the low beams and switched by a Blue Sea switch on the left side of the fairing, just below the pocket.

Underneath the mirrors I’ve mounted the Fenix/Superbright 25* LEDs, triggered off of the high beams and switched on the other side of the Blue Sea switch.

842B5149-4D00-45D9-B740-02F25E55ADDD.jpeg

Once aimed properly and in conjunction with the F2 LED headlight bulbs, there is a lots of light down the road and to the sides. As an old guy, I’m not likely to drive beyond this setup anytime soon.

According to neighbours etc. I can be seen for quite a ways but no issues with blinding onlookers...

I’ve also done the clear turn signal lenses, which is highly recommended.
 

Obo

Joined
Oct 22, 2019
Messages
4,247
Location
East Coast Canada
Bike
'03 ST1300A
For those looking to do the bolt thru the mirror method, here's the link to the "how to" article:


I've also added fork mounted dual color lights (yellow with the low beam / white with the high beam.)
They have an override switch if I want them off.

They (and the high beam) flash with the new dual car horn setup. (Be seen AND be heard!)

The under mirror lights are on a manual switch on the handlebars.

I may add them into the horn flash system down the road.

1686087289327.png
 
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