rogo
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I’m working on that.
Auxiliary Driving Lights
- Thread starter SMSW
- Start date
Personally I wouldn't spend a dime on a set of lights that didn't list what the lumen output of the lights are. Clearwater lights are the gold standard, and yes, they take a lot of your gold.
Sidekick
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The thing with Amazon is that you can return products easily if not happy and at no cost.
Beside that, the technology has evolved so much and many competitor are using essentially the same LEDs and sub components, why not trying them and let us know?
The most difficult part is to find good brackets at an affordable price and fitting the ST, very little choice there.
Any ideas?
rogo
Site Supporter
zmoon 1.3 lights came with versatile brackets.
The wiring harness in the 4th post is overkill for these tiny lights, so I should be able to swap these lights for serious photon cannons if I decide to.
The switches supplied are not suitable for motorcycles.
I used the hi and low relays for switching instead.
My bike was purchased from a retired cardiologist who had more money than he knew what to do with. He installed Clearwater lights on it. There's no way I'd ever do that.
I had ADVMonster Model 30 lights on two previous bikes. The cost was $40 for each light. I don't remember the light output numbers but it was about as much as a halogen car headlight. Anyway, the lights worked perfectly and the finish looked great the entire time they were on the bike.
The Clearwater lights on my current bike look cheap in comparison. The finish is gone in places and the paint has flaked off, leaving corroded aluminum underneath. Instead of calling them the "gold standard", IMHO, I'd say it was the "fool's gold" standard.
Chris
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2011
- Messages
- 1,151
- Age
- 68
- Location
- Camarillo, Ca
- Bike
- 2006 ST1300A
- 2024 Miles
- 002552
Most lumen, lux or power data posted by light vendors are useless. You can not judge a light on a single number.
light disperses in three dimensions not two. None of them have the best most useful beam pattern.
So we have to mix and match to get close to what we need.
Day time almost anything will work. Night time needs careful attention to details and rules.
One consideration most people don't think about, is what will I use the lights for? If you ride like I did in a lot of traffic in the dark, you don't want a "flood" light beam. If you ride in rural areas and don't encounter many other drivers, a flood light beam will work great to illumine the road and the bushes where night time critters lurk.
The Model 30 I mentioned above had a 10 degree spot beam. I mounted them high under the mirrors on my NT700 so they aimed both out and down. I was able to position them at the far end of my low-beam halogen light beam pattern without blinding anyone in the lanes next to me. I used them primarily in the HOV lane on my commute.
The Clearwater lights I have on this bike were mounted on the forks. I get the nice triangular effect...but they are useless at night where I ride. To much traffic. With them being mounted low, they are great for conspicuity and would be great in backwoods riding. But in the high traffic areas of Seattle...they have to be dimmed virtually all the way. The only way to aim a light mounted that low is out.
Chris
Sidekick
Save Ukraine Stop War!
The brackets on the front fender bolts are the easy way to go but they put a lot of stress on the plastic eyelets.zmoon 1.3 lights came with versatile brackets.
The wiring harness in the 4th post is overkill for these tiny lights, so I should be able to swap these lights for serious photon cannons if I decide to.
The switches supplied are not suitable for motorcycles.
I used the hi and low relays for switching instead.
Mines are already damaged.
The height is good for "fog lights", I agree, but not really adapted for "spots lights".
I had in the past some 3D printed bracket behind the mirrors and they were causing vibrations and also blocked the full adjustment of the mirrors.
Beside the pricey Denali brackets there is not so much choice.
I am still looking for a good option and I am going to try these if there is enough room to fit them under the fender.
Any ideas?
Last edited:
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2020
- Messages
- 1,765
- Location
- Makefield Highlands PA
- Bike
- 2016 ST1300P
- 2024 Miles
- 003726
Zmoons, about 25k miles on this bracket. Lots of rough roads.
Aux lights in Australia are identified as:
- Daytime running lights - to help other drivers see you in the day. Bright short distance spread. I have these mounted on my front forks, just in front of the orange reflector (terrific!) and just
40 mm diameter (see photograph).
- Fog lights - fog!
- Driving lights, spot and/or spread - night touring at speed
.
- Daytime running lights - to help other drivers see you in the day. Bright short distance spread. I have these mounted on my front forks, just in front of the orange reflector (terrific!) and just
40 mm diameter (see photograph).
- Fog lights - fog!
- Driving lights, spot and/or spread - night touring at speed
.
Last edited:
A generic clamp for mounting things on accessible tubes is a Minerallac strap, used in electrical work, available in different sizes, and in stainless steel if desired. There are also plumbing standoffs that can be adapted.
When I mounted a Vetter Rooster on my Nighthawk, I used two Minerallac straps to mount the Honda front turn signals on the upper fork tubes. I added a washer as a spacer to make sure the wires weren't pinched.
You should be able to see the left signal clamped to the fork tube in the second picture below, and how the bike looks, or I should say looked from the front in the third. Clicking on them should make them bigger.
When I mounted a Vetter Rooster on my Nighthawk, I used two Minerallac straps to mount the Honda front turn signals on the upper fork tubes. I added a washer as a spacer to make sure the wires weren't pinched.
You should be able to see the left signal clamped to the fork tube in the second picture below, and how the bike looks, or I should say looked from the front in the third. Clicking on them should make them bigger.