That is a funny comment because the REASON I bought the Clearwaters was because one of my good friends - who owns two RTs - put them on his bike. I thought - he is a smart guy so those must be what I need.
Yikes...
More down the road lighting wanted, any advice on brands or location on the bike?
- Thread starter PurpleRoads
- Start date
Yikes...
The unsprung weight will be all of about two pounds.
There are times I've been embarrassed to own a BMW. The consolation is that the F800GT isn't a "boxer", so isn't really a BMW. On the BMW MOA forum, one of the women owners replied when someone asked about riding apparel that only Klim and Aerostitch was worth considering. I wonder if she buys her Klim gear at Nordstroms?
Another BMW owner replied in a thread about the final drive failures about how that is part of the BMW experience. That we should all feel great about having highly trained and well paid BMW certified mechanics work on our bikes. And if you can't afford it...you don't deserve to own a BMW.
So that's the mindset of some BMW owners in buying the right accessories, like the Clearwater lights.
Chris
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Wow you aren't kidding ! $1249.00 for the "DIXI" Universal model ! + tax ? - ( I'll keep my KCs )
Whooshka
Fairly faST old guy
2 pounds is 2 pounds. Especially when tire manufacturers try to save ounces. And guys will spend big bucks on lightened rotors, Ti axles and bolts and carbon fiber wheels and fenders. Let's say your wheels and tires weigh 20 pounds. Then you add 2 pound lights. Now the suspension has to deal with 10% more weight. That's fairly significant.
The ADVMonster Model 55 is $150 for the entire kit. https://stores.advmonster.com/model-55-led-light-kit/
Mount that under your mirrors and you have a very usable light.
Chris
Mount that under your mirrors and you have a very usable light.
Chris
Personally, I think it is over rated. Maybe it makes a difference to someone in racing, but we'll never notice it.
Way back in the last century, I owned an Audi 5000S. At the time, it was the car all the other ones of it's genre were measured against. It had alloy wheels. I prided myself in finally having those alloy wheels and told myself all that stuff about unsprung weight being superior, etc. Then we moved to Upstate New York where it snows and I bought snow tires on steel wheels.
When I went to change the tires out, I found the steel wheels were actually lighter than the alloy wheels. And I felt no difference in handling at all. Theory about unsprung weight is great, but the reality for most of us is that 2 lbs is nothing.
Chris
Something no-one has said so far - please tent that throwing light further down the road, also blinds an oncoming vehicle more.
I was in the same boat wanting more light... then I put Phillips Extremes H4 bulbs in. No concerns now.
I was in the same boat wanting more light... then I put Phillips Extremes H4 bulbs in. No concerns now.
Chris - I am with you. I rode my bicycle across the US one summer (40 years ago, yes that says bicycle!) and people tried to convince me that it was worth spending what at the time seemed like an enormous amount of money on camping gear to save a few pounds. I was a broke kid so I did it all on a $100 bike. It worked great. I just done worry about a few ounces or pounds here or there because I am not a competitor. I ride because I like to look at the sky and the wind feels great on my face. My goal is not to get there first but to ride tomorrow and the next week and the next months and the next year.
John OoSTerhuis
Life Is Good!
Well... that’s what the on/off switch is for. Over here in the wide open expanses of the colonies, at 2am in “heart of Osama darkness” Wyoming deer and antelope country, you want light... lots of light thrown waaaay out there at 70-80mph. JuST say’n... FWIW YMMV
John
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Are not lights mounted on the forks , close to the wheel axle , a bit annoying to you and traffic , bouncing up and down with every road irregularity , especially potholes ?
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I'd love to see someone wire them to the battery...
Methinks he meant attached to the forks, not the wheel itself, which brake hoses and ABS wiring already do.
To respond more seriously, there are wheel lighting kits that use brushes and slip rings to transfer power.
ST Gui
240Robert
Poorly made LEDs don't put light where it's needed and adding an LED to a reflector made for incandescents can make for inferior lighting. But a purpose built LED lamp can be every as good at lighting down range. And they draw a fraction of the current.
Clearwater lights seem like nice kit as do Denali lights but both are very proud of their products. But too much light isn't good for anybody.
For ultimate range you want a larger reflector with a driving beam. A smaller lamp with the same bulb won't have as much range as a larger lamp all other things being equal.
And you are healthier for it. Some people say it's a heavier bike I say it's a better workout.
Yep, worth the money if you have it, very few makes can approach them. I don;t htink I have heard of anybody that did spend the money say they were disappoointed. Some local folks did have some issues witht he auto-dimmer switch but I think all those problems are long ironed out. Adv-monsters are economical alternatives, but there is truth in what you pay for.
Whooshka
Fairly faST old guy
Great car. It was the bomb for it's time. I understand and respect your point. But it really can't be compared to a single track vehicle. A car goes over a bump or hits a pot hole mid corner there are 3 other tires helping to keep it on track. If a bike hits something mid corner, and the fork compression/rebound action is hindered by excess weight, and the tire loses contact with the road, there's only 1 tire left to keep the bike under control.
Just my 2 cents.
"Are not lights mounted on the forks , close to the wheel axle , a bit annoying to you and traffic , bouncing up and down with every road irregularity , especially potholes ?"
I rode with lights mounted at the axle level for years. Never noticed the bouncing. Doesn't the bike do the bouncing until the suspension settles it down?
I rode with lights mounted at the axle level for years. Never noticed the bouncing. Doesn't the bike do the bouncing until the suspension settles it down?
It's an easy assumption to make -- that the more money you pay, the better quality you get. I've had both. The really inexpensive cheap frugal low-cost el-cheapo ADVMonster lights IMHO outperform the Clearwater and Denali lights. The comparison isn't close.
On the NT-Owners forum, I posted pictures of a side-by-side test of a friend's NT700V and my NT700V. He had Denali lights. I had the ADVMonster el-cheapo Model 30s. The Twisted Throttle rep tried to say that lumens aren't a good comparison from one light to another. The pictures proved that false. Totally. I had a digital SLR and was able to fix the settings so the pictures were comparable. The Denalis were okay, but that's all. They were totally outclassed by the ADVMonster Model 30s. I think the Model 30s sell for a whopping $30 or $40 apiece.
Other than performance, what do you look for? Outward appearance? Rust? The el-cheapo Model 30s looked like new when I sold the bikes. The Clearwater (sell your first-born) lights, were badly corroded.
You do get what you pay for. In the case of Clearwater and Denali, IMHO, you get a name.
Chris
Do you have or know of any comparison between the Model 55 and the Model 30?