More down the road lighting wanted, any advice on brands or location on the bike?

[spiderman302]

If you want something that puts light down the road then you must consider two things - power and beam angle.
most spots range from 30 to 10 degrees. (Floods are 30 to 60 degrees.) Many small lights are 10 to 30 watts.
The narrower the better for down the road, so look for 8 degrees......
The best place is to mount them off mirror mounts not down on the forks.
They should be wired from your high beam circuit.

Now the first thing is to upgrade your headlights to a set of F2 leds, as many will tell you here they are a big improvement over stock.
I ride a lot a night and I have a bunch of Aux lights on my bike that I do not use much since the F2 works so well....

But you want something better, that will compliment the F2s The F2s are 36 watts each so 10 or 20 watts spots lights do not add much.

So here are some "low" cost big guns, more than 30 watts each, that are 8 to 10 degrees. I have no affiliation with these products.
again these are too bright and should not be used in traffic at night.
With these you might want to mix a spot with a driving beam. Putting the light in the right place makes all the difference.......
The first listing has four choices........

https://www.amazon.com/Lightronic-L...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VZPW7VCXMM1X0NE44TKB

https://www.amazon.com/lightronic-Auxiliary-Driving-Offroad-Motorcycle/dp/B07CGNTJPH/ref=sr_1_892?crid=2OUDL83HQB60O&dchild=1&keywords=led+driving+spot+lights&qid=1584589887&s=automotive&sprefix=led+light+spot+driving,automotive,211&sr=1-892&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Lightronic-5inch-Round-Lights-HeadLight/dp/B01LXOFZ5Y/ref=sr_1_1275?crid=2OUDL83HQB60O&dchild=1&keywords=led+driving+spot+lights&qid=1584590332&s=automotive&sprefix=led+light+spot+driving,automotive,211&sr=1-1275

https://www.amazon.com/Nilight-14035F-B-Pieces-Driving-Light/dp/B071WF61Z3/ref=sr_1_1175?crid=2OUDL83HQB60O&dchild=1&keywords=led+driving+spot+lights&qid=1584590199&s=automotive&sprefix=led+light+spot+driving,automotive,211&sr=1-1175

https://www.amazon.com/Lightronic-2pcs-Inches-Auxiliary-Lights/dp/B01C86H81C/ref=sr_1_980?crid=2OUDL83HQB60O&dchild=1&keywords=led+driving+spot+lights&qid=1584590036&s=automotive&sprefix=led+light+spot+driving,automotive,211&sr=1-980&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/RUN-D-Cube-Driving-Lights-Degrees/dp/B00T9GNAYE/ref=sr_1_29?crid=2OUDL83HQB60O&dchild=1&keywords=led+driving+spot+lights&qid=1584587499&s=automotive&sprefix=led+light+spot+driving,automotive,211&sr=1-29

Now you got more choices.......... and there is more, but you get the idea....

I have the 35 watt RUN-D 10 degree lights on my bike, but will swap them out with the 40 watt 8 degree lights in the first link soon.....

 

[Obo]

Terrible prices once you convert to Canadian dollars for almost all of it

 

[ST Gui]

The unsprung weight will be all of about two pounds.

2lbs of unsprung weight is a lot of weight when it's unsprunging (not to be confused with the Amish practice). But depending on how any given rider handles the machine it might not even be noticeable. A fork brace weighs more than some of the smaller lights and haven't seen anybody complaining about the weight's effect on handling.

Doesn't the bike do the bouncing until the suspension settles it down?

In a bad set up - yes. The wheels follow the topography of the road and react sooner than the body of the vehicle. The body's reaction is based on the stiffness of the spring (which is what a vehicle is supposed to ride on) the rate of compression and rebound of the shock and travel.

Ideally these factors are tuned in the spring/shock assembly to the bike and the rider to minimize the movement of the wheels transmitted to the bike for the type of riding or driving done by him or her. An extreme example of isolation would felt by riding in a Cadillac or Rolls compared to someone's hoopty with bad shocks and sagging springs loaded with buddies - one of having his arm outside holding the door shut.

 

[Whooshka]

2lbs of unsprung weight is a lot of weight when it's unsprunging (not to be confused with the Amish practice). But depending on how any given rider handles the machine it might not even be noticeable. A fork brace weighs more than some of the smaller lights and haven't seen anybody complaining about the weight's effect on handling.
........................

Good point. I know in my case the brace's contribution to better handling outweighs it's drawback of the extra weight.

 

[ST Gui]

Good point. I know in my case the brace's contribution to better handling outweighs it's drawback of the extra weight.

+ 1 I've yet to acquire a brace but that would be my preference as well. Any improvement in stability would beat any other artifact that might be present due to the weight.

 

[paulcb]

If you want something that puts light down the road... (snip)

Thanks for that info Spiderman.

 

[paulcb]

With these you might want to mix a spot with a driving beam. Putting the light in the right place makes all the difference.......

So, would you put the 8° spot on the left and the 30° driving on the right?

 

[T_C]

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.

Can't say I saw the pictures, I've built my own led units over the years. Lumens are a very specific type of rating.

I thought you had said the Clearwaters were all rusted and corroded? Still first and last I've heard of such.

 

[Larry Fine]

The unsprung weight will be all of about two pounds.

What really matters is the sprung-weight to unsprung-weight ratio. The heavier the unsprung weight, the more the suspension movement will move the vehicle, instead of the weight of the vehicle controlling the movement of suspension parts.

In other words., you want the car re-positioning the moving parts after a road imperfection, instead of the vehicle re-positioning. That's why heavier cars can handle rough roads better: the car controls the wheels, not the other way around.

 

[Daboo]

Can't say I saw the pictures, I've built my own led units over the years. Lumens are a very specific type of rating.

I thought you had said the Clearwaters were all rusted and corroded? Still first and last I've heard of such.

The camera was on a tripod between the two bikes that were side-by-side.

ADVMonster Model 30


Denali lights

 

[Daboo]

Do you have or know of any comparison between the Model 55 and the Model 30?

Let me say up front that I have no financial interest in ADVMonster. I'm just a satisfied customer. The owner of ADVMonster, has a vendor thread over on ADVRider. There's 261 pages that you can read through to see what others have to say.

The Model 30 http://stores.advmonster.com/model-30-led-off-road-spot-light/ is a 10 degree spot light that puts out 1500 lumens. The picture below will give you an idea of the beam pattern. You'll see how the main beam is really tightly focused, but there is a halo effect. That halo effect isn't much of an issue and does add some lighting to the side of the road.

The Model 55 is a 7 degree spot light that puts out 3000 lumens. https://stores.advmonster.com/model-55-led-light-kit/

In either case, I'd make sure to install a dimmer switch. I have the aux lights on my bike set up for about 20% brightness on low beam in the day time. At night, they go down to about 10% on low beam. They are bright enough to be seen by others for conspicuity only. On bright or high-beam, the lights go to 100% brightness. In my case, I have the Clearwater lights and they are a flood light, not a spot. So they are really useless in traffic, except for making sure you're seen.

Chris

 

[spiderman302]

Or you go to the dark side and run lower tire pressure, then the tire does not bounce and the suspension does not have to work so hard.
You end up with a smoother ride with steady fork lights.......

If Amazon prices are too high then go to Alibaba and look for the same lights.
If their prices are too high you could find out who is the real OEM and try to contact them direct.....
But then both methods will require longer shipping times and a more difficult return process,
and they just might throw in a free virus sample too.....
or go to ebay and see if some one has upgraded to something else and will give you a good deal on an old set....

Since I have two bikes I bought two sets, so I will try them in the three variations, spot-spot, spot-driving, driving-driving.
Yes, I would put the spot on the left side.
Currently the RUN-D lights have wide-angle lens glued to them to make them driving lights.
I am happy with the RUN-D lights, it is just that I like to experiment too much.....
Always looking for a better light.......

Oh if you live in a wet area and you want to try cheep lights. Just use a little silicon glue to seal any suspect cracks....

 

[Whooshka]

Why all the car analogies? They don't apply. And a light car can be made to ride smoother than a heavy car if you want it to. Just change the spring, compression and rebound rates.

Same for bikes. You can make a Ninja 250 ride smoother than a Gold Wing with different suspension pieces & settings if you want to.

 

[T_C]

The camera was on a tripod between the two bikes that were side-by-side.

ADVMonster Model 30


Denali lights

Yeah, I wouldn't say one light pattern was clearly superior to the other, not exactly aimed at the same point with the same intent. The bright spot on the ground would be leaving you night blind when you shut it off.

As far as the clearwaters, a couple of paint chips might be bad, or it might have been abused. Not really all corroded and falling apart are they?

Each to their own, lot's of choices and use what works for ya.

 

[ST Gui]

Why all the car analogies? They don't apply.

My car analogies were apt. And when somebody kits some 250 to ride as smooth as a 'Wing it will get my attention. I'm not interested in theoretical possibilities especially if they're likely improbabilities.

 

[Larry Fine]

Why all the car analogies? They don't apply. And a light car can be made to ride smoother than a heavy car if you want it to. Just change the spring, compression and rebound rates.

Same for bikes. You can make a Ninja 250 ride smoother than a Gold Wing with different suspension settings if you want to.

However, a light-weight bike or car with a Goldwing- or Cadillac-quality ride will not handle the twisties well.

 

[Whooshka]

My car analogies were apt. And when somebody kits some 250 to ride as smooth as a 'Wing it will get my attention. I'm not interested in theoretical possibilities especially if they're likely improbabilities.

I'm surprised you say that. It contradicts what you said about suspension tuning in post #44.

 

[Whooshka]

However, a light-weight bike or car with a Goldwing- or Cadillac-quality ride will not handle the twisties well.

Agreed. But the statement was about a "smooth" ride. Of course handling will suffer. Suspension is a huge compromise.

 

[ST Gui]

I'm surprised you say that. It contradicts what you said about suspension tuning in post #44.

I don't see that at all. The context is how suspension may or may not isolate one from the road and about it absorbing road abnormalities not the vehicle body itself.

IRL there exist a lot of Cadillacs and other luxury or near luxo vehicles that offer a butter smooth ride on less than ideal roads out of the box. There also exist a lot of beaters with shot suspension that allow you to feel every little divot in the pavement. Nothing theoretical about that.

I can't think of any 250 out of the box that currently offers a smoother ride than a 'Wing. Maybe it could actually be done. And maybe somebody could tune a Wing to be smoother riding than that 250.

But that isn't/wasn't the context of my statements. My examples where to offer my opinion as to why the statement I quoted was incorrect. Riding in twisties and what bikes can be made to ride smoother than what bikes etc. was not of my doing.

 

[Whooshka]

I don't see that at all. The context is how suspension may or may not isolate one from the road and about it absorbing road abnormalities not the vehicle body itself.

IRL there exist a lot of Cadillacs and other luxury or near luxo vehicles that offer a butter smooth ride on less than ideal roads out of the box. There also exist a lot of beaters with shot suspension that allow you to feel every little divot in the pavement. Nothing theoretical about that.

I can't think of any 250 out of the box that currently offers a smoother ride than a 'Wing. Maybe it could actually be done. And maybe somebody could tune a Wing to be smoother riding than that 250.

But that isn't/wasn't the context of my statements. My examples where to offer my opinion as to why the statement I quoted was incorrect. Riding in twisties and what bikes can be made to ride smoother than what bikes etc. was not of my doing.

Now you've changed your narrative with "out of the box" thrown in. That's not what I said, nor you originally. Your own words... "Ideally these factors are tuned in the spring/shock assembly". That was the point point I was making, no mention of "out of the box". I'm dropping out of this debate. The car analogies make me laugh when the first comment was about unsprung weight mounting lights on forks. Carry on, putting this thread on ignore.