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Fog lights for next 7 troopers

4K views 30 replies 17 participants last post by  greywolf 
#1 ·
#3 ·
oh man! now you gone and done it! you posted an illegal link. look out! the forum police will now edit your post to conform to the rules. you will also be chided like a skewl boy...
 
#9 · (Edited)
I love this thread. Not just for the rampant rule breaking and imminent squashing.

I've been studying the LED motorcycle light market for about a month now. I mean really studying hard. It's all I have to do these days.

One of my long time dirt bike riding buddies has made a multi-million dollar fortune (I'm not exaggerating) selling lights for motorcycles. I won't say who, but his company rhymes with Adventuretech. Yep, those guys, we all used to sit around the same campfire after riding trails, but that is a story for another time.

Another very well known company that used to come to V-Strom rallies have made a ton of money marking up Chinese made lights and Chinese made wiring harnesses.

All that aside, after deciding on how much wattage you can afford and type of light (LED's have come of age), the choice of lens is most important. I have seen 30 degree reflector/lens combos described as flood, spot, and pencil. A light described as flood may have a 90 degree lens/reflector. I have asked for pencil beam lights and been told that they do indeed have pencil beams (and then call their 30 degree flood lights 30 degree pencil beams).

You can check this yourself, but here is what I have concluded. There are three useful beams for additional motorcycle lighting. A flood beam (25 to 28 degree) often used as a fog light or with the low beam, a euro beam (specialized and maybe optimum compromise) and a spot/pencil beam (8 to 10 degrees).

However, dealing with China isn't easy. While writing this post I have been "aggressively seeking a mutual understanding" with a gentleman somewhere in China about the meaning of some of his claims. If all goes well my lights should be here in a week with euro beams.
 
#11 ·
Yep, its a good deal if your looking for near field illumination, fog lights, or to be seen by others.

Add a relay to trigger off the your choice of high or low beam, or a switch for independent on/off and your set. You can get a handle bar switch off Eay for about $3.95 shipped free from Hong Kong. Or by the same switch from the company alluded to above for 4 times that. I'd give you the Ebay link, but ...well...you know.
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
I finally got mine mounted and they look great and seem really durable. There is no plastic components, I mounted them to the front fork reflector holes. I had some bolts that worked otherwise you would have to make a trip to the hardware store. I wired them into my dim headlights and grounded them to a bolt on the fender. The only problem is that they are EXTREMELY bright. I may have to rig a switch for night time riding.
 

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#15 · (Edited)
Re: Ebay links

Not to derail the thread, but what I have never understood is why this forum seems to be one of the only Vertical Scope owned forum that disallows ebay links :confused:

I have checked at least a dozen of the Vertical Scope owned forums and all of them allow ebay links.

In fact, some like the DucatiMonster.org actually have an ebay links section, where members can post their ebay finds.:thumbup:

eBay Auction Links Section - Ducati Monster Forums: Ducati Monster Motorcycle Forum

So why are ebay links not allowed on this forum?

Is this a corporate decision or simply a case of the mods on this forum not liking ebay?
It seems that everyone here just accepts the deleted posts and threats of banning?? :confused:

Can we get a definite answer on this from Vertical Scope?
 
#16 ·
It wasn't Verticalscope's idea. I don't think any site rules are except no free advertising for any commercial entity, which was already in place. The rules are carried over from when the site was privately owned. People would join to sell and link to what they were selling on ebay. It happened so much, a rule was instituted.
 
#17 · (Edited)
So from this I gather ebay links are allowed?

From what I have seen on this forum, 99.9% of the ebay links that are posted by forum members are to help fellow forum members find some accessories for their bikes, or to ask other members what they think of the listed item? Not posted for personal gain.

If Vertical Scope are OK to allow ebay links to be posted, then that is how it should be right?
 
#18 ·
I have Crees the same as those posted by cpd419.

They are well built, come with SS hardware and throw a ton of light. They put off a much whiter (6000k) light versus the headlamps being yellow'ish (3000-3500k). In another post, someone mentioned that you can't beat them for the cost per lumens.

I have no experience with the higher end models being offered by reputable vendors, but I suspect that in the right mounting position, they would give years of trouble free use.

Only fault I would say is they are lights only, no wiring, no relay and no rheostat. I wired mine in with a relay and a switch.

After a few thousand mostly road miles, I have no problems with them. I've ordered 2 additional sets - one for the boat and the other might go on my truck.

Another thread:
http://www.stromtrooper.com/dl650-2004-2011/69608-auxiliary-lights-calipers.html

And
http://graywarrant.us/vstrom/2013/07/aux-leds/



Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App
 
#19 ·
I've been researching LED's. Everyone and their brother is selling them. Quality and claims are all over the place and two vendors can offer very similar looking lights with vastly different performance. There isn't even a standardized method of performance since all the resellers just parrot what the Chinese manufacturers claim. Just because a seller says the color is 5000k and it puts out "X" lumens...that isn't necessarily the case.

Many lights being offered are overdriven. They're NOT going to last and they put off a lot of heat. They also use more juice than claimed. I've also seen a vendor claim their lights use Cree chips when their own photos show that not to be the case.

I'm shopping for:
1)Cree, Cree, Cree...longest lasting, most efficient and it costs pennies more.
2)Marine grade, aluminum housing. That means they're submersible and have the highest corrosion resistance.
3)Shatterproof lens.
4)Output adjustability. LED's are blinding. Running them full power against traffic makes you a jerk at best, a menace to safety at worst. If you get punted off the road running LED's...you deserve it.
5)Verifiable performance specs. Not a couple of photos. An actual spec sheet from the manufacturer that, ideally, can be independently verified.
6)A quality wiring harness , splices/connectors and stainless mount and fasteners. This is where the cheap lights fall down.

Just my .02
 
#26 ·
I figured since I had a couple extras laying on the bench waiting to be installed, I would do a disassembly post on these "cheapo" ebay lights and post up the findings.

I have no engineering background, but these look pretty well put together to me. For the money, I can't beat them. There are likely better (and much more expensive) setups, but for me and the style riding I do as well as the money I am willing to spend, these are all I need.

As stated in an earlier post, a rheostat would be a good addition, but someone with a little electronic background ought to be able to figure that piece out, heck some googling may come up with the answer.

Viewer beware - I'm no photographer and these are just iPhone photos.

Disassembled components:


Close up of internals - note the XM-L stenciled on the PCB And the neoprene o-ring. Could be anything, it wouldn't be the first product out of China that wasn't kosher:


Crappy pic of the seal around the wire:


Lens, single piece, seems to made of some type of poly/plastic:




Outer ring - note machining and keying:


Heatsink compound and close up of interior machining:
 
#29 ·
Ill have to look into a set. Very dark around here on country roads!
 
#31 ·
Dissimilar metals galvanic corrosion of the more active metal, aluminum alloy in this case, can occur. Using the fork will also send current through the fork leg to the fork tube as well as across the steering head bearings, not just bolted together joints.
 
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