LED Aux Lights

[extrememarine]

I’m in the process of getting Vader 2 set up. One thing that I want to add to this bike is auxiliary lights to supplement the headlights. To be clear, I’m not looking to just add a “be seen better” type of lighting – I am looking for lights that will come in use when there’s 100 miles between me and the hotel or campground after dark. The “been seen” is a secondary benefit.

I’ve been looking at is the Denali D2D models from Twisted Throttle, These from Alex at Realtime, and the Dually from Rigid Industries, and these from ADVMonster.com.

I’m leaning towards the Denali option from Twisted Throttle because they come with interchangeable lenses, letting you switch between spot and flood patterns. One idea is to run one spot and one flood pattern, with the flood on the traffic side and the spot on the curb side.

I’ve seen the dimmer switches that let you dial down the output so you can still run them in traffic without burning any retinas out.

So, who has recent experience with any of these lights, and pictures would be great as well.

I’ve got a set of brackets to hang them under the mirrors, or I might fab up some new brackets to move them in closer to the bike, but still off the mirror mounting points.

Thanks!
Wayne.

[Bust]

I took the lights I got from Alex off my bike, was thinking of putting them on the wing.. Now the pending sale of that has 'em just sitting on a shelf out here.
If you want to try before ya buy, gimme a shout and I'll get them to ya somehow.

[Mike Aldea]

I just added Quad CREE XML U2 3100Lm 12V 30Watt LED Auxiliary Light Pair [BL3000] to my motor with a dimmer module so I've got a high/low beam effect. The lights are currently selling for $156 per set. Any dimmer you choose to use will be extra. They are available with either silver or black housings.


I haven't had a chance to try them out in true darkness yet. But I certainly can see the extra light when riding in traffic or on roads with street lights.

The following three photos and captions come from the vendors website. I'm not sure how much they help.

BL3000 3000Lm 30watt CREE XML T6 Lights on Mr. Justin P Bike.


Bike 35w HID High/Low Beam Picture


Bike 35w HID High/Low Beam Picture & 2x 3000Lm Led Light Beam Picture

[extrememarine]

Thanks Barry - I might take you up on that. Are they the spot or flood pattern?

I took the lights I got from Alex off my bike, was thinking of putting them on the wing.. Now the pending sale of that has 'em just sitting on a shelf out here.
If you want to try before ya buy, gimme a shout and I'll get them to ya somehow.

[extrememarine]

Where did you mount them? Have any pictures looking forward in the dark?

I just added Quad CREE XML U2 3100Lm 12V 30Watt LED Auxiliary Light Pair [BL3000] to my motor with a dimmer module so I've got a high/low beam effect. The lights are currently selling for $156 per set. Any dimmer you choose to use will be extra. They are available with either silver or black housings.

[extrememarine]

fyi - I got some info from Twisted Throttle regarding their lights. IF you use a dimmer style controller switch, it will void the warranty. You must use their wiring harness and switch according to them.

[Cougar8000]

They do not have a true dimmer. What they do have is low and high. Connect high to a high beam and you are safe. Even in the low beam they light up over 400 feet down the road

Btw. You can buy Denali through me. Just make sure to mention FJRriders at the check out just in case I don't recognize the log in account


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bust]

The dimmer is referred to as a "pulse width modulator" Some kinda fancy schmancy dimmer I guess. Some circuity and wires and shit........... $25 was the best price i found..
Don't know how a warranty could possibly be affected Alex. It's just a hi dollar switch.
Spot pattern Wayne..Good for a quarter mile or so dead ahead but a bit of off to the side illumination. You could do as I did and mount 'em so the beam was cast off to the sides though..

[bungie4]

Spendy for sure, but take a look at the Hella Micro-D Xenons. Pretty serious down range punch in a small form factor. The only real downside is that the ballasts are HUGE (if their still supplying the same ones) and, you can't use them in the traffic.

Or if their are airplanes flying by.

[clocklaw]

Bungie, I would like to see those in action, maybe we can spotlight some deer together soon.

[Cougar8000]

The dimmer is referred to as a "pulse width modulator" Some kinda fancy schmancy dimmer I guess. Some circuity and wires and shit........... $25 was the best price i found..
Don't know how a warranty could possibly be affected Alex. It's just a hi dollar switch.
Spot pattern Wayne..Good for a quarter mile or so dead ahead but a bit of off to the side illumination. You could do as I did and mount 'em so the beam was cast off to the sides though..

warranty should not be affected by adding a switch, but when people start slicing and dicing and depending on their level of expertise shit can go wrong if something is not hooked up correctly. So, you cann't really blame them for not honoring a warranty if their wiring is modified. Any mfg would do the same.

Let me know if there is enough interest in Denali D2D and I will putt a special for you guys

[Bust]

So right Alex.. I've inadvertently let the smoke outa a few things over the years.

[bungie4]

Bungie, I would like to see those in action, maybe we can spotlight some deer together soon.

Sounds like a plan to me. Not much for filling in the immediate shoulders of the road, So they pretty much suck on a twisty road, but when you need to burn some holes into the horizon, they're the kitties-titties.

Coming back from EOM last year darkness hit on I90. Not a great thing. So I snuck in behind this guy driving an SUV running about 70mph. Whenever the median had lots of trees, I'd pull up beside him and flip on the Hella's. When the median thinned out, I'd flip them off and sneak in behind him again. We did this a couple of times. Then one time as I pulled up beside him he tooted the horn at me. He had the interior light flipped on and gave me a bug thumbs up.

Got to the toll booths and he was in front of me. Buddy paid my way through the toll!

[extrememarine]

Bungie - those are deer cookers, I need a set for my Jeep.

A reason I'm drawn to the LED technology is the fact you can run them on a full dimmer - zero to 100%. Most of these switches have a hi beam by pass. You can be running them down around 30%, flip your hi-beams on, and you get 100% out of the LEDs. It seems light that would make for a more versatile application; in traffic, you could run them down lower to not burn retina's out, then out on the open road with no traffic, put them on blast.

The Twisted Throttle dimmer is a 50% (low) / 100% (high) switch, no in between, as Alex said. Their wire harness must be sealed. For that kind of money, I'd rather not roll the dice to find out if they will run with another type of switch.

[Cougar8000]

Yes, with Denali you can hook them up so they are always on o a LOW with your low beam and HIGH with your HIGH beam. easy peasy wiring.

[Bust]

That's about the only advantage to the Pulse width Modulator fancy schmancy dimmer. Set it to 100% on bright and whatever you want on dim..

[extrememarine]

So the questions with the Denali D2D's becomes is the 50% (low) low enough to run in traffic? I see you can buy the D2D individually in the catalog, no harness, so that leads me to believe it could be run on a fancy-smancy dimmer. That option is not listed on the website. I'm going to troll on over the advrider and see if there's any night shots at 50% & 100%.

Alex - do you know of anyone running these right now?

Wayne

[Cougar8000]

Wayne, I do not have them on my bike yet. I will before the riding season starts. Speaking with my tech guy at TT and searching web I do not see any complains that they blind oncoming if they are adjusted properly on a LOW setting.

Flood vs spot lenses. You get both. You can customize it to the trip you are going to be taking. or one this way and another the other way. Kind of good if you have split personality disorder

[Mike Aldea]

Where did you mount them? Have any pictures looking forward in the dark?

I just added Quad CREE XML U2 3100Lm 12V 30Watt LED Auxiliary Light Pair [BL3000] to my motor with a dimmer module so I've got a high/low beam effect. The lights are currently selling for $156 per set. Any dimmer you choose to use will be extra. They are available with either silver or black housings.

I haven't had a chance to get away from any street lighting to take photos. I mounted the lights on the sides of my Concours fairing where the upper and lower pieces join together.

I obtained the dimmer I'm using from http://www.printerdoctor.com/leddimmer.htm in conjunction with relays to allow the lights to be dimmed with the high/low beam switch at the same time as the headlight.


I came across another LED light dimmer from Oznium.com after I did my installation. This dimmer switch looks like it would have simplified my installation quite a bit.

[RiderCoach Lar]

Spendy for sure, but take a look at the Hella Micro-D Xenons. Pretty serious down range punch in a small form factor. The only real downside is that the ballasts are HUGE (if their still supplying the same ones) and, you can't use them in the traffic.

Or if their are airplanes flying by.

I'm running with the Micro DE Xenons too and I agree on all counts: pricey and one of the toughest installs I ever did due to the size of the ballasts, however, the do throw out "second coming of Christ"-type light, especially for their size.