Auxiliary lights

Gatey

Premier Member
IBA Member
#21
So Ill say it.
Don't buy GoldRunnway lights of any description as sellers seem to be a bit wishy-washy.
There simple. If that lifts one or two sellers to respond then at least we will have contact and a pathway to resolution.
 
#22
For those looking at LED Aux lights... I am now running some Baja Squadron Pro Combos''' Very happy with them. But I am now considering the XL80's.

I have used Denali's as well and they are fine.

Baja's are used by the off road crowd and they offer quite a few setups. I use them with the Skene 275-alert Intelligent programmable dimmer, they allow you to use a single output LED and program it for multiple outputs as well as having an Alert feature which flashes the LED in a very conspicuous way to alert an a cage to your presence.

You can get quite a bit more lumens for less cost then the Clearwaters with a quality product.

https://www.bajadesigns.com/

Skene 275-A
 
#23
Jack, these days on my Tenere I run 4 x 4 inch 35W LEDs with a 'spot' pattern and I'm happy with those.



Initially I ran 2 in 'spot' and two in 'wide', but I realised that there was enough spill from the spots to cover the sides of the road adequately, so opted for more down the road punch.

I like the LED set-ups as they are instantly on, as opposed to HID with that slight delay, and it is easier to create an even 3D field of light. HIDs don't like being cycled on and off too much either of course. However, for straight down the road performance this HID set-up I had previously was superior:



On the Nullarbor Plain I was flashed by an oncoming truck and travelled 16km (10miles) before I reached him. Even if he only travelled 14km over the same period I estimate that I was at least 30km away from him when he flashed me. Thats enough down the line punch I reckon.

Unfortunately those el cheapo 35W HIDs are hard to come by these days.

Its a dodgy-looking set-up, but a combination of HID 'spot' and LEDs in a wider pattern both on the same switch can be nice.

That brings back memories. Here is a pic crossing the Nullarbor on my GS650, throttle pinned of course. I learned in AU that there is such a thing as too bright. Was running VisionX light cannons. Light was fantastic, but road signs reflected so bright it hurt my eyes. On my current ride I'm running Clearwaters and they are still too much for oncoming traffic, but a fraction of the light coming off the cannons. GOPR0266.jpg
 

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#24
<snip>So I am looking for suggestions mainly from the 3 digit IBA number group on what lights you have that give you a longer view of the road ahead without blinding oncoming traffic.
False premise alert! You don't understand what you want. You may feel that's a bold statement from someone that doesn't know you. Perhaps.

Bottom line, no light ever made, or ever to be made, will push light out dramatically farther on the road ahead w/o blinding oncoming traffic.

The issue here is simple. You don't want what you think you want. Long range lighting is useless with any traffic. That's why you tie it to your high beams, because that's the only time you can use your long range lighting.

The closest thing to what you're asking for is DOT legal HID or LED and they usually come in low beam only. I've run DOT legal HID low beam lights in the past. Xenarc 1010. They were first gen HID and like you mentioned, slow to fire up. But, you could leave them on in traffic and they wouldn't blind any oncoming traffic. But, while they were excellent mid range and wide beam lights, they were not long range lighting. The necessary cut off for DOT legal low beams means it won't be pushing light out past low beam patterns, but filling in more light where the stock headlight patterns offer less fill.

What works is long range spots that you only run when you can use your high beams. It's easier if you tie them to the high beams so when you dim your bright, the long range spots cut off also. No extra switch to fuss with, just the high/low beam switch you're used to.

I chose run one center mounted DOT low beam HID light, (Xenarc 1010), with two side mounted LED spots, (Cyclops Long Range Optimus LED Auxiliary Lights), for rally use. Worked great for the IBR. Down side, in reality I couldn't really use the high beams all that much during the IBR. Too much traffic unless I was off on back roads. In the '13 IBR, there were not very many 24 hour bonuses, most being limited to business hours. That left me with pre-dawn runs transiting to the next bonus and a few late night rides trying to get into position for the next bonus. I wasn't a top ten rider and it was my first IBR, so I wasn't pushing as hard as the top ten riders were. Every IBR has it's own theme and restrictions/realities. Jeff Earls has a type of rally that I like better than what I had in '13. He gives the riders every opportunity to do more, ride more, or screw up more. ;)

In terms of touring, it's really not that common for me to need extra lights. I'm out to have fun and see things, so no point in riding that much at night. Every state looks the same at night.
 

kwthom

=o&o>
Premier Member
IBA Member
#25
Expounding on my earlier post in this thread....

As I mentioned, I have but a single pair of hi-intensity lights (LED Rider LX-5's), and a Skene Design IQ-275 controller that operates it. Another LD rider on a different forum gave me this idea for the electrical setup. My understanding is it's fairly common on the GL1800.

I have the power to the controller attached to a seperate switch and relay; this energizes the controller when I need aux lights.

With lo beam on, I can hit my aux light switch and get a driving light function from my lights - 20% output. You might know that the Skene controller itself is programmable.

With hi beam on, with my aux light switch off, it works normally. Turn on the aux light switch with high beam on, and it goes to 100% light.

The thumb of my left hand controls OE hi-lo beam; the forefinger on the same hand can reach for the aux light power switch. Two switches, four unique lighting conditions available.

Eric's comment is absolutely correct. At night in traffic situations, the low beams, plus the 20% aux light is all I can reasonably hope to use.

Now, out along US-95 in western Idaho at 4am? Yeah, I could light the road, the forest, and there was little traffic to worry about inadvertently blinding them with 10,000+ lumens of light.