Panniers/Lights.. and things

BawdyMonk · Jan 5, 2003

Having decided to order a GS Adv, I'm now working through the options and costs, I'm thinking of having BMW aluminium panniers/topbox fitted but as I won't need them on all the time, I want to see a picture of how the bike looks without the boxes on but with the frames in place, could anybody help me out here?

Also I'm going to have auxillary lights fitted, how good are the BMW spots?

Is there a good extra rear light set up? Cypriot drivers tend to not see bikers at traffic lights... not that I stop at red that often!

Cheers

:beerjug:

Deadskin · Jan 6, 2003

ERE YA GO

http://www.bmwofsaltlake.com/products/adventure luggage/index.html

MikeO · Jan 6, 2003

The Adv panniers & top box combo seem very expensive for what they are (ie not very tough looking, probably no more hardy than the standard plastic luggage & a lot more expensive). Unless you're planning to do some adventurous riding with the boxes on, I'd stick to the standard set, as the pannier rails are very unobtrusive when the boxes are removed. If you do want to do adv stuff, try Hepco & Becker, Touratech, Jesse or our very own Vern for tough ali bags, i think they'll all work out cheaper than the Adv bags & do the job better.....

I've got the BMW fogs on my Adv & they're great, but fragile & very expensive indeed compared with making your own light bar and fitting a pair of Halfords specials (or Cypriot equivalent

). I like them because I got them free by default

As for additional rear lights, try talking to Malcolm who posts on this site - he'll sort you out with a Wide Tail system, which puts extra red LEDs in your rear indicators (excellent). Touratech also do a supplementary stop/tail light LED set up, but it's not cheap (£55ish).

Whereabouts in Cyprus are you? I've spent many a detachment over at Akrotiri (& Troodos, when Olympus Radar was still open). Only bikers I ever saw were pillocks in shorts & flip flops riding Kawasaki streetfighters up & down Paphos strip, no helmets, less sense.......

MikeO

BawdyMonk · Jan 6, 2003

Mike,
My major problem is that nobody around here knows the first thing about BMWs, I'm stuck with taking a chance and buying over the net or buying BMW originals from the main dealer in Nicosia, I'm grateful for your comments especially as I intend to get a black Adventure with blacked engine and the black panniers would look better anyway. As I often go into Troodos I need a good set of lights, price no object, what's the best set up?

Gauloise, thanks, not to keen on having that load of scrap hanging on the side when the panniers are not in use.. maybe most of the time..

Ummm... as one of the pillocks in shorts and flip-flops (we ALL wear them though!) I have to tell you that I don't ride a Kwack street fighter..lol I ride a Honda!

I'm down at the Ayia Napa end but I do get about a bit, and am often on the bases, Troodos is still open, I was up at an Officers mess do a few months ago, (I'm not in the forces by the way) I often go to Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

Greg Masters · Jan 6, 2003

Bawdy

I can't speak to the effectiveness of the Adventure lights, but they are very expensive compared to what you can do with a couple of candles, a piece of string and some sticky-backed plastic!

The switch and wiring setup seem poor too. The switch is mounted in the centre of the bars, and, now we are in the age of permanent headlights, I assume that it is just an ignition fed on/off switch.

I'd use one of the laser-cut light bars mentioned in
this thread, Lee Bastin's two-relay wiring with Autoswitch and spend the rest of your dosh on a couple of decent PIAAs!

Greg

MiGSel · Jan 8, 2003

Bawdy,

I've got the Touratech Zega cases (www.touratech.de) and I'm quite satisfied with them. The rack is small, the bike with the cases is "only" 92 cm wide. With the BMW alu cases it's about 114 cm! No problem in the desert, but in traffic? And the racks are quite massive too.

The BMW plastic panniers are a lot cheaper, but not very practical (lids on the side, not very sturdy). If you only use them occasionally, they're a valid option.

As for the lights the ones from BMW are awfully expensive (±550EUR) and I've heard stories of the (plastic) brackets breaking off easily.

A very good alternative is the Touratech Xenon lamp (for lots of light) and fog lamp. Not cheap either though.

Another good alternative: custom light bar and Hella FF50 or FF100 lamps. Here's a picture of what I made of it:

The Hella lamps are on top, the fog lights below are from Carpoint, some mysterious and cheap brand, but they're doing the job. The Hella's provide lots of light!

Greetings,
Michel

BawdyMonk · Jan 9, 2003

Now that looks like an awful lot of candle power Migsel! Excuse what may be a dumb question, I'm a techno-moron, but can the bike take much auxillary lighting?
I want to beef up the back as well (Malky has sent me a good tip for this) as a lot of bikers here get twatted up the arse by car drivers with their heads up their own!

Cheers :beerjug:

MiGSel · Jan 9, 2003

I'm not sure Bawdy.

If I'm not mistaking, the dynamo is 700W on a GS with heated grips and ABS. Now the lamps I have installed are 4 x 55W = 220W total. That's 30% of 700W, seems like a little too much for me.

So I wired them so that only two can be lit at the same time:
* one switch sends power to the first relay that switches +12V on or off for "aux lights on" or "aux lights off"
* other switch controls the second relay that directs +12V that passes through the first relay (when switch 1 = ON) to the upper set of lamps OR the lower set. It doesn't make sense to have them all burning at the same time anyway. I don't want my GS to look like a christmas tree ;-).

The lower pair are fog lights. They are mainly to be seen. The upper set of Hella's do light up the road!

This way it seems to work fine.

I was also considering some extra tail light LED's inside the orginal tail light cover. But that shouldn't be a problem, as LED's use very little power.

On the other hand I'm thinking about buying a heated vest, so I need some more power reserve from the dynamo. If anybody knows how much it has left exactly, I'm curious too!

Greetings,
Michel

lyjohn · Jan 9, 2003

MigSel

Hi have just bought one of your light bars and am now looking for lights. Which Hella model are the ones you have fitted.

Regards

MiGSel · Jan 9, 2003

My Hella lights: FF50 - 55W - H7
Lots of light, I can recommend them!

I've heard from others who have installed the FF100 from Hella and are happy with those. They are a bit bigger, but will fit on the bar.

lyjohn · Jan 9, 2003

Thanks for that, have seen the FF100 in Halfords and was wondering about the physical size of them.

MiGSel · Jan 9, 2003

Here's a pic of the installed FF100

ralphy · Jan 9, 2003

Hi MigSel
I'm confused - you said you have FF50, but the photo shows FF100 - could you clarify please?
(I've also bought one of your light bars!)
PS Any chance of a 'full on' pic of the front of the bike?

MiGSel · Jan 9, 2003

My bike is the gray one with the double lights.

The yellow GS is owned by a German guy that has a light bar from me.

What do you mean by "a 'full on' pic of the front of the bike"? All lights burning? I can make any pic you like of my bike, the yellow one is somewhere in Germany. On mine it's either the fog lights or the Hella's, the wiring and relays make sure they're never on all four at the same time.

Greetings,
Michel

lyjohn · Jan 9, 2003

Ralphy

Search on Google,or same, for Hella the site shows light patterns and light tunnel tests. FF50s look more than adequate I would think.

Regards

ralphy · Jan 9, 2003

Thanks guys,

MiGSel, sorry about the confusion,

lyjohn,
hella

yummy, yummy, yummy..........

the FF50's look the way to go

lyjohn · Jan 9, 2003

Spoke to Hella FF50s £37:36 + VAT, sounds good to me. They are cheking availability and ringing back.

Regards

P.S the German Hella site has beam pattern graphs as well.

Paul Young · Jan 9, 2003

I bought a set of FF50's a month ago from Ribblesdale Auto Electrics here in Preston. Cost was £28 plus VAT.

HTH someone.

Malky · Jan 10, 2003

MiGSel said:
I was also considering some extra tail light LED's inside the orginal tail light cover. But that shouldn't be a problem, as LED's use very little power.

check this out www.widetail.co.uk 1 set of 12 LEDs consumes 90mA at 13.8Volts at 12V more like 34mA

each LED chucks out 7000mcd compared to 30mcd for a standard LED

MiGSel · Jan 10, 2003

Here's some light pics

Headlight only

Foglights

[/IMG]

Hella FF50 spot lights

Panniers/Lights.. and things

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