DRL's on an RT

[steadysteve]

After a couple of SMIDSY incidents I decided to fit these..

Durire LED's mounted to the mount points for the lower fairing panel, M80x6 stainless bolts through 12mm stainless tube with nylon washer between the tube and fairing panel, wired to the rear power take off behind the pillion seat.

Switch on the little trim panel below the left handlebar. Easy to replace the panel if I want to return it to standard.

I reckon they are far enough away from the engine to not get cooked or restrict air flow to the engine.



The ones under the oil cooler are only marker lights. I originally had another two of these at 45 degrees down the side of the panel but they fouled the mudguard on full bounce so had to remove them.

 

[dr nosh]

Funny that you should post this.

I have also just fitted a pair of DRL's to my 2013 Twin Cam.

Started with: eBay item number: 281570886003. These look like a copy of a Durite light, 10W LED. Mounting bracket is stainless.

1st thing, the wedge shape plate that the mounting bracket fits onto was loose even when the M3 screw was tight. Ended up taking 2 mm off the end.

Offering up the lamp to the lower fairing panel fixing, I felt that they were too close to the exhaust header. So, I made a 50mm long bracket to 'push' the lights further forward.








Welded the spacer tube to the arm, polished, then vapour blasted to give a rust proof satin finish.



Used M6 stainless fixings with nyloc nuts (I was brought up on British bikes, where it was normal to drop bits of your bike along the road)





Fitted in position.

So how did I power them?

Well I took a 12v feed from the aux socket in the left fairing panel to trigger a relay. Then took 12v from the battery via the relay to the lights. This means that they are independent from the Canbus system. They are on permanently when the ign is on, and stay on for 50 secs after the ign is turned off whilst the Canbus shuts down. The pair of lights draw 0.7A (both lights together)



Made up a suitable wiring harness for this. All insulated, sleeved and crimped.



Located the relay under the seat, fixed using the screw holding the mudguard.

Whilst I had the side panels off the fairing, and doing 'lekky work, I took the opportunity to fit a pair of NN finest Fiamma horns. Managed to get them tucked right up behind the side panels.



Righthand side. Bracket fitted directly to a plate with a ready hole in it on the fairing frame.



Lefthand side. Used a 'Stauff' clamp n the 19mm dia fairing frame to fix the bracket to.

Wiring. Used the plug offered by NN and this plugs directly into the horn female socket of the wiring harness. The original horn is left in place, just disconnected. This then triggers another relay, with the horns then being powered directly from the battery via 2.5mm2 cable.

Boy, are they loud.

All of this can be removed without a mark, apart from 2 small grommeted holes in the fairing lower to run the light cables through. Blanking grommets can be fitted and its a fairly unnoticeable location.

 

[Deleted account 260111001]

Nice job, and let's see some photos from both of you with the lights on and off, as an oncoming driver would see em

 

[steadysteve]

I tried them on the lower bracket but they were too close to the header so decided to use the upper one. Win win really because the upper one is far stronger but still has the rubber mount to cushion it a bit.
Looks like the cowl/panel is slightly different on your later model- no need for the bracket on mine.

Was going to put them under the oil cooler, like the Wunderlich ones, but IMO it keeps all the light too close together and doesn't create a big enough outline for the smidsy's to see. Never really had much trouble before but two incidents in a short space of time got my arse into gear..

I've tried various mounts on the crash bars but the lack of clearance between the cylinders and the bars, (leftside only 6mm clearance) means any clamp around the bar is tight up to the cylinder, leaving no room for movement if I drop it.

 

[steadysteve]

Nice job, and let's see some photos from both of you with the lights on and off, as an oncoming driver would see em

Will do- they don't look very bright in the pic but can be angled up some more

 

[steadysteve]

Lights on, Lights off

Full on sunlight for the outside ones but you get a better idea in the garage.

 

[GORILA]

Steve, apologies for jumping in on your discussion, but I just wandered if your protection bars leave enough of a gap allowing the BMW steel valve covers to fit. I have the valve covers on my RT but would like to fit the Wunderlich bars!
regards,

Mario.

 

[steadysteve]

Steve, apologies for jumping in on your discussion, but I just wandered if your protection bars leave enough of a gap allowing the BMW steel valve covers to fit. I have the valve covers on my RT but would like to fit the Wunderlich bars!
regards,

Mario.

Hi Mario,
Can't say for definite but I seem to remember seeing RT's with both fitted.

The tight spot is between the left cylinder and the horizontal part of the bar, above the DRL in the pics.
Crap design IMO because there is hardly any room for the bars to deform before hitting the cylinder.

Not particularly impressed with the Wunderlich bars- the clearance on the left as already mentioned and also the part that curls round under the engine is very tight, i.e. touching, the plastic fairing. They supply some foam to slot between the bars and the fairing, basically admitting that they know it's not quite right but can't be arsed to re-engineer it. There is no means of adjusting the fit to work round the problem.

The HELD bars for the RT on ebay look tidy, as do the Z-technik ones.

HTH

 

[GORILA]

Thank you for your reply. I'll give the Wunderlich bars a miss then. As you say the Held bars look good, but again I can't be sure they give sufficient clearance for the valve covers. The Ztechnic bars look good, though are expensive!

regards.

 

[dr nosh]

Daytime


and, err, nightime.


Not too sure why the offside looks brighter in the 1st picture. Maybe its the angle of the camera, or the bracket needs a bit of adjustment.

 

[Beemerrt]

Has anyone heard of Clearwater Lights? I have the Darla's and Krista's. They make night time sunshine. Very bright. I am wondering if they would be legal in Europe?

 

[Decompressing]

er, am I missing something here?

RT's are hardwired to have dipped beam headlights on ALL the time....so what's the point of DRL?

If you're talking about spots to improve your visibility at night, that's different, but purely DRLs? I don't get it

 

[steadysteve]

RT's are hardwired to have dipped beam headlights on ALL the time....so what's the point of DRL?

If you're talking about spots to improve your visibility at night, that's different, but purely DRLs? I don't get it

The DRL's change the bike from 'just another headlight' to a more noticeable, slightly different outline altogether. Also they are LED's which have the distinctive colour to the light.

 

[DC]

Has anyone heard of Clearwater Lights? I have the Darla's and Krista's. They make night time sunshine. Very bright. I am wondering if they would be legal in Europe?

Yes some of my friends have clearwater ericas ! they come with a dim switch on the bars ,so you can have them on really loud or just feint.Expensive, but very good

 

[dr nosh]

RT's are hardwired to have dipped beam headlights on ALL the time....so what's the point of DRL?

If you're talking about spots to improve your visibility at night, that's different, but purely DRLs? I don't get it

Its all about making the front of the bike stand out.

The general school of thought that light 'triangle' improves car drivers awareness.

Some may not achieve this level of awareness though.