Longish range add on lights?

[grizzly7]

Hi folks

I traded in my 05 GS earlier this year for a "new" 2011 GSA. As part of the deal I got HIDs to dip and full beam, and LED BMW "fogs" for cracking prices. A few days later I broke my foot, and I can only now just hold the beast up on that one foot (being a short arse).

So riding this evening was the first time I got to see how much of an improvement the lights are over my old standard set up in the dark

Daytime everything is fab. Many drivers adjust course on country roads to give me a wider berth as we meet on bends, which is nice

Marginal sun down lighting is also cool, the HID dip is as fab as many posts here say it is. The fogs light up the hedges, and balance things out when lent over a bit, when before it all just went dark

But. Dark country roads is not so cool, and I'm not sure why? I think its because dip and the fogs chuck out so much light that my eyes can't make use of the full beams addition above and beyond the dip spread, if that makes sense? Its definitely on blast), and I'm not talking about being impatient for warm up. I could raise the dip beam but that might not be popular, and I have tweaked the fogs a bit when I got back (but I'm sure that won't do much).

Is the main beam always going to produce less light because its smaller? Or is that stupid?

My immediate thought is of course more lights. A kill switch, but then powered with full beam, not that I have any idea how to do that!

What I'm after is some idea of light spread from different models? You know, those little plans comparing dip with fog with driving with spots, but suitable for bikes and actual, not some artists impression!

BigmofoHID spots would be very nice and would do what I want I think, but too ££££ at the moment, and maybe smaller and opposite the BM fog position is a less loony idea anyhow.

So you helpful lot, what lights will definitely improve high beam, mount above the BM fogs, and not cost much

Any help much appreciated (unless its a suggestion to take my dip HID off my hands for a minimal fee, and replace it with a crap halogen so I'll defo then see how good high beam is )




Edit I spent bloody ages searching all sorts, even tried the FAQ on how to search tips (which is useless as it brought up the same search box I want info on, ie putting + or "" in etc), and I find perhaps I should have tried auxilliary lighting, not high beam or LED spots or or or ........ Bugger. More pages to sift.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=602835 Nice how to

 

[grizzly7]

Rigid Industries Duallys

Does anyone have these?

http://www.bikevis.com/motorcycle-rigid-industries-duallys.html

 

[SeanC]

Yes, I have them. And before you all take the piss about bling and extra lights on 1200's, no-one seems to know where the headlight switch is in this country so anything which helps me pick out non reflectives / dead trucks in the middle of the road / assorted idiots who try to kill me after dark be aware that I need all the help I can get just to stay alive!

They are not long range, but do give off a bright white light that serves to help others see me and to pick out the potholes and broken roads that inhabite my daily commute.

Easy to fit and I have them on a seperate switch, not via the headlights / main beam.

I like them!

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

everything you need here at half the price everyone else is trying to flog it for .

http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale/wholesale-led-off-road.html

 

[Fanum]

everything you need here at half the price everyone else is trying to flog it for .

http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale/wholesale-led-off-road.html

Phil, that's because they are cheap Hong King rip offs.

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

Phil, that's because they are cheap Hong King rip offs.

are you sure about that ?

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-f...road-light-hid-driving-Light-wholesalers.html


Where else in the world are they made ?

Are these copies of american made stuff - or is this the original ?

 

[Beemerman59]

A non-HID main beam is rubbish on the 1200 IMHO and its only marginally better with a HID. I therefore fitted a couple of Hella FF50's with 50watt HID conversions and its like turning the sun on at night - truly awesome lighting power. I fitted a handlebar switch so I can choose to have them available or not and I down graded the standard main beam to halogen. This so I can use the flasher in the daytime as there's no warm up lag and for the sake of longevity for the HID's. I also never have the HID fogs on at night as these do produce a lot of glare to oncoming traffic....unles its actually foggy of course. I do use them in bright conditions if the suns behind me though.

 

[Fanum]

A non-HID main beam is rubbish on the 1200 IMHO and its only marginally better with a HID.

The problem is the beam itself, which is formed by the reflectors....they have never been a strong point of the GS.
Changing the bulb from Halogen to HID just massively increases the amount of light output but that still gets formed into a beam by the same reflector.

 

[Beemerman59]

The problem is the beam itself, which is formed by the reflectors....they have never been a strong point of the GS.
Changing the bulb from Halogen to HID just massively increases the amount of light output but that still gets formed into a beam by the same reflector.

Yup +1

 

[grizzly7]

Thanks for the replies!

A non-HID main beam is rubbish on the 1200 IMHO and its only marginally better with a HID. I therefore fitted a couple of Hella FF50's with 50watt HID conversions and its like turning the sun on at night - truly awesome lighting power. I fitted a handlebar switch so I can choose to have them available or not and I down graded the standard main beam to halogen. This so I can use the flasher in the daytime as there's no warm up lag and for the sake of longevity for the HID's. I also never have the HID fogs on at night as these do produce a lot of glare to oncoming traffic....unles its actually foggy of course. I do use them in bright conditions if the suns behind me though.

Do you mean its like turning on the sun all the way down the road or just gives breadth to the dip spread? Cos from what you also say (are you describing the FF50's as HID fogs or you have them too?) it seems you use them in traffic? Or are FF50's only spots?

I can't imagine a light doing what I want is sensible at all with oncoming traffic? Most stuff seems to be described as fog/driving/work lights, how can they be all that?!?!

I didn't know an HID has a life based on cycles rather than burn time. Or that the main beam is in fact rubbish regardless what you do with it.

Everything I read last night either talks about running lights, mainly to be seen, or just add an HID dip beam as thats all you need. Nowhere did I find don't bother with HID full beam because its crap! But it does seem to be

 

[Beemerman59]

Thanks for the replies!



Do you mean its like turning on the sun all the way down the road or just gives breadth to the dip spread? Cos from what you also say (are you describing the FF50's as HID fogs or you have them too?) it seems you use them in traffic? Or are FF50's only spots?

I can't imagine a light doing what I want is sensible at all with oncoming traffic? Most stuff seems to be described as fog/driving/work lights, how can they be all that?!?!

I didn't know an HID has a life based on cycles rather than burn time. Or that the main beam is in fact rubbish regardless what you do with it.

Everything I read last night either talks about running lights, mainly to be seen, or just add an HID dip beam as thats all you need. Nowhere did I find don't bother with HID full beam because its crap! But it does seem to be

I have both types - FF50 spots and the BMW Aux (fog) lights.

The spots light up the road for a long long way. I only use these at night and turn them off with oncoming traffic obviously as they are incredibly powerfull.

The fogs have a scattered beam so I only use in daylight if the sun is low behind me or in fog both for visibility. My riding is 99% rural roads so rarely have any traffic but if I do I turn the fogs off as well because they are very annoying close up behind a car.

I don't know if the HID's have a cycle life but if you're flashing with them they are useless anyway due to the warm up time and I tend to think the bulbs take a real hammering if being switched on/off for very short periods. I realised that I never flash at night so thats not an issue for me.

There's differing viewpoints on this forum about the main beam and whether to HID or not. In my case because I have the HID spots I can't tell if the OEM main beam was actually working or not, with or without HID so I put it back to halogen so its better for daylight use of the flasher albeit rarely. If I didn't have the spots I would put it back to HID though, no question.

 

[slimpickings]

A non-HID main beam is rubbish on the 1200 IMHO and its only marginally better with a HID. I therefore fitted a couple of Hella FF50's with 50watt HID conversions and its like turning the sun on at night - truly awesome lighting power. I fitted a handlebar switch so I can choose to have them available or not and I down graded the standard main beam to halogen. This so I can use the flasher in the daytime as there's no warm up lag and for the sake of longevity for the HID's. I also never have the HID fogs on at night as these do produce a lot of glare to oncoming traffic....unles its actually foggy of course. I do use them in bright conditions if the suns behind me though.

I am thinking of doing the same on my 1200 GSA

however I am struggling to find a suitable way to fix a pair of spots

Do you use a bracket or P clamps ?

Any chance of a pic of the set up

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

Phil, that's because they are cheap Hong King rip offs.

are you sure about that ?

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-f...road-light-hid-driving-Light-wholesalers.html


Where else in the world are they made ?

Are these copies of american made stuff - or is this the original ?

You haven't answered my question - that you prompted.

Where are yours sourced from, Bill ?



only reason i'm interested is that over here everything comes from China - you just have to be VERY selective about your sources - most of it is shite for sure

Mate just bought a 4x4 winch for $300 from the same source that a chain of suppliers sell for $800 - usual story, high markup and ripping people off.

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?SearchText=winch+4x4&IndexArea=product_en&fsb=y

 

[Beemerman59]

I am thinking of doing the same on my 1200 GSA

however I am struggling to find a suitable way to fix a pair of spots

Do you use a bracket or P clamps ?

Any chance of a pic of the set up

I'm using a Migsel light bar for the Aux lights and Hella spots - I'll get some picks sorted when I get a chance. I have 4 ballasts underneath the beak on a bracket from Les Wassal and another couple of ballasts also on the same bracket behind the oil cooler. Its a tight fit and I have strengthened the bracket but works just fine.

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

You haven't answered my question - that you prompted.

Where are yours sourced from, Bill ?



only reason i'm interested is that over here everything comes from China - you just have to be VERY selective about your sources - most of it is shite for sure

Mate just bought a 4x4 winch for $300 from the same source that a chain of suppliers sell for $800 - usual story, high markup and ripping people off.

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?SearchText=winch+4x4&IndexArea=product_en&fsb=y

I reckon the stuff you're flogging for 175 quid/pair are these exact same lights - right down to the box - at around 15 quid each - I may be wrong though.
But i don't think you've got much to worry about cos most people seem scared about ordering stuff from overseas

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3122002&postcount=1

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/549541000/super_brighter_9_50v_DC_10w.html

 

[Fanum]

You haven't answered my question - that you prompted.

Where are yours sourced from, Bill ?

America, apparently.

 

[Fanum]

I reckon the stuff you're flogging for 175 quid/pair are these exact same lights - right down to the box - at around 15 quid each - I may be wrong though.
But i don't think you've got much to worry about cos most people seem scared about ordering stuff from overseas

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3122002&postcount=1

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/549541000/super_brighter_9_50v_DC_10w.html

I honestly don't know.....we get ours from Durite, and they get them from an American supplier.

Take a look at the alibaba rip off GS911 diagnostic.......same box, same info (it's called cut'n'paste ) yet most definitely a copy, which came from the horse's mouth as it were (the guy who acually made them and has them built)

That's the way these chinese factories work....they order one of anything that looks like it will sell, backwards engineer it and copy it out cheaply, right down to the packaging

What the quality will actually be like I have no idea......it may be spot on, it may not

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

you should get a set sent over - if they're good - you can make fortunes

 

[grizzly7]

everything you need here at half the price everyone else is trying to flog it for .

http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale/wholesale-led-off-road.html

Am I missing something or do are you just posting up a load of sellers with a load of stuff? Which specific ones have you experience of that suit what I'm after?

Fanum it would be very nice if you could take comparative photos of what you sell? Like the pics at the end of this thread, from riders viewpoint, with each of your lights shining down the road? Just saying they're really bright isn't much help to me

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=320627&page=2

 

[Beemerman59]

I don't have anything close up but you will get the idea with my set up. Migsel light bar holds 4 ballasts underneath and the FF50's live on the top with the Aux lights underneath. You can't see it but the Migsel is also used as a mounting point for twin Magnum hi&lo horns under the beak. It take a bit of messing about with the ballasts and the wiring could be tidier but it works. I got a handlebar mounted On/Off switch to isolate the spots when needed. Power comes from a switched fuse box mounted in the tooltray for the FF50's and horns.