non standard spot lights

[the-other-bradders]

regardless of my fear of being ridiculed, and apart from the looks, any technical reason why I couldnt fit a pair of £40 spot lights from Halfords to my 1200?!

am after a bit more on non lit b roads and the like and not too bothered what it looks like

 

[Pukmeister]

For about £55 you could fit a set of Hella MicroDE fog lamps which look like they were made for the bike.

 

[the-other-bradders]

cheers - I'll google it!! I'd kinda given up that any 'look like they should fit' lights are available this side of £200!!! and I thought Ducati ownership was expensive.....

 

[The Bede]

... The lights are just part of it

... Mounting bar, fuse panel, relays, switches etc add up, so £200 ain't bad for a pukka set-up ... more like £300 if you want a main & dip set-up

... Classic BTBR

... or, perhaps you have a better idea ... please share

 

[g.s.john]

regardless of my fear of being ridiculed, and apart from the looks, any technical reason why I couldnt fit a pair of £40 spot lights from Halfords to my 1200?!

am after a bit more on non lit b roads and the like and not too bothered what it looks like

nope i've got a pair of halfords mini spots on me 1100 i aint making a feckin fashion statement i just want a better main beam

 

[magpie]

For about £55 you could fit a set of Hella MicroDE fog lamps which look like they were made for the bike.

+1

 

[littleredrooster]

If I hadn't already done it, I wouldn't bother. Fit an HID conversion first to dip and main, THEN see if you still want spotlights.

Zerocool and Les Wassall of this parish both do excellent kits.

 

[Pukmeister]

I should have said £55 approx for the lights, another £10 for some flat mild steel bar to weld up my light bar/handlebar switch bracket, and about £5 for the smooth Hammerite. Still cheap.

 

[Les Wassall]

1200 with FF50's, a good value lamp

and 1200 with DE's (HiD'd)

 

[Les Wassall]

Don't worry about the wire hanging down; I had not fully finished the install

 

[Gipsy]

Trust me! Les has fitted Hid main and dipped and Hid spots to my 1200, and it is fantastic. Before you decide what to do have a chat to Les.

 

[BiG DoM]

Hella FF 50's are amazing value for money, easy to fit without having to fit ballasts etc for HID, and look great on the GS. Had them on both my 1150 and 1200ADV - and run them in preferance to the ADV OEM fogs. Use 70w white globes in them no problem.

 

[littleredrooster]

Hella FF 50's are amazing value for money, easy to fit without having to fit ballasts etc for HID, ......

Nah - gotta disagree there. Much more difficult to fit - you need trigger wires, power wires, relays, fuses, a bracket to mount them.......

HIDs and ballasts are literally a 30-minute swap over and yield far better results if you're looking for better lights.

 

[The Bede]

HIDs and ballasts are literally a 30-minute swap over and yield far better results if you're looking for better lights.

... You still need a ballast mounting bracket and the ballast and tube hardware is pricier than FF50s or a pair of micro DES

... You're also restricted to the standard reflector beam shaping and a single source, so if that goes yer screwed (long-distance wannabes take note).

... Also above a certain colour temperature (5500K ish?) they might look brighter but they don't aid vision as much as you want, or the vested interests would have you believe.

... Spots give you greater flexibility to put the light where you want it, eg for continental riding, and if you lose a bulb you've got more lights burning to safely get you home.

... It's not all as cut and dried as the HID salesmen would like you to think.

 

[littleredrooster]

... It's not all as cut and dried as the HID salesmen would like you to think.

Yeah, but as I said earlier, I have both setups on the bike and IMO, the fogs/spots combination is made completely redundant by the HIDs if you are wanting more/better light.
Simpler, cheaper, quicker and easy to reverse-engineer if you don't like it/want to sell it.