Auxiliary Lighting

[crazy steve]

Just tossing this carrot into the salad; the stock high beam is 85 watts is it not? I don't see why running a 65 watt low beam should have any deleterious effects on the bucket or wiring, and at 100 watts... how long does one actually run with the high beam on at a time during normal riding conditions?

My manual lists the stock headlight as 50/65 watts, and 'legal' bulbs are rarely more than that. 55 watts is a typical low-beam wattage. I did a little looking around the 'net, and it seems that most of these aftermarket lamps and particularly HID conversion kits aren't legal for street use, so use at your own peril...

[CatatonicBug]

I know some folks run their high beam all day long. When I first started riding, that's what I was told to do. I don't do that myself, but I know some do.

[justme1100]

The wattage of a bulb is printed on it usually on the base. Most stock/over the counter bulbs are 55w/65w. Now I have found "off road" bulbs in the parts catalogs I like to look through for ideas that are of a higher wattage. My headlight is a 55w/100w and you can get even higher watt bulbs. I also run 2-55w lights on my case guards.

[natemoen]

You have got a lot of light there!

[bobber]

head light bulb

my head light bulb went out. it was a 35/55 watt ,custom headlight.sealed beam. way hard to see with that.try that in the rain at night.not good.
got 55/60 watt h4 now,let there be light. i'm happy with that.
i do'nt tighten the head lamp bolts all the way. that way i can pull it up a little,to get a higher beam,with out blinding traffic.

[slow mo]

i ride with my hi-beam on all the time,, an older more experienced rider thought it enhances you chance of being seen ,,ride safe ,,slow mo!

[natemoen]

Not cheap but I bet this is a lot of light! And the size would work well for some lights mounted to case guards or under a fairing. And they are only 1.65 amps

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&category=TRUCK&Page2Disp=/specs/wlcwhp10_specs.htm

[justme1100]

i ride with my hi-beam on all the time,, an older more experienced rider thought it enhances you chance of being seen ,,ride safe ,,slow mo!

I used to until I added my aux. driving lights. I know that if someone doesn't see me it isn't for lack off lighting.

[81xsproject]

OR, make some yourself for under $100! CLICKY!

[81xsproject]

Or, don't do it yourself and pay $160 for a pair. CLICKY!

Well, you would have to build a power supply for it since it is built to run on batteries. Here's a single one...

[natemoen]

OR, make some yourself for under $100! CLICKY!

They are 3.6 volt leds though.

Ah, now you edited it to explain. Is that just a single led on that bike?

[trdriver71]

Or, don't do it yourself and pay $160 for a pair. CLICKY!

Well, you would have to build a power supply for it since it is built to run on batteries. Here's a single one...

that still seems pretty bright! How hard would it be to build one?

[natemoen]

You would still need something else to power those, cause they are 8.4 volt max.

[natemoen]

What do others use for driving lights. I am searching around for options, looking at output vs amp usage and just comparing. Would like to keep it under 100 bucks though.

[81xsproject]

Yes that is a single LED bike light. I think you could build a single light housing pretty cheap and pretty simple. DX also sells a flashlight power supply for $8 but they are also very easy and cheap to construct. They also sell small focusing lenses. The only tricky part is that high output LED's need heatsinks and a big one like that needs a pretty good one. This topic really makes me want to get back to my LED headlight project. Stupid adult responsibilities!