Thinking of adding driving lights to my XJ1100

[natemoen]

Heck I never said it was pretty, actually I think its kinds ugly, but it solves the power miser light problem.

[LCS249]

Thank you, T.C. Very helpful.

I've added all those examples to my "watch list" and will research all the options.

I will look again at the reflector inside the headlight housing, and think about the alternate style. What's there now is in very good shape, but is simply chrome lined

I also hadn't thought about (and had no idea about) getting Halogen auxiliary lights and then adding HID bulbs/ballasts. A very interesting alternative.

Extremely helpful. Thank you, again.

Leon

[fredintoon]

- - - I will look again at the reflector inside the headlight housing, and think about the alternate style. What's there now is in very good shape, but is simply chrome lined - - -

Hi Leon,
I hate to be picky (No, wait, I love to be picky) but your headlight reflector surface should be silver or aluminum, NOT chrome. That said, how old is it? You may be surprised at the extra reflectance a new-out-the-box reflector can give, even if the old one still looks OK.

[LCS249]

Probably aluminum ... It's been horribly hot this summer and I've had the bike under a cover in the garage. Will pull out the cars and then the bike shortly and have a serious look.

[cywelchjr]

Probably aluminum ... It's been horribly hot this summer and I've had the bike under a cover in the garage. Will pull out the cars and then the bike shortly and have a serious look.

Bunch a sissies! I ride all year around here, pretty much every year (I'll admit I'm enjoying this strange cool summer) but I'm sure mother nature will get even with us next summer. But I'll be riding in it.

[LCS249]

Ours has been record hot ... with almost no rain.

[justme1100]

Driving (aux) lights

The only other thing I did prior to installing my driving lights was to make sure my brushes were in good shape and all my connections were clean and secure. I ride with my lights on at all times and usually have the high beam on during the day and as I live in the sticks I also have it on Hi most of the time at night as well. I did put visors on top of the lights so I wouldn't get the shine back at me and that made a huge difference. I have not installed my heated grips yet, might have to turn off the lights then but I don't know yet. I do have a cigarette lighter just for charging the phone but that draws next to nothing and has never caused an issue either. Go with the direct install LED bulbs for your taillight, remember there are two and switch as many other bulbs over to LED (ie. directionals and even gauge lights) and you should not have any issues. Good Luck and Happy riding.

[LCS249]

I tried an LED tail-light bulb (same base as standard bulb) and it wouldn't seat right, therefore wouldn't work. Would have loved it. Which one did you get? Any links?

[LCS249]

Something like this would be awesome. Mount one of these to the fork brace! Less than 2amps power draw!

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Lighting-...55&t_pl=102686

Nate, you got lost in the back and forth ... my apologies.

Those would be ... interesting.

Everything I've read about LED driving lights so far says "you can be seen from far away ... but they don't actually illuminate the road any better."

These may be an exception.

The gold standard for me is my wife's 2001 Audi, with Xenon headlights. I can drive all night with those. My '97 Mountaineer on the other hand, not bright and tiring to drive for a long time. Real eye strain. And I replaced the bulbs with the brightest Halogens I could find.

[cywelchjr]

I tried an LED tail-light bulb (same base as standard bulb) and it wouldn't seat right, therefore wouldn't work. Would have loved it. Which one did you get? Any links?

I picked up mine from Kragen auto parts, but I have seen them at Auto Zone as well. They are usually in the import section with the rest of the stuff that the riceboys put on their cars, but they work just fine, and should fit just like a normal bulb. The only issue is they don't work for the turn signals, as they throw all their light straight out from the socket. You can find one that will work for just about all the lights on the bike right here: http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...rake-turn.html including 90 deg ones that work in the turn signals, but you need their flasher and lose the auto cancel when you do it, but you can get rid of a LOT of draw.

Also, LED driving lights have made a LOT of progress in the last few years. They used to be just something to throw a lot of diffuse light out there, but the ones you can get now work pretty much like traditional driving lights, just a LOT less current draw and heat.

[LCS249]

Hey LCS,

Pilot brand sells clear lens replacement housings for the XJ and Special's 7" round lights. I don't want to start up another HID conversion legality discussion. You can get true HID bulbs, ballasts, with either moving bulb/filament design or dual bulb to provide a "similar" hi/lo pattern. The position and style of light source from the HID bulbs are different than Halogen, and so they don't provide the same.."proper" light pattern, but they provide 2-3 times the amount of actual light. Some folks have done the actual HID replacement mod, and are happy with the amount of visibility, others say the light shown to oncoming traffic is more spread out and glaring to oncoming traffic.

T.C.

Meant to reply that my wife's 2001 Audi includes some kind of leveling, dipping mechanism (as do other cars with Xenon headlights). If you're pointed uphill, the lights will dip down.

I can see how they might annoy oncoming traffic, but I truly need help because of an actual condition (night myopia) that I've had my whole life. Never understood why it wasn't as much of a strain for others to drive at night as it was for me, until an opthamologist explained it, as well as why I, personally, should not look directly at oncoming headlights (blinded for a while after).

I'm fine dealing with it in a car, but would rather not be surprised by an animal crossing a dark, country road when I'm on the bike. You can literally see three times as far with HID.

[LCS249]

I picked up mine from Kragen auto parts, but I have seen them at Auto Zone as well. .. You can find one that will work for just about all the lights on the bike right here: http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...rake-turn.html.

Also, LED driving lights have made a LOT of progress in the last few years. They used to be just something to throw a lot of diffuse light out there, but the ones you can get now work pretty much like traditional driving lights, just a LOT less current draw and heat.

Thanks cywelchjr. That helps.

[cywelchjr]

Thanks cywelchjr. That helps.

There is also a company that sells DOT approved HID conversion kits for round 7" headlight systems (like jeeps and such primarily) but they are NOT cheap. The reflector based version is like $450 or something, and the projector version is like $550 or something like that. They are not as good as factory HID lights, but the manufacturer claims they are DOT approved for street use, which is NOT true of most of the stuff you find on the net, particularly the stuff that sells for $40 or $50 or so. One of the main problems with the cheap kits, is they are using a reflector that was NOT designed for HID, and it throws the wrong light pattern, where these kits replace the reflector and everything, so it's shaped correctly for the HID bulb's light pattern. The main problem for most motocycle installations is that the conversion systems bucket often won't fit into the stock headlight shell without modifying the headlight shell and moving the wires out of the headlight. The link to the site for these was posted a while ago, but I don't remember it off hand.

[LCS249]

Ah-ha. That's very helpful. Not all that concerned about legality in N.M. -- the cops aren't pulling over the bozos texting, smoking and driving at the same time, so they're not going to bother with lights ... I think.

But the extra info about bad conversion kits is very good to know.

Leon

[cywelchjr]

Ah-ha. That's very helpful. Not all that concerned about legality in N.M. -- the cops aren't pulling over the bozos texting, smoking and driving at the same time, so they're not going to bother with lights ... I think.

But the extra info about bad conversion kits is very good to know.

Leon

Frankly, except for here in Kantafordya I personally would be less worried about legality (which can differ from state to state, as some states are OK with them, some are not) but rather with the glare from the things blinding the oncoming driver and having them drive into the light (a rather disturbing habit of many blinded by lights, to drive into them instead of away from them, at least it seems that way) and therefore me. The more expensive lights with the properly designed reflector is going to have correct cutoff, preventing the blinding effect (or at least minimizing it).