I had some Hella FF50s on my ST1300, and some PIAAs on my WeeStrom. They were mounted to that they were at or near headlight level. I found them to be very useful when commuting [the majority of my riding].
I can't really figure a good place to put lights. I think Darth tried putting lights right above his front fender. Not sure how that worked out, but I think it was a clearance issue.
My dad used a set of Motolights on his Nighthawk for many years. They clamp to the forks with hose clamps. REALLY well made, REALLY bright, and very effective. I also personally really like how they look. They make a caliper mounting kit for the VFR, and I have considered adding them to my bike but I'm leaning towards a headlight modulator instead.
When he had them, the manufacturer even replaced burned out bulbs for free. I don't know if that still applies though....
I might be selling this set of Motolights - if anyone is interested please PM me...
I have super bright PIAA's mounted in the lower mounting holes of the fender. They work great. Other drivers hate them because they are so bright, but I agree you can't have enough light.
I question how useful lights at tire level are. Where exactly do you need more light? If it's straight ahead, HIDs and high beams work great. If it's that area just off to the side to see what's on the edge of the road, you're going to want lights not too far below headlight level. Perhaps some sort of LED light in the mirrors...
The tire level lights are to obtain the "3 points of light" to make you more noticeable to other drivers. If it's greater visibility of the road for you, then you would want your lights higher up as you mentioned.
I would like a metal plate that uses the mirror mounting point. Should slip inbetween the bodywork and the mirror stem. Possibly make the mount a little thicker for mirror extenders. That would move the mirror view past your elbows. A shaped tang on the mirror plate could be shaped to accept any of the lighter weight driving/fog lights. I would also want to mount my V1 above the mirror stem. I'm surprized someone else hasn't thought of it. I can envision the thing but do not have the talent to make it.
2nd thought: Deltran plastic might work, be light & strong enough to accept a threaded bolt to mount the light.
[image: View Post]ArTravlR, on 17 November 2009 - 11:25 PM, said:
I would like a metal plate that uses the mirror mounting point. Should slip inbetween the bodywork and the mirror stem. Possibly make the mount a little thicker for mirror extenders. That would move the mirror view past your elbows. A shaped tang on the mirror plate could be shaped to accept any of the lighter weight driving/fog lights. I would also want to mount my V1 above the mirror stem. I'm surprized someone else hasn't thought of it. I can envision the thing but do not have the talent to make it.
2nd thought: Deltran plastic might work, be light & strong enough to accept a threaded bolt to mount the light.
Already have mirror extenders. Just search mirror extenders, I think?
This is based on a 5th generation, but it might help. In 2004 Electrical Connection.com had a kit that I used but it didn't put out much light and mounted with only one bolt, so it tended to move - but it gave me the idea of my own bracket mounting under the mirrors. I have clear FET driving lights on top and hope to add yellow FET fog on the bottom to use when I'm splitting lanes in the rain.
The bracket wasn�t hard to build. I first traced out the rubber mirror gasket with a large circle attached onto multiple pieces of cardboard. Then I slowly made bends in the cardboard until I had the correct angle for the light (flat - parallel to the ground) and then trimmed the cardboard for the base of the light to mount. I flattened out the cardboard and traced the pattern onto a 1/8" aluminum, cut out the trace and recreated the bend (angle). Did the same thing for my Stebel horn. On dark back roads, with 65/55 headlights on high beam and driving lights on, you can see forever, its sooooo bright! Hope this helps.
The PIAA 1100's are great lights. I would try to avoid putting them on the forks as I have heard others complain about shorter bulb life when mounted where vibration if high.
The PIAA's have expensive bulbs but will last a long time if mounted in a safe spot.
My own intention is to complete my Gixxer signal mirror conversion, then mount my PIAA lights where my stock front turn signal lights are now. I will make a little cowl around them for a more neat appearance. It's on my list of things to do to the bike this winter, but now that I'm moving jobs and to a different city, I think it will be taking a back seat to more important things.
I'm not a huge fan (for the look) of mounting lights to mirror location, but functionally, it works well.
[image: View Post]YoshiHNS, on 17 November 2009 - 09:47 PM, said:
I question how useful lights at tire level are. Where exactly do you need more light? If it's straight ahead, HIDs and high beams work great. If it's that area just off to the side to see what's on the edge of the road, you're going to want lights not too far below headlight level. Perhaps some sort of LED light in the mirrors...
[image: View Post]Cageless-in-Seattle, on 17 November 2009 - 10:12 PM, said:
The tire level lights are to obtain the "3 points of light" to make you more noticeable to other drivers. If it's greater visibility of the road for you, then you would want your lights higher up as you mentioned.
Yes that is correct - having them down low really seems to draw a lot more attention from drivers. When my dad used them on his Nighthawk, we saw a marked decline in cars pulling out or turning in front of us while out riding.
Neither of us are night riders, so I couldn't tell you how well they illuminated things. We'd occasionally head out just before dawn, and they seemed to really light things up well.
[image: View Post]sparkydog21, on 17 November 2009 - 11:41 PM, said:
This is based on a 5th generation, but it might help. In 2004 Electrical Connection.com had a kit that I used but it didn't put out much light and mounted with only one bolt, so it tended to move - but it gave me the idea of my own bracket mounting under the mirrors. I have clear FET driving lights on top and hope to add yellow FET fog on the bottom to use when I'm splitting lanes in the rain.
The bracket wasn�t hard to build. I first traced out the rubber mirror gasket with a large circle attached onto multiple pieces of cardboard. Then I slowly made bends in the cardboard until I had the correct angle for the light (flat - parallel to the ground) and then trimmed the cardboard for the base of the light to mount. I flattened out the cardboard and traced the pattern onto a 1/8" aluminum, cut out the trace and recreated the bend (angle). Did the same thing for my Stebel horn. On dark back roads, with 65/55 headlights on high beam and driving lights on, you can see forever, its sooooo bright! Hope this helps.
SparkyDog - that's exactly what I would be looking for.
Over 90% of my riding tends to be on the slab while commuting. Lane-splitting is a must, as I have the 2 factors necessary for it: horrible traffic and CA residence. ;)
Lights down low on the forks might be great for night-time riding, but for visibility I've found that lights need to meet 2 criteria:
* be high enough to shine directly into a car's windows or mirrors
* be installed off of the headlights' horizontal plane
Thus, the requirement for "something". My WeeStrom had a steel bar installed under the cowling that the lights mounted onto. My St1300 had brackets that allowed for mounting above or below the mirrors.
I just put 6000k HIDs in the low beams and this spring will install my GSXR mirrors with the LED running light mod in them, that should be enough light.
Here's my .02 worth for the 6th gen driving light mod
Step 1: install a set of mirror mount signal lights from Darthbling
Step 2: fabricate a mounting / housing to fill the original signal light location
Step 3: wire up a high beam switch to the PIA driving lights
Step 4: include a row of 4 yellow LED's for signal lights, just for giggles
End of thread · 19 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 12 Apr 2010