Daylight Running Lights

General spannery stuff
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nickst4
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Daylight Running Lights

Post by nickst4 »

Apart from the headlight, that is!

I'm a sucker for LEDs and have them fitted wherever I can on all the bikes EXCEPT in the indicators because I think their cutoff is too sudden and they are completely off for too long.

Anyway, I try to find places where I can fit DRLs that are eyecatching but not the retina-blasters that BMW riders are so keen on. Presumably they are to ward off elephants and lions. :nod:

The installation needs to look neat in my book, and I hope I've achieved that with some Chinese 'eagle/bulls-eye' units fitted to the attachments at the top of the radiator on the Raptor 1000.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322255768493? ... EBIDX%3AIT

The lights come as just the finned cone with the lens. The rest of the stalk is my fabrication. Wired-in to the sidelight circuit, the DRLs broaden the lit width of the bike nicely. From anything other than straight in front, one is shielded from view of course and the brightness depends on whether you are dead on axis (see pic), but I'm happy with that.

See what you think!

Nick
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snapdragon
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Re: Daylight Running Lights

Post by snapdragon »

Neat, I do have a fancy for more lighting, both to be more 'seen' on the road and to see edges where there's no kerb on country lanes but I'm always wary of drawing too much battery (since I'm not at all clever at that sorta thing)
SnappY
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nickst4
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Re: Daylight Running Lights

Post by nickst4 »

Re alternator output: fit LED head-lamp, side-lamp and tail-lamp bulbs and you'll save a lot on power consumption compared with filament types and still have more light!

HID headlamp bulbs were the business a few years ago, but they are unreliable in my experience so it's just as well that LED technology has caught up. However, avoid very cheap LED headlamp bulbs that don't have either a heat-sink or fan, because they will necessarily be low-powered.

Nick
andybaggies
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Re: Daylight Running Lights

Post by andybaggies »

I have fitted a set of BikeVis LED mini pods see https://www.bikevis.com/product/bikevis ... ng-lights/ and would heartily recommend them. I've mounted them on the under side of the handlebar guards.

They're only 0.75W and I've also fitted their modulator which makes them 'twinkle' and therefore more apparent to other road user. And it does work as on my commute I see many car drivers pull over as soon as they see them - perhaps they think I'm plod! Even Mercs on the outside lane :shock:

BTW don't use the BikeVis bullets as the Raptor crude charging system blows them with depressing regularity.

Cheers

Andy B
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