LED kits, underglow kits?

[Guest]

Well, is anybody here running any kind of accent lights, accessory lights or underglow kits?

I was on the goal of getting my bike more noticeable at night....because I do the majority of my riding then.

And I was thinking.....I see Commercial Trucks with insane lighting kits in order to be more visible at night.


Why not a bike....



So, I was just wondering if anyone here is running any extra lighting accessories, and how has the battery life been for you?

[cowboyup3371]

Look at Steve's bikes...he's got a nice setup on MRS. Steve's IIRC

[FreshStart]

I had the stick on led strips from autozone all over my 89 katana. Never had any battery problem. I had 4 15" strips 4 6" strips and 2 3" strips. The ones at autozone are super cheap and super easy to install.

[1_v8_merc]

I had the stick on led strips from autozone all over my 89 katana. Never had any battery problem. I had 4 15" strips 4 6" strips and 2 3" strips. The ones at autozone are super cheap and super easy to install.

Thanks man!

You re-affirmed what I was thinking....
However, I just wasn't sure of the quality of them.

But if you ran them with no problems, I'm sure they'll work for mine too.

I'm going to be riding the GS to work....which means I'll be riding back at dark....so I want extra lights to highlight myself.
(plus it would look pretty cool to ride down the back roads with some extra lights, hehe.)

[FreshStart]

Just make sure to check your local laws for what colors you can run. Usually its just no red or blue.

[1_v8_merc]

Yeah, I know, I'm probably going to go with Red anyways....I'll take my chances,haha.
The cops around here don't really care about bikes.

[FreshStart]

Generally they dont care around here either but you always run imto a coont suck

[Steve]

Most of the time, general common sense will dictate what colors you can/should run.

A couple of LED driving lights facing forward will give you a triangle of lights for oncoming traffic to see, making you MUCH more visible.

Legally speaking, anything facing the side should be yellow/amber until it gets near the rear, then it should be red.
Anything facing the rear should be red, unless it's a turn signal (only), then it can be yellow.

Here in oHIo, we get away with a lot of stuff, but the basics will prevail:
NO red or blue facing forward, no flashing red or blue lights, etc.

My wife's bike has had lights on it for three years now (or has it been four?), we have had no problems.

I do highly recommend a separate switch for the accent lights, in case you meet a cop that does not like your lights.

Look at Steve's bikes...he's got a nice setup on MRS. Steve's IIRC

Not much, but it looks good (to us ), I know there are MANY here that would not like them.



In daylight, you can almost see them.
Turned ON


Turned OFF


Here is a picture on a rainy day on the Blue Ridge Parkway, it shows the blue lights and the LED driving lights.


Watch the left mirror in this video, you can occasionally see the driving lights and how much more visible the bike is.


.

[1_v8_merc]

Alright thanks steve, I bought 2 long LED strips at autozone.
I'll post up some pics when I get them installed.

I already tested them, and they are SUPER bright.....

I may just install them under the gas tank, so they light up my entire engine.
Or I'm just going to install them underneath the bike.

[Detroit Diesel Man]

If I had a newer bike I'd think about LED lighting..but to me an old bike deserves what was availible in the era of the bike...I guess I'm old school...no LED lights dingle balls or bling for me thanks..


DDM

[FreshStart]

Under the tank is a good spot. To smalls tucked beneath the front edge of a side cover looks good and adds brightness if the sidecover comes over the frame

[Jason the terminator]

I have this headlight bulb and it really helps even in the day.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000COBLKW

I'm going to get some driving lights and was thinking of getting these to help at night for cross traffic. Not really a light so I don't think you could get in trouble or maybe it's a little bit of a gray area.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/flashing-spark-plug-cap/p2006710.jcwx?skuId=137969&filterid=d2010y1982

Not that they would put off a ton of light just that they would catch someones attention from the flashing.

[Zim]

If they had them when I had my Schwinn Stingray I would have been all over it. On my motorcycles, not so much.

[1_v8_merc]

I think I paid $25 for a sylvania bulb from autozone, for my headlight.
Very bright light, well worth the money.

And those spark plug lights are awesome!
I've been wanting to get some since last year.

[bakalorz]

Well, is anybody here running any kind of accent lights, accessory lights or underglow kits?

I was on the goal of getting my bike more noticeable at night....because I do the majority of my riding then.

And I was thinking.....I see Commercial Trucks with insane lighting kits in order to be more visible at night.


Why not a bike....



So, I was just wondering if anyone here is running any extra lighting accessories, and how has the battery life been for you?

FWIW, I think the single biggest thing you can do to increase visibility is replacing the headlight bulb with an actual HID bulb. A real HID bulb kit will come with a transformer, and needs a little bit of rewiring. They run 35 watts vice 55-60 that halogens do, so they free up about 20 watts for extra other lights.
Though they run less input power they are more efficient and put out 2 or 3 times as much light as halogens.
Unfortunately they are not approved for on-road use ... I haven't been stopped for it yet though.
One additional negative is that my headlight is now bright enough that it tends to wash out the front turn signals, making it harder for people directly ahead of me to see that the signals are signaling.
I'll eventally make the front turns brighter and possibly relocate them further from the headlight.
Actual HID kits run $50 on up.

During the day a headlight modulator is VERY effective.
You shouldn't run them at night (and pretty much can't ... there is a light sensor that turns the modulation off at night). They wont work with HID.
They are legal in all 50 us states, though I did get stopped by a cop who didn't know the laws once. He told me to turn it off but didn't attempt to write a ticket.

I personally would recomend adding extra LED tail/brake lights and LED side markers (rather than just the reflectors we have now) rather than lights that are more ambiguous. (i.e. I would have made the lights on Steve's wife's bike yellow ... but thats just me)

For mine, I intend to (eventually) do all the following:
HID (already did this one)
front LED running lights (at full "flasher power" rather than the reduced power most are)
front amber side marker
rear red side marker
2nd additional tail/brake light (high mounted at the top of a really tall sissy bar)
2 red rear markers mounted at the turn signals, they will be overpowered by the amber rear turn-signal when the turns activate. (I do NOT want red rear turn signals. they can confuse people for a split second ... that could be a critical split second)

There are flashers for the brake lights that will flash them 3 times before turning them steady on, this is supposed to help with visibility, and is pretty much not addressed by the law, so pretty much not illegal.
They tend to work best with LEDs.

On one of the LED threads a while back, there was a company selling LED driving/marker lights for the front that advertised an interesting feature:
They strobe them just at the rate where you can't quite see the flashing and it seems steady. However, your peripheral vision is more sensitive to motion, so it picks up the strobing and draws your attention to it.
This seemed like advertising hokey to me, but was interesting.
I hooked up a LED taillight to a microprocessor and played with it.
It was actually shockingly effective. I will definately incorporate that into ALL the LED lights on my bike.
(this feature will ONLY work with LEDs, regular lights can't flash fast enough)