Auxillary light positions

[MajBach]

I can't see how this has not been discussed before. As good as the stock lights are, I want more. I do NOT want the hassle of installing HIDs. Actually, it's not so much the hassle as the cost/work ratio. Ive got e-bay tnype HIDs in my vehicles for the high beams and they works fine but there is a clear warm-up period. If it weren;t for the fact that my low beams remain on when my high beams are on, I wouldnt be able to use them in the truck because there would be several seconds of darkness otherwise.Perhaps the real high quality ones do not suffer this.

I wish there were a way that the low beams remained on when the high beams were used on the FJR. Surely there has to be a way but perhaps too much heat?

I've been reluctant to install driving lights as any other FJ Ive seen with them I think look awful. No offense. There just doesn't seem to be a mounting position on the FJ where aux lights look to busy or out of place. However, after 5 hrs in the rain and dark on twisties in moose/deer country, I've decided necessity trumps vanity. Today I noticed that the frame sliders might actually hold potential. Has anyone ever mounted lights here before?

 

[blkredlinedrvr]

I've got mine mounted under the mirrors. I actually like how the bike looks with them there. If you are using them for fog lamps low is good to go but if you want to use them as driving lights you need to mount them as high as feasible so you can get more range out of them.

 

[LowAndSilent]

Mount them where before? On the frame sliders? Well...you'd be out auxillary lights in a tip-over. So I don't see the point in that.

Crashbars like these would protect the lights and the bike at the same time.

 

[MajBach]

I've got mine mounted under the mirrors. I actually like how the bike looks with them there. If you are using them for fog lamps low is good to go but if you want to use them as driving lights you need to mount them as high as feasible so you can get more range out of them.

Can you post a pic?

 

[MajBach]

Mount them where before? On the frame sliders? Well...you'd be out auxillary lights in a tip-over. So I don't see the point in that.

If I tip my bike, the LAST thing I will care about is one broken light.

I want another pair of lights for light out the sides. In previous vehicles I've owned, I've always added a pair of lights in the OEM fog light cut-outs and aimed them outwards to warn me of wildlife and they've always worked well. I want to do the same on the FJ. Only spot I have considered acceptable is on the forks themselves and only if they were tiny lights.

 

[LAF]

Mount them where before? On the frame sliders? Well...you'd be out auxillary lights in a tip-over. So I don't see the point in that.

If I tip my bike, the LAST thing I will care about is one broken light.

I want another pair of lights for light out the sides. In previous vehicles I've owned, I've always added a pair of lights in the OEM fog light cut-outs and aimed them outwards to warn me of wildlife and they've always worked well. I want to do the same on the FJ. Only spot I have considered acceptable is on the forks themselves and only if they were tiny lights.

I have used caliper mounted Moto Lights for the last 12 years or so. They now have a LED bulb set available. I use them for mostly daytime running lights, however the do supplement the side of the road at night. I do not like running night because of all the horned rats here in PA, but the Moto Lights help in IMHO, don't look bad in brushed aluminum.

I read an article years ago that said psychologically, people see a 3 point or Triangle of light faster then any other pattern, so I have always run low lights and my headlight(s). The emphasis of the article was what our minds "see" compared to our eyes, and reaction time relationship.

Motolight

 

[blkredlinedrvr]

Here ya go. The mounts I bent up out of an old stop sign. I wouldn't go thinner or more flexible than that my self but I wasn't about to pay 80 bucks for a set of aftermarket ones.

 

[Bounce]

This has been discussed in many different venues just not perhaps this one.

What do you want your aux lighting to do?

If it's lights to help other see you, then lower powered and mounted low(er) creates a triangle of light that increases your visibility to others (BEING SEEN). However, low mounts throw the light into the pavement very quickly, so it's not optimal for getting light farther down the road (SEEING).

If you want to SEE, then HIGH and WIDE is the ticket. It sends the light farther down the road and the wide mounts help triangulate the light to assist your binocular vision see obstacles better and sooner so you have more time to react.

So, pick your poison based on SEEING or BEING SEEN.

(A tip of the helmet to Dale, Ron Major, Ron Smith, and others who drilled this into me waaay back when I first started endurance riding.)

 

[blkredlinedrvr]

I plan in the future to run a set of fogs on the fork legs probably using some caliper mounts. Those will be wired to a relay that is wired to be switched with the low beams so they will always be on. The Driving Lights mounted under the mirrors are wired to a relay that is switched with the highbeams and are always on when the hibeams are on.

 

[Dorian]

I had a pair of auxiliary lights that I mounted on my old Kawasaki Versys from these guys https://www.martinfabrication.com/Martin_Fabrication/Motorcycle_Lighting_Home.html I had them mounted higher up on the faring but, as you can see, they were designed to mount on the front fender bolts. They were great, bright lights, with an integrated water proof power switch. Best of all, they weren't all that expensive compared to others I've seen on line. I will order a new set for my FJR once I'm done with other farkles.

 

[TriggerT]

Same as many others, though my LED's are a little lighter so I doubled up. Still, I am thinking about trying to move them to help protect them in a tip over, and to put less stress on the mirror mounts.

 

[zed88]

Get some good mini LED lighting, and you can hide it pretty well. Fork mounts, or up top. Inside the mirrors is not too busy

 

[MajBach]

Here ya go. The mounts I bent up out of an old stop sign. I wouldn't go thinner or more flexible than that my self but I wasn't about to pay 80 bucks for a set of aftermarket ones.

So you basically just rigged a mount and tied into the bolts that secure the mirrors on?

 

[MajBach]

Get some good mini LED lighting, and you can hide it pretty well. Fork mounts, or up top. Inside the mirrors is not too busy

I actually like the fork mounted lights. What kind are they? LEDs or halogen? 35 watt or 55?

 

[Bounce]

PIAA 910 high-and-wide

 

[blkredlinedrvr]

Here ya go. The mounts I bent up out of an old stop sign. I wouldn't go thinner or more flexible than that my self but I wasn't about to pay 80 bucks for a set of aftermarket ones.

So you basically just rigged a mount and tied into the bolts that secure the mirrors on?

The mounts are "sandwiched" between the mirros and where they mate to the fairing. On the 1st gen bikes the mirrors have studs and are held on with nuts on the back side of the fairing where a mount is at. I simply drilled two holes in the mounts to match up with the studs and bolted the mirror on top of the mount.

 

[zenwhipper]

This is what I came up with.

Most people don't really care where the lights are and how they look on the bike. I feel its not an issue either for me. Yah got lights... show em off. :yahoo:

Also, you want to mount then where they project the best and where they can be seen the best by oncoming cagers. I had my PIAAs down on the forks and moved them up just to increase visibility.

Topic 127861