Clearwater Lights Group Buy: March 1st - March 30th 2013 (details inside)

[TomInPA]

FZ1 mirrors are not the problem. Some Gen II OEM mirrors also have short studs. The Krista setup on my Gen I did not require any modification. If you recall mounting your mirrors, did you have an extra 3/16 of stud to work with? If so, you won't have a problem. If the nut is barely hanging on, then you need to find a way to get more of the mirror stud to extend through the mount. I haven't heard of anyone yet who couldn't get them on.

 

[learnin4life]

FZ1 mirrors are not the problem.

This is good to hear. I have a Gen II and from your description it sounds as though the biggest issue I may face is finding longer bolts if the ones I'm using now for the FZ1 mirror are not long enough. I had the impression from the earlier posts that it may take a little more craftiness for the lighting mounts to play nicely with the FZ1 mirrors.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Pauls927]

Learnin4life,

I believe Niehart's solution will be the easiest and quickest way to mount the brackets if you have the FZ1 mirrors on. Use a large drillbit and drill out the mounting holes on the Clearwater brackets so that the light bracket will fit over the 2 bushings from the faring. Then cut a thin gasket (I used an old inner tube from a bicycle) to go between the bracket and the faring. You should now have enough threads from the FZ1 mirrors to catch the nut on the inside of the faring.

If you do not have enough threads, you may want to remove and trim the bushings with a dremel or grinder as I did. This will bring the mirror closer to the faring and allow more threads to protrude so you can attach the nuts. I found an article from Kaitsdad on how to remove the bushings here in an article about Skyway Light brackets:

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/26960-skyway-light-brackets-installation/?hl=%2Bmirror+%2Bbushing

There will be 2 screws you need to loosen on each side to pop out the bushings. Good luck.

 

[learnin4life]

Excellent! This is exactly what I needed to know. Who knew a step-by-step how-to could be so simple.

Pauls927, thanks for the good explanation.

Ordering soon.

 

[garyahouse]

Another quick and easy method that I used in the old tool and die days: lock two nuts together on a bolt. spin them into a bench grinder to produce a 30 degree chamfer on one of them (careful to leave enough to get a socket on). Now chamfer the hole through which the mirror stud will protrude. The newly tapered nut will drop into this chamfered hole like an ice cream cone, allowing the threads to grab what little bit of stud is protruding. You just bought yourself 1/8-3/16 worth of threads that you didn't have before. Take the two nuts back off the stud, and use the new chamfered nut to mount up your mirror.

Gary (I'm a retired machinist)

darksider #44

Think I'll add this in here as well... which I just posted elsewhere on this forum:

Security nuts/bolts 101.

Here's what ya do:

Buy some button head machine screws...

They can't be removed with anything but an allen wrench. Then fill the hole after ya put em on. Or get some plain old stainless steel allen headed cap screws, chuck them up in your cordless drill (not too tight... don't wanna mess up the threads) and grind the heads on your bench grinder so that they're round. Vise grips can't grab them. Mount up your lights. Then simply fill the allen heads with a little Bondo. You can pick it out easy enough if you ever want to take them off. Otherwise you could just use clay or some well chewed gum. Either way, the thieves won't be able to get an allen wrench in the hole, and thy won't think to check to see why. Oh, and if you're using a bolt and nut, put a little grease under the head of the bolt so it'll spin if the thief tries to simply turn the nut.

Or you can try these barrel nuts: CLICKY

They look like this:

You can fill in the head once it's installed just like I described above.

Or you can spend some money and get these security nuts: they're pricey, but they're amazing. Do not use lock washers. CLICKY

Keep in mind that if a crook wants em bad enough, there's nothing you can do. A battery powered Dremel and/or sawzall is standard equipment in the tool bag of too many modern day thieves. That kind of equipment can make short work of any security measures you might use.

 

[Dr. Joe]

Received my Darlas today. Anyone have an idea how much time I should plan for installation. I have electric and mech background. Tks

 

[FJRRider08]

Excellent! This is exactly what I needed to know. Who knew a step-by-step how-to could be so simple.
Pauls927, thanks for the good explanation.

Ordering soon.

I did exactly what Pauls927 said and it works great.

 

[Pauls927]

Received my Darlas today. Anyone have an idea how much time I should plan for installation. I have electric and mech background. Tks

I would say 3-4 hours should be enough, a little longer if you have FZ1 mirrors.

One area that cost me some extra time was trying to use those quick-splice connectors from the auto parts store since the Positaps supplied with the Kristas did not match the wires on the bike. Save your time and solder the bright and low beam wires to the wires in the harness coming from the light relay

Excellent! This is exactly what I needed to know. Who knew a step-by-step how-to could be so simple.
Pauls927, thanks for the good explanation.

Ordering soon.

I did exactly what Pauls927 said and it works great.

Glad it worked out for you. Did you drill the brackets or trim the bushings?

 

[El Cajone]

Just ordered a set of the Glenda lights. Great deal; they threw in the amber acrylic lens for free! Thanks for organizing this, Linc.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Received my Darlas today. Anyone have an idea how much time I should plan for installation. I have electric and mech background. Tks

I would say 3-4 hours should be enough, a little longer if you have FZ1 mirrors.

The Darlas (and the Glendas) are the little ones made to mount on the fender bolts, and come with the brackets for that spot. Mirrors aren't involved unless you choose to mount them high.

edit: I just went back and tried to count the units ordered. Failed miserably. Too many folks posting "I'm going to order these," etc. Not really able to tell who did, who's pending and so on. But it looks like a good bunch. I predict nobody will be sorry they spent the money. But the reason I decided to modify my post here is just to say if you're teetering on the edge, you're down to the last few days of this offer. Expires end of March.

 

[pjleduc]

Received my Darlas today. Anyone have an idea how much time I should plan for installation. I have electric and mech background. Tks

I would say 3-4 hours should be enough, a little longer if you have FZ1 mirrors.

The Darlas (and the Glendas) are the little ones made to mount on the fender bolts, and come with the brackets for that spot. Mirrors aren't involved unless you choose to mount them high.

edit: I just went back and tried to count the units ordered. Failed miserably. Too many folks posting "I'm going to order these," etc. Not really able to tell who did, who's pending and so on. But it looks like a good bunch. I predict nobody will be sorry they spent the money. But the reason I decided to modify my post here is just to say if you're teetering on the edge, you're down to the last few days of this offer. Expires end of March.

Well you can add me to your count. I just ordered a set of Darlas from them. Lookin forward to getting them mounted up.

 

[BLS]

Patiently awaiting my Ericas.

 

[Dr. Joe]

Has anyone seen or posted a "step by step" install video for the Glendas or Darlas? might temp my chance to do one this w-e?!

 

[BLS]

Anybody heard anything on the Ericas?

Website says 'shipping late Fall or Early Summer.....



PATENT PENDING

"Erica" NEW!

Super High Power LED Light at well over 6000 lumens of "Retina-melting power!"

New state of the art electronics and technology delivers outstanding light output at very modest power levels

A total of six LEDs are used in each of the lights. The housings are CNC machined out of aluminum right here in the USA and are hard anodized and then powder coated for corrosion protection.

Using aircraft grade, silver plated wire with Teflon insulation, these lights are made to last. Tough acrylic lens covers are easily replaceable and optional Amber lenses are available.

Erica Light Set (CANbus compliant): $849

Some applications may require an additional bracket.

Shipping late spring early summer 2013

 

[bluesdog]

Has anyone seen or posted a "step by step" install video for the Glendas or Darlas? might temp my chance to do one this w-e?!

A list of necessary tools would be helpful, also

 

[dean]

Pulled the plug on the "Darla" model. Just got off the phone with Glenn. Super nice guy to talk with!

 

[SacramentoMike]

Pulled the plug on the "Darla" model. Just got off the phone with Glenn. Super nice guy to talk with!

Sorry, can't resist. Grandpa was in such bad shape we finally pulled the plug. Guessing you pulled the trigger. :lol:

 

[Hudson]

SacMike took me over to Clearwater when I was visiting Folsom, and I got to see the various light setups as well as meet Glen and see the shop. Definitely a bunch of gear heads there, down to the office manager who has several bikes and teaches an MSF course. Glen is a total light nerd, rattling off all sorts of technical data and convincing me that he knows all the ins and outs of all things LED. It's nice to see the passion of the people behind these businesses, and its clear that glen is not finished looking for improvements.

Lightened my wallet on a pair of darlas. Super bright they are, and the small size is a plus.

 

[PhilJet09]

Did not pull the trigger this time as another opportunity to spend a lot more money in Australia presented itself. Darn priorities.

 

[garyahouse]

I discovered something today while I was fighting with my installation. The Pos-i-taps that came with my Kristas were too small to fit the wires I was attempting to tap into. If I tried to force the pos-i-tap over the wire, the end cap spread apart and would no longer thread into the housing (of the pos-i-tap). However, by running a drill through the slot of the pos-i-tap to open it up to the size of the wire, I was able to use it, and it worked just fine. The whole process took about 2 minutes.