Too Cheap for Clearwaters

[russperry]

So I missed last year's group buy from Clearwater, but I'm planning on a big trip to Wyoming and Montana in a couple of months so I spent some time lurking on the lighting threads and came up with the following plan:

1) 2 x 3200lm lights from Alex (realtimeindustries) - Linky

2) 1 set of mounting brackets from Garauld (very nice)

3) 1 dimmer/relay from ADVmonster - Linky

Install followed the usual procedure:

1) Tied dimmer/relay into FuzeBlock under the seat

2) Hot+Ground+trigger wires run up the left side

3) Trigger tied into high beam switch at the headlight relay, power split into two for connection with left and right lamps

Result - awesome lighting power!! Totally lit up my entire street last night - I can see now what people are saying about blinding oncoming traffic.

I think I like the dimmer on the ADVmonster kit - its a remote that can clip to your key chain or anywhere else and its got higher/lower/off buttons. Maybe one day when I lose it I'll wish that the dimmer was attached to the dash but for now its fine.

The LED lights themselves feel solid - wires from the back of the lamps feel solidly connected - minor complaint is that the wires are aluminum and very light gauge. Since there's only 2.4A per lamp maybe that's OK, but it would be nice if there was a little more meat. Also the brackets are not nearly as solid and well-finished as the Clearwaters but at only $100 each they still seem a good deal.

All in all I'm pretty happy with the result, and I got the whole thing done in about 1 solid day of work so it wasn't too painful.

 

[TomInPA]

Russ, I think you'll really like the extra light, and it sounds like you did it right for a non-Clearwater solution. I find I set the lights at 20% and just leave them there. They come up to full power with the high beam and horn. What will really surprise you is the reaction of other drivers on the road as they will actually see you coming up from behind and make room, and of course the car that doesn't pull out of the shopping center in front of you.

Night driving is a whole different proposition. Enjoy.

BTW this thread is worthless without pics.

 

[russperry]

Russ, I think you'll really like the extra light, and it sounds like you did it right for a non-Clearwater solution. I find I set the lights at 20% and just leave them there. They come up to full power with the high beam and horn. What will really surprise you is the reaction of other drivers on the road as they will actually see you coming up from behind and make room, and of course the car that doesn't pull out of the shopping center in front of you.

Night driving is a whole different proposition. Enjoy.

BTW this thread is worthless without pics.

I was so excited in making progress without having Brodie do all the work that I just steamed right through the whole thing without taking any pictures. I guess I can post a couple of "after" shots including the light patterns - that will be my project tonight.

Thanks for the inspiration BTW - I should have joined in your group buy last year but this made me branch out a little bit and I think that it turned out pretty good. But it will take a lengthy road trip to be certain that I saved a few bucks without sacrificing reliability.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Nice looking lights and an alternative for us cheap frugal bastards!

Looking forward to seeing some pics Russ.

--G

 

[someguy]

sounds good. i'm poor so this is interesting.

need pics.

 

[RiderX]

I got the same exact setup. When I go hi-beam in forest it is fabulous to say the least. I can post some pics tomorrow as well.

 

[russperry]

After a few days of procrastination here are the results. Based on how bright the immediate front of the bike is, I'm thinking that I should angle the LEDs up a little bit. I think I'm going to turn down the LEDs in regular driving mode as well. But in any case the change is dramatic as many others have notes previously....

There are 2 series of photos. In each they are (1) low beam only, (2) low beam + ~20% LED, and (3) high beam + full LED. I was thinking about getting the high-beam only shots for comparison but didn't want to get under the seat and disconnect the trigger wire (too lazy - sorry).

 

[TomInPA]

Looks like you had the desired results. I like it. :clapping: