Supplemental Lighting

[Mumford]

I'm wondering if anyone has any input on adding some extra lighting to my LS. I recently put in a PIAA 'Super White' bulb, which is an improvement, but I'd still like a bit more light out there, especially since I find myself doing a good bit of riding after dark. I'm hoping to avoid any major electrical upgrades, and the only extras I'm running at the moment are heated grips and run'n'lites. Thanks.

[Bob_Roller]

I added PIAA 40 driving lights, and I also have Luftmeister 'crash' bars and I welded brackets to the crash bars and installed the lights. If you install a set of 55 w lights, you will be running the charging system close to it's full rated output. If you do a lot of surface street riding with stop lights, you will wear your battery down fairly fast (found this out the first day I had the lights on!). But nobody can use the excuse ' I didn't see you '  not a credible defense anymore.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Yeah, Piaa 40, with their 5 1/2" diameter, would be real attention grabbers.
http://www.autoanything.com/lights/69A2146A0A0.aspx

However, I will never mount crash bars on my bike, so when I do get some additional lighting, it will probably be some of the smaller lights that mount to the fork leg, like so:
http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/DrivingLights.html

[Ed Miller]

I put a pair of Walmart 15 dollar, 55 watt H3 fog lights on my Windjammer's mounting bracket.  They really help for the dark foggy or rainy nights, and illuminate the sides of the road really well, letting me see more deer to fear.  I don't need heated grips, so the lights are not a problem as long as I don't use them in towns where I don't need them anyway.

For the prices PIAA wants for their stuff, I would be looking at the HID auxilary running or fog lights like the GS guys use.  The rich ones, that is.  

[Bob_Roller]

I got ny PIAA lights off of eBay for $80 including shipping, so if you look around and are patient, there are some deals out there. I don't know anything about any other manufacturer, but PIAA has almost an idiot proof kit that just about anyone can install. I think my PIAA 40's took all of 45 minutes to install.

[Mumford]

Thanks. . .I'm wondering, is there any benefits to mounting to the forks or the bars? I have bars (BMW) mounted, so the option is there. I'm leaning towards having the lights independently switched, mostly for the sake of my battery on the short daily commute, any input on doing this rather than having them in the headlight circuit?

[Bob_Roller]

You don't want the load or 'heavy power' coming from the head light circuit. The best I can remember, without going to the wiring diagram is ,  the head light circuit is not protected by a fuse. You need to install additional wiring directly from the battery for this . I used the unused wiring plug that is under the seat/ tank area that has the blue cap on it , for the power source that the switch that activates the relay that powers the lights themselves. Only drawback to using this, is it is only a low beam power source. If you turn the high beam on, this circuit is de-energized.

[Chris_in_BC]

Bob is correct, the headlight isn't fused. Personally I would run the lights off dedicated circuits off the battery via relays. With two 55W spots plus heated grips, you will want to be running at higher RPM's or as the others said you will be draining your battery.  The R65 with the smaller reflector is never going to have as good lighting as the larger  airheads. You can improver the stock lighting a bit by converting the stock circuit over to relays as well.
Interesting article on how to do it and reasons behind it  here.  http://www.ebbo.org/headlamp_relays.php
I converted the RS and R65 and noticed brighter headlights on both (as well as having my lights fused now).

[Justin B.]

Or, put on an RT fairing and scrounge some of those trick flip-out factory lights...

[Semper Gumby]

I put the 85 watt PIAA on a bar below my Luftmeister faring wired on a separate circuit but enabled by a highbeam relay.  I have the Omega 400 watt Alternator however as the stock 280 watt alt would just burn out and leave me stranded somewheres....

I'm pretty sure I can burn the retinas off a deer at a 1/4 mile range!  Ooooooooogh!

Ops I forgot.

I also have Kisan Flashing brake light bulb and a set of flashing Hyper Lights on the bottom of the license plate.  The turn signals have also become running lights with a Kisan Signal Minder.  I was thinking about putting the blue florescents underneath the frame but I think THAT would be overkill.

BTW - I had to replace the bulb holder for the tachometer (speedo - the LEFT one!) a week ago.  NINE bucks!!  More the useless bitching about the high price of OEM BMW parts.

[Mumford]

Thanks, I'm getting some good ideas here. Interesting tidbit about running the headlight off a relay, makes sense.  I'm wondering. . .what's the best way to test alternator performance? I'm hoping to avoid the full Omega upgrade (although heated clothing Would extend my riding season), but I'm not averse to reconditioning the stock one if it's needed.

[Bob_Roller]

I've used this method, but it is a bit crude! I have wired a digital multimeter to the battery, and then secured the multimeter to the instrument cluster area, or on top of the fuel tank with either ty-wraps or velcro. Then you can monitor what happens to your voltage in various driving conditions, with all of your electrical load on. You will find out real quick, that in anything other than high speed (55 mph or above) riding the stock charging system just doesn't produce enough power to operate high load accessories without draining your battery. I'm waiting for my  26 year old charging system to fail due to the driving light installation. I've already made up my mind, that I will install the Omega system, instead of replacing the failed original parts with OEM parts.

[Mumford]

I used the unused wiring plug that is under the seat/ tank area that has the blue cap on it

Had my tank off the other day, what IS that plug supposed to be for, anyway?

[Justin B.]

For plugging the wiring harness into for factory accessories, like the 4-Way Flasher kit...

[scottyintex]

I have an headlight, taillight on my sidecar and found it pulling the battery down; two taillights, two headlights and two running lights..........was too much.  A majority of my driving is in town and the stop and go traffic wasn’t letting it charge.  But added the LED tail light on the cycle, in the process of doing the same to the sidecar taillight and maybe the turn signals. I replaced the sidecar headlight with a LED fog light. Can’t say I recommend that...the LED fog light may help a approaching car see you but gives you damn little light. I think a flashlight would work about as well.  However, what I have done so far seems to solve the battery drain problem. I am going to replace the sidecar taillight with LED, put the 55 watt headlight back on the sidecar. If that works.............cool. But I have a hunch it will not and I will be looking at the Omega upgrade. I think I am coming around to Semper Gumby’s way of thinking.