welshwan Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 Finally had enough of the appalling headlight on the xt125, i firstly considered getting a more powerful bulb but after seeing the hassle Grouch and j0hn had with them i thought it wasn't worth bothering with so just accepted i would have to put up with not being able to see very much of the unlit streets and just go slower to be safe. After a long time of this i again decided something must be done. Firstly i considered an after market enduro type universal front fairing with integrated headlights but who way to say these would be any brighter, and you just know they are going to be a bitch to fit and mount securely- so thought id give that a miss. Then it hit me- SPOTLIGHTS! . I had a look on ebay and discovered a fair few, plenty of different designs, sizes and mounting brackets. The first ones i thought i would get were a twin halogen spotlight (both stuck together) but i was afraid this would use too much of the bikes electric, and cause undesirable consequences + after measuring, it would have been a bit big and looked very odd, not of course to say the ones i did eventually choose don't look odd. So i found a mini LED spotlight with 3 bulbs in it apparently kicking out about 1200 lumen, looked at the measurements and it was only about 3 inches long and 2 in diameter- sounds good to me. Uses 15Watt and i have not noticed any difference in the bikes performance, doesn't seam any slower and all he indicators seam just as bright at they were . After an hour or two fucking about with drills, stress and lots of wires, i got it on and plugged in (only one spotlight as i wanted to see if its any good first), and fuck me i could see that it was lighting up the gardens wall slightly in the day (never had this with the headlight, even on main beam). So all up and running i went for a little ride about town as it got a bit darker and once there wasn't any other vehicles about to blind i put it on and could see it was lighting up the walls of the well light streets, success. i was going to go out tonight to fully test it on unlit roads but i'm not sure if i can be assed with this funny sideways rain! who knows maybe a bit later - we shall see. Another good thing about these is that unlike the headlight you can adjust where the light beam is aiming, making them in my opinion ideal for damn near everything, from when you need to see further away or when u need to see whats just in front of you bike. When i eventually brave it outside i will get some pics of the light light on the bike, i don't think it looks bad to be honest i quite like it, will defiantly look a lot better with one on the other side too. At the end of the day it's there for it's function not it's styling- looking cool is just a bonus lol
welshwan Posted March 22, 2013 Author Posted March 22, 2013 got this pic for now: will get pic of it on and the switch for it when it's not pissing it down.
bennyboy1 Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.. what you need now is one for the other side giving you 3 lights and also look symetrical or disconnect the high beam wire from headlight and wire into the 2 new lamps and use them as high beam ??
welshwan Posted March 22, 2013 Author Posted March 22, 2013 yes certainly need one for the other side gonna order one within the next week or so^. i'll get a pic up when i eventually get round to it! cheers bennyboy oh and as far as how to do switches i thought about using it as the high beam but in all honestly these things fucking dazzle if you look right into them even from abit of a distance, so decided that i would have them on an independent switch so that there is no chance of me putting them on accidentally or whatever as the switch for them is more towards the middle of the handle bar (enough to know what light your gonna turn on) just went out now to help my uncle tend to the lambs (its that time of year) and it was plenty bright enough to go around some pitch black fields in the middle of nowhere, in all honesty this one on its own is brighter then the high beams on the headlights and would easily suffice on its own, but like you said symmetrical is better and also with two i can imagine these lights lighting up the whole of a single track road (both sides, far ahead and immediately in front of me) . gonna be awesome. These lights are crazy good ...maybe on par with a cars headlight? one of the best mods i have made on the bike, along with the rear brake reservoir protector! ALL GOOD
Grouch Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 Looks good and when you have the other they will look like it should be there. You need to get rid of the black hand guards and get blue like mine lol. Post the link for the lights : )
finnerz89 Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 That looks pretty sweet! +1 on Grouch's request for a link, wouldn't mind them on the DT! Did you mount it on the bars or triple clamp or what?
welshwan Posted March 22, 2013 Author Posted March 22, 2013 Funny you should mention the hand guards as i have a pair of carbon looking ones here ready to mount, however one end of them fits into the end of the handle bar and my bars ever so slightly to narrow (maybe a millimeter) so will drill it out over the next week or so and put them on, actually that's why there are not both quite facing the same way, i took them off for the new ones and then realized i needed to drill...so popped back on. The one i had was item number : 360598036094 on ebay, but when i'm not signed in it says sold out? Had a quick look and found this one in hong kong: http://www.ebay.co.uk Now that you know what one it is, you might be able to find one at a better price? as the postage alone on that one is £12 The light had a 'L' bracket so i drilled a small hole in the fairing just above the indicator, i will get some more pis up when the weather calms down abit. There was a handle bar mounted one on there when i bought this one, but i looked at the bike and realized that handle bar ones would just light up the inside of the hand guards and the speedo lol
finnerz89 Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 Ahh I see, I saw the bar mounted ones but they're for 25mm bars mine are only 22! Might investigate some that I could mount lower down, as some mornings I really need something to penetrate the fog!
Grouch Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 Might have to buy some, I bet they're illegal though lol
finnerz89 Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 Going back to the headlight bulb you mentioned, I put a osram night breaker in mine, no problems what so ever! Guess it varies bike to bike
finnerz89 Posted March 22, 2013 Posted March 22, 2013 Might have to buy some, I bet they're illegal though lol I was thinking that!
welshwan Posted March 22, 2013 Author Posted March 22, 2013 Almost certainly! lol....... part of the reason i put on separate switch, and if anyone asks i only use them when on the fields. Ahhh sounds like you were lucky with the bulb or the ebay one is shite, might have saved me a few bucks...ahh fuck it, bikes looks like it's getting prepped for the Dakar or something.... , fucking L plate.... soon it will be gone, SOON! 1
finnerz89 Posted March 23, 2013 Posted March 23, 2013 Haha I'm definitely considering the spotlights! Imagine turning up to the Dakar on a 125! Gonna look into mounting them on fairing as well, although I've only just replaced it so don't really fancy drilling holes in it! Can't wait to be rid of mine, fucking thing flaps around all the time lol
j0hn Posted March 23, 2013 Posted March 23, 2013 That looks badass! Two on either side is going to look amazing lol. Is it still legal if you put them on a separate switch?
finnerz89 Posted March 23, 2013 Posted March 23, 2013 I wouldn't have thought so, you see plenty of cars with extra spotlights etc. Especially 4x4's. And I've seen plenty of touring bikes with spots on as well. Even if they are is it worth the plod stopping you? As long as they not directed straight at oncoming traffic I can't see a problem
Moderator Cynic Posted March 23, 2013 Moderator Posted March 23, 2013 No they become work or auxilliary lighting. Then all it has to do is be properly fitted and not affect the normal opperation of the vehicle.
Grouch Posted March 23, 2013 Posted March 23, 2013 I suppose with the summer on the horizon spotlights won't be needed with light nights and mornings. Still want some though.
finnerz89 Posted March 23, 2013 Posted March 23, 2013 Well they'll always be handy for blinding wankers with 4 wheels 1
Moderator Cynic Posted March 24, 2013 Moderator Posted March 24, 2013 I suppose with the summer on the horizon. Where africa. As i write this there is 3 inches of snow on the ground with more coming down.... Yuk....
kenDAWG Posted March 24, 2013 Posted March 24, 2013 I'm looking into getting something like this for when I'm out at night, I live in Northumberland and surrounded by country roads with "passing places" and no lighting etc so could be a god send to me!!! Ken
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