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Message started by firetruckredbike on 09/16/08 at 10:16:09

Title: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by firetruckredbike on 09/16/08 at 10:16:09

Greetings all. When I see other motorcycles approaching, the ones with three headlights (two smaller ones around the big center one) are much more visible than just one headligh. I also like that look.

Has anyone installed additional lights around their stock Savage / S40 headlight, and if so, what kind / which supplier?

I suspect this topic has been discussed before but when I searched under "headlight" or "light bar," I didn't get anywhere. Thanks in advance.

Ride safe,
Amy

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by thumperclone on 09/16/08 at 15:12:24

got three white lights on my front.,.
changed the stock h4 headlight bulb to a higher kelvin type
mounted two mr11 sized spots to the forks w/P clamps and changed the 20watt halogen bulbs to a white mr11 led array(hint of blue)..
im all for more "noticability",cagers tend to doze or text message while ........

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by EssForty on 09/16/08 at 15:21:46

Thumperclone:

Any pics you can post?

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by flcruzr on 09/16/08 at 17:55:02

I added a pair of driving lights to my s40, I ordered them from JCWhitney, optronics 50 watts, look very cool, chrome housing and are nice and bright.
I dont have a close up but you can see the lights right under the turn signals.

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm61/flcruzr/Picture010.jpg

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by firetruckredbike on 09/16/08 at 18:55:53

Thanks a lot - those are both good approaches! Flcruzr - that does indeed look very cool. Thumperclone, I'd love to see your version also.

Very helpful, thanks again.
Amy

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by verslagen1 on 09/16/08 at 20:15:58

Hey FL, are those the one you can get at walley's world? ($20 or $30)

Didn't someone say the bezel can fall off and you need to secure them better?

Another suggestion from the BMW riders...

http://www.ibmwr.org/otech/auxlights.html

There are some lights at home d'pot. But at $10 each I'd rather go to walley world.

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by firetruckredbike on 09/17/08 at 02:54:28

Verslagen - thanks! Interesting!
I'm not too good with the welding, but at that price, I think our mechanic could be brought into service. ;)

Thanks again and ride safe,
Amy

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by Kirk on 09/17/08 at 08:01:14

Im soooo glad to see this topic because I almost got side swipped not once not twice but three times the other day by morons not checking their side mirrors. I wanted to mount the additional lights to my forks as well. Nice mod Flucruzr hey Firetruck let me know how it works out for you buddy. I will be right behind you getting mine done very soon. If I can get sometime I may do this mod this weekend. I will post to your thread if I do. Ride Safe everyone

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by flcruzr on 09/17/08 at 11:31:07

687B6C6D727F797B702F1E0 wrote:

They may be, I went to a Walmart recently that is in another town and they had the same lights but different box display.
I did read someone elses post that the housing fell off but mine seem fine, i've had them on for two weeks and no problems, they do get really hot but that's about it.

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by flcruzr on 09/17/08 at 11:33:59

4F4456454319210 wrote:

Im soooo glad to see this topic because I almost got side swipped not once not twice but three times the other day by morons not checking their side mirrors. I wanted to mount the additional lights to my forks as well. Nice mod Flucruzr hey Firetruck let me know how it works out for you buddy. I will be right behind you getting mine done very soon. If I can get sometime I may do this mod this weekend. I will post to your thread if I do. Ride Safe everyone

Thanks, I'm happy with the look, I went to home depot and bought two clamps and found that this was the best place to install them on the bike, plus no worries with running too much wires through the bike.

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by Bear_Rider on 09/17/08 at 11:45:07

I'm concerned about one thing here. These lights add 100 to 110 watts to the electrical load. Is the Savage's system able to handle this load? Even if it is within the max rating, is the load so high that it risks premature failure of components?

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by firetruckredbike on 09/17/08 at 13:07:40

Kirk, I will let you know what I end up doing here, promise! And you be careful my friend - that side swiping is no joke, very scary stuff. They just don't see us, do they? I am revving my engine so people will at least hear me...especially when they are on their cell phones or putting on MAKEUP in the car.... :o

Bear Rider brings up a very good point about the amp draw. Somebody told me to forget heated gloves / vest for this very reason...so I would think the lights require still more power than those items.

Somebody help us out here - what about the electrical requirements?

Thanks everybody and ride safe,
Amy

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by verslagen1 on 09/17/08 at 14:16:19

If they're 50 watts each, you may have problems.

35 watts each you should be ok.

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by flcruzr on 09/17/08 at 19:38:50

4D5E4948575A5C5E550A3B0 wrote:

If they're 50 watts each, you may have problems.

35 watts each you should be ok.

Well, this has me thinking? The packaging says 50 watts but not sure if it means combined or each? Hmmm! :-?

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by verslagen1 on 09/17/08 at 19:42:07

Yeah I know what you mean, I think it's combined.

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by Bear_Rider on 09/17/08 at 22:41:47

If you are concerned about the load, you might try these halogen/xenon lamps.
http://www.1000bulbs.com/Halogen-Xenon-Gas-Mix/

I know a fellow who put a pair of 15? watters on a Honda Rebel. He said they were quite bright. These come in wattage rating from 20 to 50 watts each and have a service rating of 5000 hours (almost two years of eight hour days).

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by jtsun on 09/17/08 at 22:48:15

I got two 5" H3 chrome lights from harbor freight item# 47394-5VGA. Each cost about $11, I mounted it using angle stock that's 1-1/4" wide and some u-bolts. I switched my main headlight with 6000k H4 HID bulb and wired up the two side lights to the high beam. I wired up the two side lights together and used a spade connector so that I can plug it into the stock headlight harness. Because I attached the lights sideways (90 degrees to the fork tubes) the beam projected vertically instead of horizontal. Solved that problem by unscrewing the two clamps that hold the lens in place and rotated it 90 degrees to get the beam correct.

As for the power draw, each light is rated at 55w each. I was also concerned about the wiring and power consumption, but after about a 12hr road trip it seemed to hold up fine with out any problems. Had it on the whole trip minus the time at the rest stop, eating, and the night ride when I used my main HID headlight which was much brighter than the two halogens.

I hope you find something that works for you.

I'll get pictures up in my next post, its my first post and they wont let me post pics yet.

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by jtsun on 09/17/08 at 22:54:43

Here is some pictures of the lights

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq21/jas329/lightbar.jpg

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq21/jas329/lightbar2.jpg

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq21/jas329/lightbardetail.jpg
Above is a close up of the angle bar with the u-bolt, I cut a strip off a sheet of rubber gasket material to stop the metal from rubbing.

I was in a rush to get it done for the trip so it still needs some work but its holding up and the light is stable with no shifting.

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by mpescatori on 09/18/08 at 01:21:07

Hey, JTSUN, that's a rellay neat setup you have there ! :)

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by firetruckredbike on 09/18/08 at 03:00:32

And this is why this is such a great site. Fantastic help, thanks everybody.

Bear Rider - thanks for the halogen suggestion - may be able to do smaller lights with equivalent brightness that way...good idea.

And JTSUN - that is the ticket. Great job, great look. Your mechanical ability is way above mine but your detailed explanation and photos will help me out. Thanks so much.

Three lights make such a bigger impression to oncoming traffic - this is a big safety improvement.

Thanks again and ride safe everyone,
Amy

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by EssForty on 09/18/08 at 03:51:33

110 watts is going to draw almost 8-9 amps. That's really pushing it for a new battery and could be a killer on an older battery that has a dead cell. If you're on a long road trip with open road cruising at 3000 plus rpm's you'll generate enough power to keep the battery charged. But if you were in city traffic with lots of idling at lights you'd run the risk of draining it down.

I have a voltage gauge on my bike and so I can watch it closely. The voltage dips to a neutral point at idle and pops back up to fully charging at highway speed. Ironically, it is in city traffic with lots of cagers making lefts in front of you that the extra light would be most helpful, but will also drain power at each stop.

So the bike is engineered well for the planned load, but Suzuki would not have planned for much more than the stock power draw configuration or it would drive up costs for the battery and possibly for heavier gauge wiring.

One other thing... one of the real benefits of light bars is not the actual candlepower of light output. It is the optical effect of the spread of the lights and how the human eye can better detect speed. A cager sees three lights moving, and has 3 reference points to say "hey, that guys is moving pretty fast I better not make this turn now". So smaller, lower wattage lights spread out are better than one big cyclops light in the center or a cluster of three big lights.

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by firetruckredbike on 09/18/08 at 06:22:10

Thanks, Ess. That's good information. So I have a bit to think about now.

I ride 62 miles round trip every day to work, and most of that is country roads, but toward the city there is about half an hour of some stop and go. That might drive the battery to the limit - but that's exactly when I would need the extra lights/reference points for the cagers. *decisions, decisions*

OK much food for thought, thanks again all.
Ride safe,
Amy

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by bill67 on 09/18/08 at 06:57:42

You don't have to leave those lights on all the time.

Title: Re: Three headlights / light bar?
Post by jtsun on 09/18/08 at 22:28:26

essforty - you're right, drawing that many amps is something to think about.

I added the extra lights as a safety feature so that I would stand out to other drivers and get noticed, sort of like having daytime running lights. At night I ride with the main headlight, which is much brighter with the HID bulb installed.

I plan on getting lower wattage bulbs to replace the H3 bulbs currently in the lights, I was thinking some 12v 20watt halogen bulbs. It should take care of the amp draw issue, but I end up sacrificing lumen output, about 1/3 output for each light. I'll see how it turns out once I get the bulbs.