Light 'Em Up

I went with the L.E.D. Denalis from Twisted Throttle. I found two very ridgid fairing mount bosses on a subframe under the headlight. Went to the hardware store and got me some long stainless bolts and several washers to use as spacers. It almost looks factory, unfortunately I dont spend enough time on computer to learn how to add a picture. The lights by the way are very bright. Light up signs a quarter mile up the road in bright daylight. May not be able to use this location with high fender mount.

I have high and low HID with the Euro conversion and while I originally thought that was impressive, when I installed the D2 driving lights a few weeks ago I was blown away. Literally turns night into day!

The HID's are incredible, and far more an upgrade than just a Euro headlight alone. I have a 2011 Dakar and put the Euro Headlamp and HID's in both lo and high beam from BDCW. If I had to do it over, I'd skip the highbeam HID for two reasons: 1) Warm-up time, 2) That second ballast box is hard to find room for.

It's very easy to do a work-around on the starting issue. The HID's don't want to fire on start-up. What happens on the bike is when you turn the key on the stock headlight (and the HID) will come on instantly, then as you move the key through the arc to start the bike, the headlight momentarily goes out - the bike starts - and with the stock light it comes right back on, but with the HID it doesn't. That momentary lag in the key / start sequence confuses the ballast and the end result is your HID Headlamp won't be on when the bike is running.

Many of the guys here buy the Euro Light Switch for the handlebars (about $ 80 from KTMtwins.com or similar) and that lets you turn the HID lamp off prior to the start. What I did was go cheap n' cheerful, and for a $ 3 12v switch from Advance auto, simply drilled a small home on the right side of the dash and ran that waterproof toggle switch from the dash the HID Ground. All you are doing is interrupting the ground via the switch. Flip the toggle OFF when starting the bike, and then flip it on after start. You've just made a conventional headlight switch like the old days instead or relying on the bike to fire the headlamp for you automatically. Works well, and easy to do.

Duane

+1 I have that same setup. Amazing how bright the D2's are. Almost too bright, actually. You can't even use them when other vehicles are oncoming or even as daylight running lights. They burn retinas for oncoming traffic.

You could add the switch, but then you have to remember to shut it off before you turn the key, and remember to turn it back on when you're up and running. Pain in the rear if you ask me, that's why I wired a 528T pulse timer relay into both my bikes. When I turn the key it starts the timer (adjustable up to 90 seconds, mines set around 30), then after its up and running nicely the timer clicks the built in relay on and powers up the light.

That pulse timer is pretty trick. I'd have used that if I known it was available. Where did you source it?

I called my local car audio/alarm shops; they'd heard of it but didn't have one. I ended up just goggling it and buying it some random place online. It took a good bit of trial and error to get the wiring right (both times) but I eventually got it.

Good suggestion!

ktm950se

I have the Euro headlight & handlebar switch and a DDM Tuning 55w 5000k H7 HID in the low beam- incredible! I have a 55w 5000K H3 HID for the high beam and it really makes a difference. The Euro switch allows you to start the bike w/o interrupting the start-up of the HIDs, once the bike is running I turn them on. Considering they are now $22.50 each (cheaper if you buy dual kits) they cost less than the halogen bulb replacements on my pickup truck...

You can mount your ballasts anywhere, the length of wire used isn't going to effect anything. I mounted mine to the sides of the headlight bracket, no space issues.

I added these Hella FF75's under the nose for 'ditch" lights- 55w each of H3 halogen fun- I can see all the critters and during the day nobody is gonna pull out in front of me!



I have the high fender & tall (full) SW-Motech crashbars installed- no clearance issues.

I modded the Euro switch wiring so the parking & headlights come out at the "park" switch position, then the Hellas come on when I push the switch to the "headlight" position, thus alleviating the need for extra switches, and I don't have totake my hands off the bars to turn them off for oncoming traffic at night. Of course they run off a relay from the battery- don't mess with the ACC1 or ACC2 leads as the wires' gauge is too small for lights, heated clothing/etc

I'm really liking those Rigid D2s. Pricey for sure, but thats ok as long as they do what I need.
I've got a ride planned for November--LA-to-Barstow-to-Vegas which will involve some desert night riding.
What is your guys opinion:
1) How do the D2s compare to the standard LEDs? Specifically, the Dually vs D2?
2) Is it worth the extra cost?

Thx

I don't have the standard lamp to compare to, but the D2's are bright as I could ever ask a bike lamp to be (in tandem). They have zero warm-up time compared to HID's (which I have in the headlight). I think they will do the job for you in night riding.

Duane

Thanks Duane
Few more questions if you don't mind.
How did you wire the lights in?
I see on BDCW site they offer three versions of the D2: Driving, Flood, and Combination of Driving/Flood. Not sure what this means?

Thanks

Hi Guys. I'm resurrecting this thread in hopes that there is some more collective experience now with these Rigid lights.

I need to do something about the horrible lighting on my 05.5 950 Adv. I have the stock U.S. Headlight and bulbs. Was considering the Euro upgrade with HID but I've been reading a lot about the Rigids and think that is the way to go.

I have a few questions that don't seem to be fully answered in this thread:

* Does anyone have any experience between the D2's and the Dually's? If money is not an option the D2's seem like the way to go, but I am curious about the Dually's since they're about half the price.

* Can an inline switch be wired so that the Rigid's don't have to be on at the same time as the stock lights? If so, are there recommendations on a handlebar mounted aftermarket switch (I understand there is a Euro switch that some have used that provides the option of turning it off separately?)?

* Where is the best place to tie into power? It seems the easiest would be to one of the ACC fues in the glove box, but someone said these aren't designed to manage the load of the headlights? At only 15W a piece, is that really the case?

* If you don't wire to the ACC plug...what considerations need to taken into account to wire from the battery? Are there other circuits that are "switched" with the ignition so you don't mistakenly leave the lights on and drain the battery when the bike is off?

Sorry for all the questions, but just want do this right :)

I had similar starting problems. I never start the engine with lights on. When the starting procedure has finished, the HID lights up nicely. When I had problems, tried to find a better place to mount the ballast. Didn't accomplish much, but when I put the covers on the bike, the lights work perfectly. It seems moving them slightly, can make a difference. They also need to keep away from the ECU.

Cheers.

Good Luck!!!

Sure, use a PIAA fog/driving lamp switch/relay/harness. They're excellent and have the relay built in, and the switch is waterproof. Buy one on EBAY or I think Black Dog Cycle Works sells the harness/switch. I used a bicycle rear reflector downtube mount for my mounting bracket for the PIAA switch next to the left handlebar so I could 'thumb it' easily.

Run the LED'S to the battery and tie off to the crash bars. You want battery direct to actually push the lights themselves. (power will actually go to the relay, and the relay will forward to the lights themselves)

Power to the relay off a switched hot leads at the ACC plug under the headlight.

I took some detail wiring shots of the routing. Because the crash bars have to come off for oil changes, I located them so that the quick disconnects of the Rigid lights allow everything to stay intact with cutting just one zip tip each time the bars have to come off. You can see the details in the photos, highlighted in green.

These are not hard to install, using the PIAA wiring harness makes it much quicker and easier.

Wire routing 1

Wire Route 2

Wire Route 3

Great pictures. Thanks for taking the time to post the detail. This will prove very helpful for myself, but I'm sure many others. I've not yet purchased the lights, but when I do, I'll probably come back to this thread for a few questions and post pictures of my experience that will hopefully be helpful to others.

The only part I'm still a little confused about is the "relay". If the lights are being powered directly from the battery, how does the switch work? That's probably a stupid question, but with my basic electrical knowledge I thought the switch had to be "inline" between the power source and the light?