LED Auxiliary Lights

In actual use, I find that the fob is rarely used. Typically the "be seen" or dimmed setting is where the lights are most of the time, when full power is needed, the high beam bypass that is integrated into the dimmer automatically changes the lights to full output when you flip your high beam switch.

Indeed, it's basically an adjust-once-and-forget affair. Personally I like knobs, that's why I went for a potentiometer-adjustable dimmer.

I can't say that I agree/disagree with snoopy as I don't know enough about LED lighting, but I think his opinions deserve a read....maybe a seperate thread about these lights in "equipment".We are a community of enthusiasts and this website is for us to share info, both good and bad The only reason I have come back to this thread was to let other's know I'm giving up on my lights. I had them (old style...not sure which one) fail on my 09 BMW Xcountry within a few months of installing them. I contacted Sanjoh and he gave me the option to return my lights for repair or get a discount on their "new" style. Not wanting to spend more money, I opted to have mine repaired at no charge...just shipping. All went well and the lights came back working. I decided to mount these on a different bike....a 99 Honda Magna, that does not get hammered as hard as the Xco. The first 15 mile trip to town, one light failed.:huhYou gotta be shittin' me! I'm sure Sanjoh would try to make it right. He seems like a good guy. It has nothing to do with him. I've wasted a ton of time mounting and wiring these lights as a permanent fixture on my bikes, only to have to undo it all when they fail. I'm not wanting to go down that road again, and will pony up the real money for some real lights.

I hope I haven't shit on anyone. That is not my intent. My customer service expierience with Sanjoh was just fine.I really loved the lights when they worked. I just wish it was a more reliable product....and maybe the new lights are, but at this point I'm afraid to take the chance.

any thoughts about closing this thread and opening a new one? The lights have changed quite a bit since the original post. Might make sense to start over with a new post only listing the current specs.

I bought a set of lights a year ago-(10 and a 24).They worked great until recently when 1 bulb quit working,then the other light quit completely.Called sanjoh and he said to box them up and send them to him.Got a p.m. yesterday that they fixed the 24 and are sending me a new 30 to replace the 10.So Thanks go out to Sanjoh and Dave.Good service means a lot these days.Ed

I totally agree.

I looked at the prices at clearwater lights. You've got to be kidding me! The "cheap" set is $500, and the better set is $650! Except that I have better things to do with my money (like light cigars, if I smoked), I'd buy a set and open them up to see the differences. Even if there are differences, they can't be enough to warrant that kind of difference in price.

They won't even publish the lumens their lights put out. And a picture of the beam pattern would be nice, like what I find at ADVMonster...but the folks at clearwater lights don't have good pictures.

I looked at the Denali lights when a friend swore by his. But then I noticed they only put out 900 lumens. That's about half of what the Model 30 puts out...and those are $300 a set.

I opened up my Model 30 lights when I first got them and did notice the lack of thermal grease. Since I used to build computers, I had some thermal grease left over and added some. Maybe that has helped? In any case, I don't feel a lot of heat coming from them.

I needed aux lights with a tight focused beam that I could use in traffic to extend the light just beyond where the low-beams quit. I bought two of the Model 30 lights in June. Since then, I've put on about 6000 miles and they have worked great. I love them. They might not be perfect, and they may only last a year or two. I can live with that, for this price. At even a failure every year, it would take me 10 years to equal the price of the clearwater lights. The brackets are holding up fine too, so far. The roads in Seattle are not smooth and the whole front of the bike vibrates a lot when just going down I-5.

And where does "snoopy" get this stuff about the lights being designed to operate only in a fish tank? (Me thinks snoopy has been drinkin' too much Guinness.)

Chris

Can agree for the price it's a good deal if they even last a year,$650 for lights thats why I went with Advmonster and his dimmer good products. Snoop needs to ask Lucy about manners.

I for one am interested in what snoopy has to say. I've been keeping an eye on this thread for a long time, since there was another thread showing where to get these lights cheaper.

I'd like a reliable light at a good price and won't pay $500 for a pair but I don't want a Trail tech redux either.

I dont have a problem with anyone who has bought these lights sharing a negative opinion about the product, the vendor, or their experience. That is the point of this thread BUT

when you haven't bought these lights and seemingly refuse to purchase

I wonder what his purpose is, and by his own admission he has purchased a DIFFERENT sellers product

because of this I dont feel that he has any place to comment about a product he has NO personal experience with. As soon as he send ADVmonster $100 or $200 for his own light(s) and either puts them in use or takes them apart to his heart's delight; his comments would then have some validity and would therefore be welcomed.

But hey what do I know

Hehehe... I ride year-round...

I installed a model-30 spot beam LED lamp into the low-beam position on my sidecar earlier this year.




As you can see, the lamp is well recessed inside a molded well in the fiberglass body of the sidecar.
I was a bit concerned that this might lead to overheating problems and an early failure of the lamp; but so far it seems to be doing fine after some all-day summertime trips in the heat.
It has also survived some heavy rain storms with no water getting in or fogging.

I did fabricate my own mounting bracket for the lamp to get it to mount properly in the nose of the sidecar as shown versus the PIAA 55-watt halogen lamp that it replaced.


The below shots show the sidecar rig parked about 35-feet from a garage door with (1) just the Model-30 spot lamp, (2) LED + low beam, (3) LED + High beams. {Camera was set to manual exposure and left the same for all shots to get good comparitive lighting effect. (Canon SX100, ISO-200, 1/15sec @ f2.8)}




I will let you know how well it handles snow and icing conditions in a few weeks when it starts getting a bit colder in these parts...

Whether or not these cheaper lights are exactly the same, should be proved by disassembly. For example, they might look identical but contain inferior electronics (e.g. without overheat protection).

I'm all for critical thinking, but indeed one has to have these particular lights to provide any authoritative feedback on them.

Sometimes I read a review about a product that goes something like this "Product is so expensive I bought a copy at halft the price. It gave me all kinds of problems - so this product is shit". Complete bullshit...

Well, I guess I'll chime in with my 2 cents, I've read every post twice so I'm entitled.

Snoopy has had his say and there isn't anything more he can add that isn't just obnoxious. So Snoopy, please find another thread to shit on or risk the wrath of the mods. Fair warning.

This product is clearly a work in progress. Two things stand out: the lights in development have had their problems and the customer service has been excellent. I was really impressed by the fellow who took a set apart and reviewed them; I wish more people would test products and offfer helpful feedback.

Yes, there are a few other LED lights out there. I put Denalis on my GF's bike last year (made by VisionX and rebranded, I am told), Clearwaters, and some others. All are a lot more expensive (and a perfectly fine product I might add). Funny that the famous makers like PIAA, Hella, and so on haven't kept pace. But that's why these guys are filling a niche.

I know very little about the technical aspects of electrical products, but I am a user and know what works for me. Reliability is at the top of the list so I encourage the vendors to keep working on improving the lights to be bulletproof. I suspect everyone but Snoopy would agree with me on that. Some other things I've noticed. There is no harness offered. Canbus bikes need some special attention and lots of people on this site are BMW owners. I found a harness with switch on ebay but would rather have bought it all here. The switch offered here is a Clearwater product and requires a placement that puts a hole in the bike which I don't want. You can offer one of your own and I hope you develop one. I really like the handlbar switch offered on Cyclenutz that looks like an OEM product - which it is for Yamaha. But it only fits 7/8" bars - beats me why. I also appreciate the photos of the pattern - clever to use a pool (but a little strange to me being in Alaska, since in the past 30 years I've never seen a swimming pool here). How about a fuse block? I had a hassle buying an AP-2 and harness, but they aren't that complicated to make or improve upon, I would imagine.

So I purchased the 30's in a spot pattern. I was looking for a flood, which isn't offered, because all I want them for is to be seen. The only time it's dark where I live is when the roads are covered with ice and snow. In the summer we have light almost through the entire night, and it never really gets dark, dark. In the end I thought the spot will serve me well so I'm in.

One last observation. The LEDs are quickly getting to the point of replacing headlights due to developments in brightness, but they are right now widely being used for a variety of uses - headlights, conspicuity, and observing wildlife in the ditches - but sometimes in competition with the OEM lights. For that reason, some folks are placing their lights in a variety of places - high for the angle for this or that and so on. LEDs have reached the brightness where we need to be sure they don't wash out the signals. Everyone loves the brightness and some folks are getting carried away where they are not making sufficient separation from their signals. Be careful, be safe!

I have two bikes set up with the 24 watt floods on the skinny mounts , couldn't be more pleased .

I have them mounted close to the top triple and I think this is a really stable place for them .

Not one problem with mounts or lights .

These are both dirt bikes and I ride mostly single track so they have been well tested .

No cooling problems with the lights in that environment.

I´m on the border of Ecuador and Peru. I rode here from Seattle. My friend Tom is in Chile, he too rode from Seattle.

Tom has two of the 10watt lights on his bike. They are both still working and he has ridden over 17k miles. His mounts started to crack, and are now reinforced with steel putty. New heavy duty mounts when he gets home if he brings the lights with him.

I have a 30watt and a 40watt light. Both are still working. Both mounts started to crack and have been reinforced with J-B weld. I crashed HARD 3 times. Each time the lights were fine. They are bolted through my Highway Dirt Bike hand guards, very close to my headlamp shroud.

On my last crash, my left light had it´s lens cracked. It sat, pointing up to the sky, for 4 weeks. When I was able to get it from the police (after the accident), it was full of water. I let it dry for 24 hours, and replaced the lense with 3 layers of clear plastic bag. 1k miles later, it´s ok.

Both of us ride DR650´s, a 2007 and 2008.

I like this lights, and my Dr650 at home has 2 24watt lights as well. Going to put them on my BMW K75 when I get home.

--Alex

Great torture test ... thanks for the info and good luck on the rest of the ride.