New Baja Designs Squadron LED Motorcycle Light

[Baja Trent]

Originally Posted by SuperBonBon

Trent and/or Diego,

+1 to what these guys said.

Is it possible to run 2 LED's at a time? If so, I could run 2 with a shield over them to make a passable street-use low beam (wired to low on the headlight switch), and then the other 2 (or all 4 of them together) as high beam. Going with this 2 + 2 setup would only use 22 watts at a time, and even with half of the light shown in Post #40 it would be as good or better than any halogen on the market. With a 2 light low, 4 beam high setup it would be as good or better than almost any 35watt HID on the market, with the ability to switch between high and low instantly and having none of the "hassles" of HID.

Best of all it's only 22 watts for the 2 + 2 setup. For us guys who are very short on stator power, that's a dream come true. I'd drop $350 on that setup in a heartbeat!

It won't be possible to run two LED's at a time. We are however working on a dimmer switch for the Squadron motorcycle light. That way customers who are installing this on a street legal bike can adjust the brightness for on coming traffic.

[rs42sport]

On your website it shows 1 spot and 1 driving is there a difference between the two?? Any pics of the road lit up between them??? thanks

[Sparrowhawk]

BD, this is just a suggestion for marketing purposes. Focus a little more attention on your website. From what I can tell, this is a killer light. I probably want one but as you have read in this thread, folks like me need more information on the beam pattern and light comparisons to other top-shelf lights (Clearwater, Rigid Industries, Vision X, Denali, etc.).

Just like everybody else, your web marketing says your product is wonderful. Clearwater says their light is wonderful. Rigid says their light is wonderful. Vision X says their light is wonderful, ADV Monster says their light is wonderful. We need useful information to choose between all the options out there and nobody provides it. What are the real differences between all the different beam patterns offered?

Be a leader. Show us why we would plunk our cash down on BD equipment. Show us how it is better where it counts; on the seat of a motorcycle, at speed, at night. Lumens is just a value of what is possible based on the LED used. Informed buyers know it is not a good way to choose between different lights. If the optics are crap very little light ends up where you want it. Photos are worthless without similar shots of other lights at the exact same settings. I can make a candle look impressive with long exposure settings.

You are not alone. You have real competition from other vendors. We want useable data for comparisons to make choices. Spend a couple of nights out on a trail with a bunch of your products (dual sport kit, Soltek, La Paz (halogen & HID), Fuego, Strykr, Squadron (driving & spot pattern), etc.) and put together something like this http://reviews.mtbr.com/2012-bike-li...ttern-photos/3 and I suspect you will sell more lights and have more satisfied customers because they will know what to expect.

Rant over.

[Baja Trent]

Originally Posted by rs42sport

On your website it shows 1 spot and 1 driving is there a difference between the two?? Any pics of the road lit up between them??? thanks

The only night photos that I currently have are from a Trophy Truck which is running 7 other Baja Designs lights in addition to the Squadrons. I'll see what I can do about taking some night photos of just the spot and driving LED squadrons. The Squadron spot uses 4 spot beams which provide a longer and narrower beam that focus the pattern farther in front. The driving squadron uses two driving beams and two spots which gives the best combination of close range visibility and distance.

There are currently two advrider members that should be posting reviews shortly. One of these will be a direct comparison between the Trail Tech X2 light.

[Baja Trent]

Originally Posted by Sparrowhawk

BD, this is just a suggestion for marketing purposes. Focus a little more attention on your website. From what I can tell, this is a killer light. I probably want one but as you have read in this thread, folks like me need more information on the beam pattern and light comparisons to other top-shelf lights (Clearwater, Rigid Industries, Vision X, Denali, etc.).

Just like everybody else, your web marketing says your product is wonderful. Clearwater says their light is wonderful. Rigid says their light is wonderful. Vision X says their light is wonderful, ADV Monster says their light is wonderful. We need useful information to choose between all the options out there and nobody provides it. What are the real differences between all the different beam patterns offered?

Be a leader. Show us why we would plunk our cash down on BD equipment. Show us how it is better where it counts; on the seat of a motorcycle, at speed, at night. Lumens is just a value of what is possible based on the LED used. Informed buyers know it is not a good way to choose between different lights. If the optics are crap very little light ends up where you want it. Photos are worthless without similar shots of other lights at the exact same settings. I can make a candle look impressive with long exposure settings.

You are not alone. You have real competition from other vendors. We want useable data for comparisons to make choices. Spend a couple of nights out on a trail with a bunch of your products (dual sport kit, Soltek, La Paz (halogen & HID), Fuego, Strykr, Squadron (driving & spot pattern), etc.) and put together something like this http://reviews.mtbr.com/2012-bike-li...ttern-photos/3 and I suspect you will sell more lights and have more satisfied customers because they will know what to expect.

Rant over.

You're absolutely right, there needs to be a shootout comparison for off-road lights similar to what mtbr does for all the bicycle products they review. The issue that I see with this is there will always be skeptical people that either don't believe the photos or say the camera settings were different so it wasn't a far review. Also we really can't purchase all the other companies lights to do a review because you'll have the same exact issues. Consumers will think photos were either altered or camera settings were changed to make our products look better. Another problem would be the different color temperatures that are used between companies. You'll never be able to use one setting on a camera that will work for every company’s lights. Unfortunately I really don't see any way around this. The only thing that we can do is post as much information as possible about our lights.

Here is what I can tell you though. Every company you mentioned makes great products, but there are things that separate our products from the others. All of our HID and LED lights have a lifetime warranty which I personally think speaks for itself. Also every single one of our off-road lights has been tested in multiple racing environments. Each light has been tested on top trophy truck contenders such has Menzies Motorsports, McMillin Racing, All German Motorsports in addition to other well respected racers and classes in the off road industry. The lights that we sell to the public are the lights racers are winning with. We are also the only lighting company that uses active Thermal Management, Single Layer Solid Core Copper Circuit Boards and aircraft grade aluminum housings that maintain LED temperature within the defined operating limits.

I will work on getting the photos and videos you are asking for on ALL of our lights and if anyone has any questions on the lights we sell please feel free to give us a call (760)560-2252.

[MJS]

Sparrowhawk, I have one of the LED lights to test. I have not mounted it or done any tests yet. I am working with a retired friend of mine to build a test fixture for easy fixture comparisons. He has been in the lighting business since they invented candles and has lectured at MIT as well as working with major lighting manufacturers.

We have a plan but it is taking a bit of time to get everything together. And my budget will not allow for top line test equipment. However we should get something with accurate and repeatable measurements to allow comparison between different fixtures. Unfortunately, its not as easy as just measuring light output.

I will post a full report (probably in a different thread) when we get done. Until then, Cheers.

[rs42sport]

any updated pics really considering 2 of these suckers for the bike

[Sparrowhawk]

Originally Posted by SuperBonBon

Trent and/or Diego,

+1 to what these guys said.

Is it possible to run 2 LED's at a time? If so, I could run 2 with a shield over them to make a passable street-use low beam (wired to low on the headlight switch), and then the other 2 (or all 4 of them together) as high beam. Going with this 2 + 2 setup would only use 22 watts at a time, and even with half of the light shown in Post #40 it would be as good or better than any halogen on the market. With a 2 light low, 4 beam high setup it would be as good or better than almost any 35watt HID on the market, with the ability to switch between high and low instantly and having none of the "hassles" of HID.

Best of all it's only 22 watts for the 2 + 2 setup. For us guys who are very short on stator power, that's a dream come true. I'd drop $350 on that setup in a heartbeat!

A bit of a hijack but BD offers a 2+2 setup (2 ea. Double Stryk) but it would cost another $150 over a single Squadron for the same light output. http://www.bajadesigns.com/ProductDe...yk-Vehicle-Kit



Trent or Diego,

How do you think a Double Stryk would work as a booster high beam for a dual-sport bike? It appears the light output is half of the larger Squadron but I really like the idea of being able to switch it between my motorcycle and mtn bike.

I am running a 35 W HID H4 hi/lo conversion kit from another vendor in one of your standard lens/reflectors (BD#60-0002) and it works quite well. It would be nice to get a little more light on high beam though. I could run both the 35 W HID and a Double Stryk and still draw less current than the stock 65 W halogen. The trick would be figuring out a mount but that shouldn't be too hard. Using it as a helmet-mounted light is another interesting option for trail use.

From what I have been able to gather, a standard halogen H4 bulb is good for about 1,500 lumens on high (65 W) and a 35 W HID bulb runs about 2,800 lumens. Both lose lumens in the reflector and lens before becoming useful light. The Double Stryk has a legitimate 1,800 lumens with a good pattern so it wouldn't double the amount of light I already have but should be a noticeable addition.

Any thoughts?

[rs42sport]

new pics or video updates???

[traveltoad]

Originally Posted by rs42sport

new pics or video updates???

I am set up to take more photos tonight... Stock KTM 450 light vs. Trailtech X2 vs. Squadron...

[Baja Designs]

Originally Posted by Sparrowhawk

A bit of a hijack but BD offers a 2+2 setup (2 ea. Double Stryk) but it would cost another $150 over a single Squadron for the same light output. http://www.bajadesigns.com/ProductDe...yk-Vehicle-Kit



Trent or Diego,

How do you think a Double Stryk would work as a booster high beam for a dual-sport bike? It appears the light output is half of the larger Squadron but I really like the idea of being able to switch it between my motorcycle and mtn bike.

I am running a 35 W HID H4 hi/lo conversion kit from another vendor in one of your standard lens/reflectors (BD#60-0002) and it works quite well. It would be nice to get a little more light on high beam though. I could run both the 35 W HID and a Double Stryk and still draw less current than the stock 65 W halogen. The trick would be figuring out a mount but that shouldn't be too hard. Using it as a helmet-mounted light is another interesting option for trail use.

From what I have been able to gather, a standard halogen H4 bulb is good for about 1,500 lumens on high (65 W) and a 35 W HID bulb runs about 2,800 lumens. Both lose lumens in the reflector and lens before becoming useful light. The Double Stryk has a legitimate 1,800 lumens with a good pattern so it wouldn't double the amount of light I already have but should be a noticeable addition.

Any thoughts?

Hey guys, I think that the Double Stryk would work great as a high beam booster on a dual sport bike. I've mountain biked with all of our mountain bike lights and the Double Stryk is insanely bright.

We've had a lot of customers asking about mounting options on the vehicle kit so this is something our engineers will be working on sometime in the near future. The Double Stryk and Squadron use the same optics and LED circuitry so the beam pattern on the Double Stryk is literally half of a Squadron. It would definitely be a noticeable addition. Here is a link to a video you have to see http://vimeo.com/34666326, this is the Las Vegas Enduro cross Baja Designs night race. This rider won and he only has two Double Stryk's mounted to his helmet; nothing on the bike itself. Also as a note the hot spot you see on the video are not there, the light is actually distributed evenly, but unfortunately the camera caught the bright light and did't know how to process it. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.



BD

[traveltoad]

So a few more photos comparing the lights. These were taken at the end of a dirt road with nothing reflective to try to be more "real". A really big thanks to TOPI1967 for bringing his bike to the extra double secret head lamp test site to help with everything.

First a daytime photo... I forgot my camera so it is an iPhone pic:

The "No Dumping" sign is at the 100' mark, as is the big rock with the black dot. The little cairns are at 10' intervals.



The rest of the photos were taken with a Canon Powershot G12 set manually in an attempt to keep things "fair".

The evening of the test I decided to add yellow stakes at 25', 50' and 75'. No lights on this photo, just a long exposure. That is the moon rising.

15sec f/2.8 ISO 640:


Then, just for the hell of it... 2 x 55watt stock low beam, 2 x 65w stock high beam, 4 x 100w Hella 4000 Cornering, 2 x 100w Hella 4000 Euro Beam. I had to re-adjust the camera quite a bit

1sec f/7.1 ISO 400:


Ok, moving on...

First up TOPI1967's stock KTM 450 head light:

Ok, ok... I gave TOPI1967's light an extra second to help him out. Mostly because he came all the way to help me only to find that the main bulb had blown so all he had was the little marker light bulb.

5sec f/2.8 ISO 500


Both the TrailTech and the Baja Designs lights were held against the front bumper of my truck. We did our best to have them both aimed the same. Both were powered by my truck battery.

The TrailTech light has two bulbs with two different beam patterns. Both bulbs were given a few min to fully "warm up".

First up, TT 2" SCMR16 HID spot pattern: 4sec f/7.1 ISO 500


Next up, 4" SC4 HID flood pattern: 4sec f/7.1 ISO 500 (I am not sure why this photo ended up with a greenish hue. I took a few and they all came out this way. In reality the light for this bulb was pretty much the same color as the small bulb.)


And finally, the new Baja Designs Squadron:

4sec f/7.1 ISO 500


Full Disclosure: I have no affiliation with Baja Designs at all. In fact, I think the Squadron is my fist BD product. After my first photos the guys at BD asked that I would take more comparing the TrailTech and Baja Design lights. This light has me excited to ride at night and, well, I'll need others to ride with.

In fairness to the TT light, I think it was pointed a bit lower and a bit to the right in the 4" flood photo. Also... just to point this out again, the light color (to the eye) for the 4" flood was the same as the 2" spot. I am not sure why the camera processor picked up so much green in the photo.

The amount of light and the differences in the beam focus bewteen the lights is very accurate in the photos. The Squadron light is really very impressive.

On Tues evening I will take some more photos with a little more distance on a street to see how far down the road the TT and BD throw light.

[Baja Designs]

Hey Aaron Thanks for posting those pictures they look great! We can't wait to see the street photos and get some more feedback. Thanks again.
BD

[WHYNOWTHEN]

Thanks TT.
Hey BD guys, can I mount a squadron on a 990 somehow?
I'm willing to lend you my bike to try and make it work.

[Sparrowhawk]

Originally Posted by Baja Designs

We've had a lot of customers asking about mounting options on the vehicle kit so this is something our engineers will be working on sometime in the near future.
BD

Looking forward to the availability of a MC mount for the Double Stryk. That looks like a good dual sport solution.

Originally Posted by traveltoad

And finally, the new Baja Designs Squadron:

4sec f/7.1 ISO 500

Great photos. Thanks for taking the time to shoot and post.