Auxilary Lights...type of beam?

[ElkSlayer]

Been looking online at all the different options for LED lighting. For riding at speed at night, what type of beam angle is best: 30 degree? 60 degree? Spot?

Thanks,

Jim

[Jay In Milpitas]

What bothers me about that question is the fact that one should not outride your lights at night.

What speed are you considering? What hazards are anticipated (e.g. objects laying on the pavement vs. deer running across road)? How much oncoming traffic?

But personally I would probably go with a mix of at least one spot pointed where I'm aimed and then 60 degree or broader to illuminate wild life.

Keep in mind that the CSC spec'd Cyclone has a 300 watt alternator, so you have plenty of power available.

I wonder if I can get one of those Mars lights that are on the front of locomotives?

[ElkSlayer]

Originally Posted by Jay In Milpitas

What bothers me about that question is the fact that one should not outride your lights at night.

But Jay, that is the whole point of the question, not outriding one's lights. The reason why I ask, I own a XR250L and when it got dark, I felt that 40mph was pushing it too hard due to the lack of light that headlight produced. My goal is to see well enough to do 60 mph without outriding my lights.

Jim

[detours]

The first thing I would do is put more lumens in the main lamp with a good 55/65W halogen or LED. For auxiliary lights, I like wide, low lights to illuminate the roadside. I live in a semi rural area and I've seen deer, foxes, coyotes, raccoons and other animals at dusk. And I keep a sharp eye for eyes and shadows after dark.

My Vstrom lit up both sides pretty well with the stock lights but I haven't picked aux lights for the RX3 yet.

[Jay In Milpitas]

Originally Posted by ElkSlayer

But Jay, that is the whole point of the question, not outriding one's lights. The reason why I ask, I own a XR250L and when it got dark, I felt that 40mph was pushing it too hard due to the lack of light that headlight produced. My goal is to see well enough to do 60 mph without outriding my lights.

Jim

Okay, 60 is a reasonable speed. I haven't played with the headlight as others here have, but the 55/65w change with cooling vent seems to be the consensus. I would also go with one or two narrow spots mounted high and pointed downward to light the road ahead with lower wide beams for the creatures in the brush.

You will have up to 140 watts of spare alternator output to run accessories on, so lighting should be the least of your worries.

Have you decided on a color yet?

[SpudRider]

I agree with Jay.

The 55W/60 H4 bulb does a very good job with the stock headlight. However, I think it's wise to cut a vent hole in the back of the headlight to dissipate the extra heat.



I mounted flood lights low to illuminate the area immediately in front of the bike, and to the sides.



I just ordered some 30-degree spot lights to mount higher on the bike, to help illuminate the road farther ahead.