Night Riding??

[columbia510]

Who else does this wacko-ness? With the crazy hours I put in at work, I often ride at night on my TE. What kind of riding do you do(solo or with others) at night and what kind of lighting set-up do you use? I ride alone most of the time and use the Up-tite LED and a Black Dog helmet-light that is wired to the battery. I usually take off and ride at 9pm and end up back home by midnight. My wife thinks I'm wacko. The first picture is of only the Up-Tite LED. The last picture is only the helmet light.

 

[ghte]

Mate if that is the only time your busy life allows you to ride then good on you. Only input here is let people know where you are going and preferably have a "Spot" emergency beacon.
Good luck and keep doing it.

 

[ray_ray]

I've done it a few times(with others) and it's fun but much more dangerous depending on where you ride ... We we on ~tight single track so the length of the light beam did not really matter as there was a turn well with-in the beam length ... also beam width was not important for the same reason ... Because it was pitch dark just outside the light, it made concentrating on the trail very very easy ... I was using a trail tech light ...x2 model I think and it worked very well out there ....

And I'd say you are asking for it going out in the woods at night by yourself ... Dirt road type stuff would be safer ...

 

[Rattletrap]

I work swing shift, so I ride to work at night a lot. Also my mother and brother live on the other side of the national forest from me with about 25 miles of NF roads, so if I stay for supper its dark when I ride home. I ride alone most of the time also. Its about 40 miles by highway.

I have a TE610 with the Trail Tech x2 DOT light with twin PIAA 35 watt super whites. I put a 55 watt lights in the high and low beam of the X2 with Eastern Beaver wiring harness with relays. Works pretty well. AdvMonster.com has some cool model 44's LED's that I want, they are dimmable.

 

[motomaniac]

I ride and race alot at night, all tight single track. I built some high powered LED units that run off my WR300.

I have 2 on my bike(the pic isn't my Husky) and 2 on my helmet. Total output is 3000 lumens and they use less then 30 watts (7 watts each). I ironmanned a 24 hr race without a hickup and didn't have to change any batteries. If I night practice alone I always let my wife know where I'm staging from, my route and when I should be back. Since they put a few night races in our local series they're alot of people to night ride with around here.

 

[rajobigguy]

Yep, I love night riding. Main light is a 65w halogen, the two driving lights in the pic are 55w Hella's halogens which have been upgraded to HID since the pic was taken. I can't really take a new pic with the HID lights because they are so bright that they was out the photo.

 

[Harbinger]

Yep, I love night riding. Main light is a 65w halogen, the two driving lights in the pic are 55w Hella's halogens which have been upgraded to HID since the pic was taken. I can't really take a new pic with the HID lights because they are so bright that they was out the photo.

Could you take some pictures of the light beam, please.

 

[oneleven]

I've only done it once offroad in an open area 10 min from home that I'm quite familiar with. Loved every minute of it. Wasn't quite as boring during daytime. And much cooler! No extra fancy lighting like you guys. Just the Lynx with standard Hella lights, but it works good enough.

 

[Bench Racer 117]

I am cheap but resourceful, I think. So I fabbed up a 60W lamp, for a car, into my stock headlight. I made a key out of scrap metal to hold the lamp in place. Then a switch on the side of the light. Next, I built this contraption.

It has two 50w mr16 lamps. One Spot and one Flood. Look under the visor. I made them switchable just because. So with 120w that the stock stator puts out, I can run two of them at a time. Not all three, but who cares. I did it for fun and ride single track. It works pretty good.

 

[Slowpoke]

Good way to light up the trail & reduce shadows, but with that helmet setup, around these parts you'd get knocked off the bike from a low branch in no time - ouch.......

 

[ohmygewd]

Best way to go night riding is after a slab (case in yank lingo) of beers

It is a different track when you ride at night....enjoy it but want to ride in the morning rather than a ride to the hospital.

Lighting is using the OEM lighting.

 

[Bench Racer 117]

around these parts you'd get knocked off the bike from a low branch in no time

We have Juniper trees that have absolutely no give. So I understand.

 

[motomaniac]

Two on bike and two on the helmet. The halogen on top is a back up on a seperate circuit. Two for two night race class wins and a 2nd overall in a 24 hour race (to one of the top pros in BC). Solid state, no bulbs, low draw on system, more lumens than any halogen, no batteries, and comparable to HID at half the cost.

 

[sonicstate]

Yep, I love night riding. Main light is a 65w halogen, the two driving lights in the pic are 55w Hella's halogens which have been upgraded to HID since the pic was taken. I can't really take a new pic with the HID lights because they are so bright that they was out the photo.

Hi Rajobigguy, This set up looks great. I just got a TE630, and I'm loving the bike although the lights are a weak point. Can you elaborate on what lighting units you installed, and how you powered them? Is this running on the stock harness/battery or did you need to upgrade and re-wire? Are they on separate switches, or is it "all on" or "all off" with the stock lighting switch? Thanks.

 

[rajobigguy]

Hi Rajobigguy, This set up looks great. I just got a TE630, and I'm loving the bike although the lights are a weak point. Can you elaborate on what lighting units you installed, and how you powered them? Is this running on the stock harness/battery or did you need to upgrade and re-wire? Are they on separate switches, or is it "all on" or "all off" with the stock lighting switch? Thanks.

The main light is the factory light that I adapted a 65w 9007 sylvania silverstar into. I was making adapters to do this easily and handing them out to people but some had problems with the reflector melting so I quit making them. There are quite a few options available for the main light such as the Trailtech light which looks fairly close to the original.
The driving lights are on a separate switch and run 16 gauge wire directly from the battery to the switch so the can run (or not) any time.

 

[sonicstate]

The main light is the factory light that I adapted a 65w 9007 sylvania silverstar into. I was making adapters to do this easily and handing them out to people but some had problems with the reflector melting so I quit making them. There are quite a few options available for the main light such as the Trailtech light which looks fairly close to the original.
The driving lights are on a separate switch and run 16 gauge wire directly from the battery to the switch so the can run (or not) any time.

Thanks for the info, Rajobigguy. So the extra running lights have not caused any notable drain on the rest of the system? I would have thought that when you turned on the auxiliary lights, the main headlight power would sag a bit. Is that not the case? Thanks.

 

[montgob1]

I ride and race alot at night, all tight single track. I built some high powered LED units that run off my WR300.

I have 2 on my bike(the pic isn't my Husky) and 2 on my helmet. Total output is 3000 lumens and they use less then 30 watts (7 watts each). I ironmanned a 24 hr race without a hickup and didn't have to change any batteries. If I night practice alone I always let my wife know where I'm staging from, my route and when I should be back. Since they put a few night races in our local series they're alot of people to night ride with around here.

Nice, any cooling issues with the LED's? Also, do you run a capacitor off of the rectifier to keep the output steady at all RPM's?

 

[rajobigguy]

Thanks for the info, Rajobigguy. So the extra running lights have not caused any notable drain on the rest of the system? I would have thought that when you turned on the auxiliary lights, the main headlight power would sag a bit. Is that not the case? Thanks.

No problem with power drain on 610's. The carbed models have a 240w generator and FI models have a 320w generator. The electric fuel pump on the FI models eats a fair amount of juice so the net available aux. power is really about the same between the two. In either case you have plenty of power to run the lights with enough left over to run an automatic ice cube maker and anti-aircraft device.

 

[sonicstate]

Thanks Rajobigguy. I am thinking of either getting some PIAA auxiliary driving lights (still haven't decided on the best SKU) or getting the Trail Tech X2 system...or doing both I'll write an update once I've make the plunge...

 

[motomaniac]

Nice, any cooling issues with the LED's? Also, do you run a capacitor off of the rectifier to keep the output steady at all RPM's?

The housings are the heatsinks, so no cooling issues. Inside each housing is a driver module that regulates the current and voltage. The DC or AC drivers are available. LEDs have to run on DC voltage so the AC driver converts it to DC (to easy). Here is the link to instructions and parts supplier is there to http://www.thumperjockey.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=3 . I phoned my order into LED Supply and he made sure I got the right stuff for my bike. They were very helpfull. They will even build them for you for a small price which I don't know.