Aux. Lights (LED)

Got some lights on Amazon. New H7's and a pair of auxiliary leds. I always do my homework and try to find well reviewed (real) products.

These are the H7's I got. They required some socket modification. I had to drill two holes in the side of each socket to run a cable tie through to hold down the bulb assembly, that includes a fan. I drilled two holes (180 degrees apart) in each bulb housing. I ran a single cable tie across the fan and secured with a second cable tie cinch.

I had to ditch the moisture boot. I will devise my own out of some surgical gloves next time I have the fairing off.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P86R9X1?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

These are the auxiliary lights I got.  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XD9BCM2?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

NOTE: There ARE smaller versions. Almost any will work. In hindsight I might have gone with a smaller version, but I love the results, so I am happy.

I originally mounted them on the front fender sides at the reflector mount position. Very effective and simple.  Thought it might be contributing to the "wobble" (it was not) so I re-positioned them on the fairing.



I mounted them right next to the air scoops on the fairing. I decided to do this to avoid having to drill a second hole for the cord. I simply ran the cord up the air scoop.









I drilled one hole for the mount. I added some 1/8" padding to the light mount brackets to keep them steady, and not mar the finish.

I tapped the Honda high, ground and low beams wires with "posi-tap" wire taps. Recommended.

Ultimately, I aimed them slightly lower than the Honda low beam and ran them on the low beam circuit. The factory low beams are barely visible and I was using 100 watt high output bulbs. These are literately night and day difference.

Thanks TheDude - this is really helpful.

As to the size of the auxiliary lights I share your view. Maybe some smaller ones would do - but hey, you are happy with those you have and that's all that matters.

I very much enjoy reading you various inputs on this site. Very refreshing. Keep it coming.

Very nice, actually. They certainly look better than the majority of such retrofits I have seen! Enjoy.

Did you / how did you support the mount bolt inside the fairing? Seems to me that without substantial reinforcement inside the fairing that the weighted leverage of the aux light along with road vibration will severely stress the tupperware at that location.

Big fender washer on inside might help

Hi All... I wonder, do the quoted 100 watt aux lights conflict in any way with the 55 watt limit on standard head lights... ??? Inquiring minds want to know...

First, DickO, according to the Amazon ad for the auxiliary lights, 50 watts is for the pair (25 watts each) and that amount should not interfere with the main headlight operations assuming they are run on a separate circuit which they should be.

Second, over 1 pound for each pod is quite a bit of weight.  With all the front end vibrations on our scoots, I would highly recommend some serious reinforcing be done on and both sides of the tupperware mounting points.  Or fabricate a separate mounting bracket like Dennis B.'s bracket. (Use the Search function to see examples).

Last year I tried a pair of LED Rider LR40, 3" auxiliary lights cubes for a while.  They drew about 40 watts for the pair and output was 5,000K - 4,200 lumens each.  The output was awesome if not a little too white for my use.  They were actually a little too bright and, I lost 1 yellow fog lens cover due to the vibration. 

I decided to go with a smaller, yellower 3,000K - 3,000 lumens bullet pod set up from Komy Kwan (see link below)

2allbuyer.com

They look better with the SWing, are much lighter weight wise and far less bulbous to the eye.  At 3,000 lumens, there aren't as bright as the LED Rider's but they absolutely do the job both for conspicuity and visibility.  I'm also using a Skene Designs PWM controller (dimmer) to modulate the output as the situation requires.

Those are the ones I had on my Silverwing and I think Chris still has. They are very good.

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

Did you / how did you support the mount bolt inside the fairing? Seems to me that without substantial reinforcement inside the fairing that the weighted leverage of the aux light along with road vibration will severely stress the tupperware at that location.

You are correct Cosmic. I neglected to mention I found two 1.25" (32mm) ABS plastic spacers (about 1/4" (6-7 mm) thick) I used on the inside, backed by wide metal washers to help spread the contact area. They were actually old plastic "feet" off of an old guitar amp. I know, I admit I am a pack rat.  This provided plenty of contact area on the inside.

Due to the bends in the fairing at that spot, which makes it quite stiff, and the large hard plastic "washers" on the inside, including the large contact area of the light mounts themselves, it is incredibly stable. There is no vibration or movement whatsoever and I dare say you could use much heavier cans at that location if you wished to go crazy. I tightened them down hard, then backed off a bit so I can move them with my hands to aim.

Just a note that I used these 'Posi-Tap" connectors, and while they are expensive, once you use one, you will fall over with how amazingly simple and effective they are.

Here is a link to the ones I used, but I have already ordered several other sizes and also some "Posi-Twists" for other in-line connections. Tip: The 20 packs of individual "Posi-Taps" are the best deal I have found. The assortments and 10 packs are way overpriced for some reason.

Up front, (and behind for that matter) the green wire is the ground and the white dotted wire is the low beam. The green/yellow wire is the high beam.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004D0C2RC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

The image from another thread I neglected to post here.

Good to hear they are well reinforced.  They sure improve your conspicuity ... and I'm sure when properly adjusted, your down the road visibility too.

sonuvabug wrote:

Good to hear they are well reinforced.  They sure improve your conspicuity ... and I'm sure when properly adjusted, your down the road visibility too.

Yes, it does seem to give car drivers pause. And at night, they do a great job lighting up the road.

My night vision has steadily declined as I age, but even given that, I found the standard lighting a bit lacking on the SWing. JMHO

DickO wrote:

Hi All... I wonder, do the quoted 100 watt aux lights conflict in any way with the 55 watt limit on standard head lights... ???  Inquiring minds want to know...

OK, now I get what you were referring to. Yes, you are correct. The incandescent H7's I was using were "Hella" high output headlights. They do have a disclaimer that they are for "off road" use only. However, and yes, you could call me obsessive about headlight brightness, as long as you don't mess with the aim, you will likely not cause any problems or complaints with these bulbs. Even given their stated 100 watt brightness (each! not sure how many lumens that is) I found them lacking.

The LED's I got are actually 30 watts each. All I know is that they are WAY brighter.

I almost backed out of the LED headlight replacements because they were not able to be mounted exactly straight up and down in the headlight housing. Due to the cable, they were slightly (about 3 degrees) rotated. Luckily, the Honda reflector is omni-directional and will reflect the light correctly regardless of the actual element position. This is not true of most automobile headlights I have replaced.

So I'm gonna swap out these lights with something else. They are great at night but only really for high beam use. They are too "omni-directional" and cause glare no matter how low you point them.

Plus, they are about 3.5" and kind of destroy the nice, sleek lines of the front fairing where I mounted them.



I found some other ones and tested them side by side, the new ones have a VERY sharp cut-off. Plus the new ones have a high AND low beam setting and are just as bright as the other ones. Also the new ones are just 1.3" (33 mm). Much less disruptive to the visuals regardless of where you mount them.

I'll post up some pics once I get them mounted.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083TXGSGV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Maybe you could also share a walk-through (photos and short explanation) on how you go about the wiring/cabling. I’m not very good at electricity so really would appreciate someone like you showing the way.

Benzon1960 wrote:

Maybe you could also share a walk-through (photos and short explanation) on how you go about the wiring/cabling. I’m not very good at electricity so really would appreciate someone like you showing the way.

I will do that! One thing I can recommend right now is these "Posi" connectors. They are truly a huge advancement in the world of DIY low voltage wiring. They are all "no tools needed" except a stripper.

In my history, I have always just used wire nuts as the best option for splicing and joining wires. But these can be problematic, and sometimes they fail. These "Posi" connectors are quite a bit more expensive, but worth it in my opinion.  These links are for the best value pack sizes I could find.

Post-Tap: This is what I used to tap the high, low and ground wires in the front harness. These make 'tapping" or splicing a wire very simple with a strong connection.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004D0C18C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004D0C2RC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Posi-Lock: For joining two or more wires, in line. Lots of options with this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004D0FAIA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Posi-Twist: Similar to a wire nut, but far better. Good for terminating one, oe several wires.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I1PFD4Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1