Light bar - your opinion

Hey guys,

I am about to make my own light bar similar to what DennisB sells. I will be installing the Optronics running lights that I picked up at Walmart. I am thinking of installing 4 lights. Two vertical pairs. Something that will look like this. Please forgive my poor Photoshopping job.



What do you, guys think?

Cheers,
Mad

Why four lights?
Are two not sufficient?

Genuine questions, not finding fault.

MikeO wrote:

Why four lights?
Are two not sufficient?

Genuine questions, not finding fault.

Thank you. I figured that brighter is better anyway. Plus it might look pretty cool too. :-)

Cheers,
Mad

Thanks.

Can't see a lot wrong with your photoshopping skills there Mad.
Now all you've got to do is make it!

I'd probably have settled for two lights simply to reduce the weight on the brackets bearing in mind that when you hit bumps the effective weight of the lamps can easily be multiplied up several times.
Considering the state of some of the roads round here that's an important consideration.

Cookie wrote:

I'd probably have settled for two lights simply to reduce the weight on the brackets bearing in mind that when you hit bumps the effective weight of the lamps can easily be multiplied up several times.
Considering the state of some of the roads round here that's an important consideration.

Thank you, Cookie. This is a very good point that I did not consider. I might double the thickness of some parts of the bracket if I decide to go with the vertical duo. The problem is I have a weak flux welder that does not weld well anything above 1/8". Anyway, we will see.

Cheers,
Mad

I like the idea of more lighting up front. With the weight of 4 lights I'd look at getting beefy bars to keep them from vibrating. If you are concerned about the "welding", you could do a combo nut and bolt plus welding for added security. Of course, the nuts and bolts would be permanent but provide strength.
Just my thoughts on yur project. Good luck with the mod.
Jay.

cotetoi wrote:

I like the idea of more lighting up front. With the weight of 4 lights I'd look at getting beefy bars to keep them from vibrating. If you are concerned about the "welding", you could do a combo nut and bolt plus welding for added security. Of course, the nuts and bolts would be permanent but provide strength.
Just my thoughts on yur project. Good luck with the mod.
Jay.

Thanks, Jay. It is still cooking in my melon so all the ideas are appreciated. I also was thinking of only two lights, like on the original setup, but also installing two LED, short (6" or 8" long) lights stocked one on top of the other and mounted under the bracket, in the middle of it. Like these guys: Pair 20 LED White Daytime Running Lamp Auto Car Fog Light Headlamp

Cheers,
Mad

Mad,
I have two of the Wal-Mart lights that you mentioned and they are very bright. I believe that four will be too bright for the oncoming vehicle. Like driving with your high lights on. Remember, brighter is good, but blinding the oncoming drivers may be dangerous to you. My 2¢.

If I used 4 lights I would aim the lower 2 @ 30 degrees outward and down a little bit, giving me cornering lighting, and the upper 2 forward and slightly down.
While its nice to see very far ahead of you, too bright a light can unconsciously attract drivers, like moth to a flame.

Gents,

Thanks for your advice.
It was actually my thought to aim the lights in such way so that I have a much brighter area right in front of me and a bit on the sides, rather than aiming far ahead. This way there should not be a worry for the upcoming traffic.

Cheers,
Mad

That's probably a good idea
I don't know about the particular lights you are using but most LED lights have no vertical cut off, and that makes them pretty dangerous to use on the road, as well as illegal, which is why so many of those lights are not DOT approved
If those are DOT approved, they will have the vertical cut off, and could be aimed further down the road

the_mad_rshn wrote:

Thank you, Cookie. This is a very good point that I did not consider. I might double the thickness of some parts of the bracket if I decide to go with the vertical duo. The problem is I have a weak flux welder that does not weld well anything above 1/8". Anyway, we will see.

Cheers,
Mad

Hi Mad,

I also have a weak flux welder that I got from Harbor Freight. My professional welder friend who lives across the street also has one. He told me that in order to weld heavier metal with it he heats it up with a torch first then welds it. He said that the only reason it won't weld heavier metal is because these weaker ones don't heat the metal enough to get penetration. By heating the metal red hot first gives the welder a jump start, so to speak.

Hope this helped.

Another example for you.  I very rarely ride at night, but this what I use ...for now.  Cookie brings up a good point about weight, the two bolts are the only two mounting points in this area but they were never meant to carry too much stress.

Dale N. wrote:

Hi Mad,

I also have a weak flux welder that I got from Harbor Freight. My professional welder friend who lives across the street also has one. He told me that in order to weld heavier metal with it he heats it up with a torch first then welds it. He said that the only reason it won't weld heavier metal is because these weaker ones don't heat the metal enough to get penetration. By heating the metal red hot first gives the welder a jump start, so to speak.

Hope this helped.

Thank you, Dale. I have the 90A flux core welder from HF too. This is interesting about the heat, as I had no idea it could help. Thank you.

Cheers,
Mad

masscoot wrote:

Thank you, sir. May I ask you, how good are those MR16 LED's? That is the standard in my light, but just the regular 55W light.

Thank you.
Cheers,
Mad

Looks like the center two lights would impinge on the headlight beam. Do they, Paul?

Dan is the King of Bling, back in the early days there were several of us who couldn't leave well enough alone and had to farkle the hell out our scoots for any number of reasons, comfort or just the enjoyment of tinkering.  He and others may be able to give some direction on newer products to look at.

Mad,  Its been so long but I think the halogens came with the MR16 base in the lamp.  If I remember correctly I had to modify the inside of the lamp housing to remove the elevated piece that the lamp base sat on, so the MR16 LED would fit down further and the cover would fit.  The LED replacements I used were the best I could find at the time (2008).  They work well, but there are better ones available now.  These are mainly for conspicuity and they do get attention, but nothing beats heads up riding!

Bash,  no interference with the headlight beam for the same reason as above.

Keep an eye on total added current to make sure you don't overload your bike's alternator. Also remember that the system doesn't generate enough juice to begin charging the battery below 3000-3500rpm. The SW has a pretty good generation system but it's easy to overdo it. Stop and go riding in traffic with lots of lights can bring the battery down.

masscoot wrote:

Dan is the King of Bling, back in the early days there were several of us who couldn't leave well enough alone and had to farkle the hell out our scoots for any number of reasons, comfort or just the enjoyment of tinkering.  He and others may be able to give some direction on newer products to look at.

https://www.clearwaterlights.com//products2_pp.html

From 800 lumens to 7500 lumens....each! (12 watts to 70 watts)
You can turn night into day or land a Boeing 747....pick your poison.  (Not cheap!)
On my bike I use a pair of fork mounted Darlas.
Nice thing about these LEDs are that they are dimmable, and you can hook them up to the horn so that when you beep, they come on full power.

Dan

I knew it wouldn't take long!  Thanks Dan!  I was wrong EddieB is the king of bling.  

You are the king of custom, hands down!

I decided to just go with two lights for now. I can always add two more holes to the bracket for additional two lights. Here it is.

Cheers,
Mad

Hi Mad,

Looks great!

Dale N. wrote:

Hi Mad,

Looks great!

Thank you, sir!

Cheers,
Mad