Time for lights

[rodantking]

I have always just but in some hids and called it good but on the rt I'm thinking of adding lights. I'm thinking Clearwater erica's or krista 2. Wouldn't mind some feed back on that one, but first let me tell you what I'm looking for. I know most of you are looking for daytime running lights for cars to see you. If I got that hey great but it's not my concern. I live in northern Utah in a small town and don't commute on the bike. I've never had a problem getting people to see me with some movement in my lane position. I believe the eyes see lateral movement very well. I don't want to get into a debate of daytime triangles of light. If you have that I think that's great and can't hurt. What I really need is better headlights. Low low beam is not doing it and the high good be better. I want light that will not only feel the road but the side of it and be useable with other cars around.

Where I'm really out of my knowledge is where to mount. I would like them in the factory position because I think that's clean and in my head more usable around other traffic but I don't know. So if anyone has some suggestions on which light and mounting location for my use, please let me know

[narcosis]

I'm certain you'll be happy with either the Erica or Krista 2. I went with the Darla lights and was worried they wouldn't be powerful enough. They are great. I, like you, felt the stock low beams inadequate. Running the Darla lights at 70% with the low beams works well for me and at 100% with high beams I can see way down the road and off to the sides. So, with the Erica or Krista 2 lights it has to be like daylight.

 

I wanted a farther spread than what fork mounting provided so I bought the OEM Fog light mount brackets. They bolted right on my Wunderlich engine guards and adjusted easily. The lights will point pretty much wherever you want. I'm pleased with the whole setup.

 

Ken

[AndyS]

I am with narcosis some of the way on this.

 

I have installed the Darla's and think they are fantastic at illuminating on High beam, however for Low beam augmentation I don't agree with him.

If they are set to 70% they are too bright for oncoming traffic.

Yes, he can see well, but that is missing the point of low beam. it is still impairing the visibility for oncoming traffic.

 

I think substituting your low beam for a HIGH quality HID with a good sharp cut off is the best answer.

 

If you are considering Krista's, I'd advise you to go either way. that is to say drop to the smaller form factor of the Darla's or the greater light output of the Erika's. Nowadays I think the Krista's fall in a sort of no-mans's land.

The Erika's even on full dimming are marginally too bright to be on with dip (low) beam.

 

 

For dip augmentation you need a light (like, say, a fog light) to keep a good cut off.

But, rodantking I am with you in the fact that for me, lights are about being able to see at night.

[PadG]

So far, it seem that we have full agreement on where to mount! I do like the factory fog light mount that Clearwater provides in their kit, and it also mounts right onto my Wunderlich bars.

 

As for the light, I had gone with the Krista. I don't do a lot of night riding and the main purpose of the aux. light, for me, was for visibility to others. I guess that I could have gone with the Darla, BUT I want to make sure that if I was going to spend that much money, I want to be sure that it will be good for supplemental lighting at night also! It seem that, as Andy pointed out, the Erica may be a little too bright for regular daytime use, which is why I went for the Krista! I understand that Krista 2 is brighter than the original Krista that I have, and so it should serve you well!!

[rodantking]

I am with narcosis some of the way on this.

 

I have installed the Darla's and think they are fantastic at illuminating on High beam, however for Low beam augmentation I don't agree with him.

If they are set to 70% they are too bright for oncoming traffic.

Yes, he can see well, but that is missing the point of low beam. it is still impairing the visibility for oncoming traffic.

 

I think substituting your low beam for a HIGH quality HID with a good sharp cut off is the best answer.

 

If you are considering Krista's, I'd advise you to go either way. that is to say drop to the smaller form factor of the Darla's or the greater light output of the Erika's. Nowadays I think the Krista's fall in a sort of no-mans's land.

The Erika's even on full dimming are marginally too bright to be on with dip (low) beam.

 

 

For dip augmentation you need a light (like, say, a fog light) to keep a good cut off.

But, rodantking I am with you in the fact that for me, lights are about being able to see at night.

 

Your comments are my concerns. I'm might reconsider hids. I just have a feeling they are going to be a pain in the ass. I'm sure without resisters they will cause a fault in the computer and I noticed in the garage that when the high beam comes on for some dumb reason the low beam cuts power. That is more than likely going to cause a problem. I haven't seen any treads on people doing hids. If you remember one a link would be great.

As far as ericas being to bright to use with low beams, that maybe right and something I've read elsewhere but I'm not sure why. Erica's at 10% is 120 lumens. Darla's at 30% is 120. Maybe the beam pattern? Where do you set your darla's for night low beam and how much do you feel it helps seeing?

[Stan Walker]

Erica's at 10% is 120 lumens. Darla's at 30% is 120.

 

Not according to Clearwater.

 

Erica is 6,000 lumens per light, or 12,000 total. 10% would be 1,200 lumens, brighter then the typical H4 high-beam bulb.

 

Darla is 2000 lumens per light, or 4,000 total. 10% would only be 400 lumens.

 

I run my Darla's at the minimum brightness (5%) in conjunction with the stock low beam. 100% with the high beam of course.

 

Stan

[Stan Walker]

From the Clearwater web Q & A page

 

Are these lights too bright to be used in conjunction with the low beams at night?

 

At times, yes. That is why we provide an on/off switch. On a dark two lane road, Krista/Erica/Sevina are too bright, even on the lowest setting.

 

Stan

[rodantking]

Erica's at 10% is 120 lumens. Darla's at 30% is 120.

 

Not according to Clearwater.

 

Erica is 6,000 lumens per light, or 12,000 total. 10% would be 1,200 lumens, brighter then the typical H4 high-beam bulb.

 

Darla is 2000 lumens per light, or 4,000 total. 10% would only be 400 lumens.

 

I run my Darla's at the minimum brightness (5%) in conjunction with the stock low beam. 100% with the high beam of course.

 

 

Stan

 

I missed a zero in my head. Thanks that makes more sense. I think I'll get the darla's and go from there. Found a thread on hids on another forum and it is indeed is way harder then it needs to be. I've had mixed luck with hids in stock headlights but most of them work great with a nice clean cutoff.

[moshe_levy]

I think I'm in a good position to comment on this, since I'm in the midst of testing a new Clearwater suite.

 

For Darla / Erica, see my ON article from last year here http://www.mklsportster.com/Articles/bmwmoa-darlaerica.pdf (those extra apostrophes in the picture descriptions aren't mine! )

 

And now I'm testing the Sevinas and Billie as well on the Wethead, which I added a load of Wunderlich bars to in order to mount all this stuff......

 

 

So, here you see Darlas on the forks, Ericas on the engine guard, and Sevinas under the mirrors.

 

I'd say Darlas are for conspictuity, not for night vision. I keep them at damn near full max all the time to get myself noticed. The Ericas are tremendous and usually, more than enough. The Sevinas, which I haven't written up yet, are outrageous - I mean, seriously, it's like you have the sun at your fingertips.

 

I'm headed to Canada to ride at night on a business trip soon, and I have them angled outward to light up the sides of the road. I keep them on low to mid setting when totally alone in rural darkness. That's usually more than enough. I think I've seen damn straight across the sea to Israel when I was testing them on full blast!

 

My CANOpener (also under review) controls the Ericas and Darlas, which are set to come on 100% under high beam. The Sevina is off the CANopener, obviously. Note that if I put all 3 sets of lights on 100%, it can come to the alternator's limit - so one cannot go hog wild for long.

 

I'd also suggest - seriously - replacing the stock OEM bulbs with Osram Silverstars or Sylvania Silverstar Ultras. That makes a WORLD of difference. I did that too.

 

-MKL

[rodantking]

I think I'm in a good position to comment on this, since I'm in the midst of testing a new Clearwater suite.

 

For Darla / Erica, see my ON article from last year here http://www.mklsportster.com/Articles/bmwmoa-darlaerica.pdf (those extra apostrophes in the picture descriptions aren't mine! )

 

And now I'm testing the Sevinas and Billie as well on the Wethead, which I added a load of Wunderlich bars to in order to mount all this stuff......

 

 

So, here you see Darlas on the forks, Ericas on the engine guard, and Sevinas under the mirrors.

 

I'd say Darlas are for conspictuity, not for night vision. I keep them at damn near full max all the time to get myself noticed. The Ericas are tremendous and usually, more than enough. The Sevinas, which I haven't written up yet, are outrageous - I mean, seriously, it's like you have the sun at your fingertips.

 

I'm headed to Canada to ride at night on a business trip soon, and I have them angled outward to light up the sides of the road. I keep them on low to mid setting when totally alone in rural darkness. That's usually more than enough. I think I've seen damn straight across the sea to Israel when I was testing them on full blast!

 

My CANOpener (also under review) controls the Ericas and Darlas, which are set to come on 100% under high beam. The Sevina is off the CANopener, obviously. Note that if I put all 3 sets of lights on 100%, it can come to the alternator's limit - so one cannot go hog wild for long.

 

I'd also suggest - seriously - replacing the stock OEM bulbs with Osram Silverstars or Sylvania Silverstar Ultras. That makes a WORLD of difference. I did that too.

 

-MKL

 

Do you feel any of them can be used with low beam. I have no doubt that on high with no traffic they are nothing sort of impressive, but it's when you have enough traffic high beam is a bit useless is where I'm not sure of. What's your opinion on mounting height? I'm guess that the higher they are the more you can't use them at all in traffic. Thanks

[moshe_levy]

Look, we all have different ideas about what can and cannot be used in traffic. I am way over on the "I'll annoy you so you see me before I'm polite and you don't" side of the argument. So take my advice knowing my "politics" on the issue.

 

On low beam my Darlas are 100% always and my Ericas are at 50% during the day, or 30% at night. At high beam, they're both 100%. Ericas and Darlas are on 100% of the time, whether low or high beam - the CANopener lets me set the brightness which varies by low and high beam, and also varies automatically from day to night as the bike's photocell senses ambient lighting.

 

I did spend time adjusting them, which paid off handsomely when I really need the extra output. I adjust for my own ability to see over consideration to oncoming traffic. I think my mounting scheme makes sense, namely larger and more powerful (and expensive) lights higher up out of harm's way. Despite their appearances, the Ericas are more of a flood and the Sevinas are more of a spot, so I have the Ericas pointing slightly outward and the Sevinas even further outward, so I have an enormously wide angle in front of me at night that is bathed in very bright light.

 

-MKL

[JR356]

Look at the Denali D4 LED(from Twisted Throttle,others),a combination driving and spot beam in one housing.

About a 1/3 of the price of the Clearwaters,well constructed.

Great for varying western roads.

Thats what I'm using on my 14 GSA.

 

This post shows the D4's mounted on an inmates RT:

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=946721#Post946721

 

Great for varying western roads.

 

webbikeworld.com did a nice review on them.

 

JR356

[bdfbeemer]

I too have the Ericas and Darlas. The Darlas have the amber lens insert and are set on 40-50% I think. The Ericas are set on 30% low and 100% high. They are mounted similar to Moshe's. I am over the low beam annoyance. How ever I think it attracted a cops attention and earned me a ticket. I ride night/day it doesn't matter. I want to be seen and see.

[Dave Stephens]

+1 on the Ericas. Mine are mounted to my Ilium engine guard bars. Preset at 50% on low beam and 100% on high beam.

 

I now have no fear of riding at night since I can set large trees on fire when running them at 100%.

[narcosis]

And, although it's not mentioned in the Clearwater summary of features on page 4 of the instructions, you have two settings on low beam. By covering/uncovering the instrument panel ambient light sensor you can set them for your night/day driving preferences. So, for instance, you can set the low beams at

 

70% low beam when it's daylight

30% low beam when it's night

That feature isn't mentioned until page 18. I'm pretty sure I never made it to page 18 on the initial install.

[alexp]

I went with Ericas mounted above the mirrors using the Police brackets. I like it!

[moshe_levy]

Please share pics.

[alexp]

/Users/alexp/Desktop/DSC_0849.jpg/Users/alexp/Desktop/DSC_0856.jpg/Users/alexp/Desktop/DSC_0852.jpg

[alexp]

https://im1.shutterfly.com/procsrserv/47a5cc20b3127cce98548a76949b0000003010wQbtnLhw3aM2qg/cwvDm9asA3Lw9bOGQfl5esWDJpAhttps://im1.shutterfly.com/procsrserv/47a5cc20b3127cce98548a72949f0000003010wQbtnLhw3aM2qg/cwvDm9asA_Lw9YsGTQNy8vWzhk4https://im1.shutterfly.com/procsrserv/47a5cc20b3127cce98548a7715aa0000003010wQbtnLhw3aM2qg/cwvDm9asA_Lw9YsGTQNy8vWzhk4https://im1.shutterfly.com/procsrserv/47a5cc20b3127cce98548a7515a80000003010wQbtnLhw3aM2qg/cwvDm9asA_Lw9YsGTQNy8vWzhk4https://im1.shutterfly.com/procsrserv/47a5cc20b3127cce98548a7494990000003010wQbtnLhw3aM2qg/cwvDm9asA3Lw9bOGQfl5esWDJpA

 

I guess this is the only way I could figure out how to post my pics.

[John]

Good photos Alex. Did the police brackets require any cutting of panels? And a rough cost of the brackets?

 

Thanx

[Froggy]

Need more reflective tape.

[alexp]

Yes it does. A small cut with a dremel on a small plastic piece that sells separate too. image004.png

about 373.00 total. The Clearwater lights plugs right to the BMW system with no faults and use the blinker cancel switch to turn on and off. The horn is also connected to the lights and it goes dimmer when you get in the the tunnel. They are expensive but well worth the investments. send me an email and I can forward you the list of parts if you are interested.

 

Alex

[alexp]

More reflective tape? THe key is to be seen....I got rear ended sitting at a stop sign and end up on the middle of the street. The lady was on the phone and not paying attention. Maybe the reflectives would keep them away..

[Gene#3]

Nice job on the reflective as far as I am concerned!!!

[Froggy]

Was just kidding. I have the same amount on back of my bike, plus a flashing brake light. I always watch my rear view until at least two stopped cars behind me.