OEM headlights and night canyon rides, not good

Niterunnr

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Irvine, CA
Not sure how I feel about the projector setup on this bike; there must be a reason so few manufacturers use projectors.
I have my beam set as high as possible without blinding oncoming traffic, (just barely), and still when I roll into a turn the corner ahead disappears.
For extreme night riding I went big and added a set of Rigid DSS spots which literally turn night into day with 11,000 raw lumens of well focused power!
But now, when I switch them off, I feel like I’m using a candle with the stock setup.
Admittedly I’m running an unknown LED bulb set installed by the previous owner that doesn’t seem much brighter than a stock setup, but it’s certainly not worse when directly compared to stock. The low beam has a crisp upper cutoff which of course cannot illuminate corners while leaned.
Really like my Rigid, but they are not compatible with dimmers. Maybe I should have went with a dimmable option that could be used in traffic?
My OEM setup feels next to useless in nighttime canyon rides, almost dangerous at speed.
BD3887BF-DAF6-4489-9755-7BE109CB5297.jpeg
 
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moto.monk

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los angeles
Led upgrades I got off amazon where way brighter then stock but found that I had to slow down in corners. I could see a good half a block at night with the high beams on of course turn them off with a on coming car. Spots can help but I did not find it much useful with aux lights.
 

Sierra1

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Projectors are great for straight roads, and even then, if they're not adjusted correctly, they suck. My FJ had a single bulb with a glass lens. I ran a 55/100w low/high beam in it. That "old fashioned" single beam works better than anything else that I've used. Needless to say, whenever I met oncoming traffic, I had to dim them. You're just gonna have to do the same with whatever aux lighting you add. Just make sure there's a switch to shut them down.
 

Skytower

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Norfolk, VA
I love the performance of the Adaptive 2, JW Speaker lights that I went with. Twisty roads are not nearly as dangerous in the dark as before.
I didn't like the price of them, but I spend a lot of time riding at night. No more surprises in the dark twistys anymore, at least none due to unlit corners :D
Perhaps you can figure out a way to mount one in the center, but I went with a pair: https://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?threads/jw-speaker-8691-adaptive-lights-as-aux-lights.28794/

They light the inside of the corners, no matter how hard I lean, and I use all but the last outside 1/4" of my rear tire. I save that 1/4" for emergencies ;)
 

Niterunnr

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Irvine, CA
Thanks for the input, but turning off a good light source is exactly the problem. I’m finding on dark twisty roads that the bright oncoming headlights combined with the razor sharp cutoff make it almost impossible to see through the corner and therefor very dangerous. I don’t remember this problem on my four other bikes, but admittedly (lucky) I do a lot more canyon carving lately.
I need something better.
 

Niterunnr

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Irvine, CA
I love the performance of the Adaptive 2, JW Speaker lights that I went with. Twisty roads are not nearly as dangerous in the dark as before.
I didn't like the price of them, but I spend a lot of time riding at night. No more surprises in the dark twistys anymore, at least none due to unlit corners :D
Perhaps you can figure out a way to mount one in the center, but I went with a pair: https://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?threads/jw-speaker-8691-adaptive-lights-as-aux-lights.28794/

They light the inside of the corners, no matter how hard I lean, and I use all but the last outside 1/4" of my rear tire. I save that 1/4" for emergencies ;)
Replied before I saw your post. A bit miffed I spent on a quality set of aux lights that only work “off road”.
I’ll look into this option. Once you have good lights, you’ll wonder how you lived without them
 

Skytower

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Replied before I saw your post. A bit miffed I spent on a quality set of aux lights that only work “off road”.
I’ll look into this option. Once you have good lights, you’ll wonder how you lived without them
I don't want go ride in the dark without adaptive lights, ever again!20200811_071835.jpg20200811_071921.jpg
 

Sierra1

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Thanks for the input, but turning off a good light source is exactly the problem. I’m finding on dark twisty roads that the bright oncoming headlights combined with the razor sharp cutoff make it almost impossible to see through the corner and therefor very dangerous. I don’t remember this problem on my four other bikes, but admittedly (lucky) I do a lot more canyon carving lately.
I need something better.
You're gonna have to find a less traveled twisty, or wait until about 3am, when everybody is asleep. But, then there's the wildlife to worry about at that time. . . . and, extra light doesn't do much good when they wait 'till the last second to jump in front of you.
 

cyclemike4

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Sep 18, 2016
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ky
I travel crooked roads mostly after dark. I cant see a thing and at times would loose the road completely in a turn. I put tractor lights low on my crash bars. They have a spread like work lights. When i lean into a corner and the headlight beam goes off the road the 45 degree spread of light from the tractor lights take over covering where i need to see. I can also see extemely well off the side of the roads and pick animals out very fast. The reach out just about as far as my low beams and the light is very diffused and im not getting bright lighted from drivers so they stay on all the time after dark or in bad weather. I wont ride without them. I only have 45 dollars in the whole set up!
 

twinrider

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Sep 28, 2011
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Yokohama
Not sure how I feel about the projector setup on this bike; there must be a reason so few manufacturers use projectors.
I have my beam set as high as possible without blinding oncoming traffic, (just barely), and still when I roll into a turn the corner ahead disappears.
For extreme night riding I went big and added a set of Rigid DSS spots which literally turn night into day with 11,000 raw lumens of well focused power!
But now, when I switch them off, I feel like I’m using a candle with the stock setup.
Admittedly I’m running an unknown LED bulb set installed by the previous owner that doesn’t seem much brighter than a stock setup, but it’s certainly not worse when directly compared to stock. The low beam has a crisp upper cutoff which of course cannot illuminate corners while leaned.
Really like my Rigid, but they are not compatible with dimmers. Maybe I should have went with a dimmable option that could be used in traffic?
My OEM setup feels next to useless in nighttime canyon rides, almost dangerous at speed.
View attachment 70735
Pull the LEDs bulbs and replace them with Morimoto 35 watt HIDs. They're very bright and focused perfectly with the projector setup, and also extremely reliable. https://www.theretrofitsource.com/h7-morimoto-elite-HS-H7?quantity=1
 

SHUMBA

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ONTARIO, CANADA
Hmmm, Morimoto lights.
Do they fit without any fuss or alterations?
The OEM lights on the Tenere are a disgrace...period.
I added three LEDs to my bike (see photo)
I generally don't ride at night, too many critters. My LEDs light up the ditches.
The primary reason I installed these LEDs is to make my bike more visible in daytime conditions. They are very bright, just shy of 10,000 lumens in total.
Yammer hammer has to clean up their act and install OEM LED lights Honda does.
SHUMBA

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SHUMBA

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For sure, unfortunately, the KTM bikes are too tall for me.
Oh my picture from previous post
SHUMBA


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EricV

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HID lights require ballasts, which means a spot to mount them. The nice kits have super slim ballasts and it's not as hard to locate a spot for them, but you will have a wire running out the back of your headlights to the ballasts, so it's not quite as plug and play as some of the LED kits are.

The 'bulb' in the headlight isn't really much of an issue, it's just the nature of DOT cut offs and projector lights. Good aux lighting is awesome, but you always have to shut it down with on-coming traffic. I used to run the only brand of DOT legal low beam HID aux lights on the market in the US. Sylvania Xenarc 1010. A pair worked very well for lighting the corners and I could leave them on in traffic w/o getting flashed. 1st Gen HID with warm up times and bulky ballasts and now unobtainable anyway.

I used to drive fast at night in the canyons above Irvine, so have a clue about what you're experiencing, but never rode those canyons at night. If you're looking for the holy grail of aux lights that you don't have to shut down for on-coming cars.... good luck with that.
 

EricV

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You'll get those for your bike right about the time the AI is available to aim/re-aim them for you as you ride. :p Skytower's adaptive lights are hideously expensive, but closer to what you want in something available now. LINK Only a tad over $1k for a pair.
 

Madhatter

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buda texas
im all for extra lights for day or night riding . my 12 had led headlights from cyclops and ran 2 sets of rigid lights on my bars . put the toggles next to my left thumb to flip them on and off . worked great . my 2019 has the headlights replaced with cyclops again but have not added any other lights at this time. have hardly ridden bike because of work (who knew the pandemic would make me so busy ) .
 

Madhatter

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forgot , deer season is coming soon , and already see most bucks with antlers all polished up (early rut ,maybe ) saw geese flying south in large groups a week ago (wonder if they know something we don't ). seeing at night is crucial.
 

Niterunnr

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Irvine, CA
You'll get those for your bike right about the time the AI is available to aim/re-aim them for you as you ride. :p Skytower's adaptive lights are hideously expensive, but closer to what you want in something available now. LINK Only a tad over $1k for a pair.
Something for the Clearwater crowd.
Gotta pay to play.
 

Skytower

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Skytower's adaptive lights are hideously expensive
I agree! I did some research, trying to get what I wanted without buying a bike that already had them, but it was not to be. I cringed when I clicked the purchase icon... I don't cringe in dark corners anymore, so it's worth it ;)
If I had the fab skills, I'd remove the stock light and use one of the JW lights. Even if I did, I'm working out of a hotel for the rest of this year...
 
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