testrider Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Hi all, I just ordered a pair of Hella FF50 driving lights from ebay. I have a few questions that I would appreciate your comments: - What's the best mounting position for these lights? Do you have some pics that I can see? what kind of brackets do you use? - Mine is a 97 XX with 390W alternator. However, I don't have to run fuel pump/LCD dash/FI computer like the FI bikes so I do have more reserve than FI bikes. Still, are these additional lights (55wx2=110w) going to strain my alternator? I don't have anything special beside the stock 55w low and 55w high beam, plus a single 15/50w tail light bulb (and some rear LED brake lights that are insignificant in power consumption). I have a Widder heated vest but I rarely use it (that consumes 35w I believe) Thank you for any help/info/comments. -Mike- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flitemdic Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Mike: I've got PIAA X002's on mine. I am thinking I'm going to leave them off though, as I'm putting the 'bird back together for TBME. My R/R started to go awhile back, and I'm not sure if adding the extra lights sent it out sooner, or just added to the problem or what. After asking around here, and adding some other stuff, I think I'm pretty much set with the HID. Also, there are some very bright LED set ups on Ebay that make you just as visable, and draw a fraction of the power. Beonwacko, BartonMD, Rockmeupto125, and Oldgeezer are really, really good resources for electrical type stuff. Also, for what you can do in the extreme, check out Warchild's "nighttrain" on his personal site. BTW, and FWIW, mine's a 1998, with the same power output as yours, and until the R/R started to go, the lights were really nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonox Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 For rare use of the heated clothing, you shouldn't have problems. Mine, admittedly, is EFI, but the doing the sums seems to indicate that both types have roughly the same number of spare watts. I run HID mains (ie about 26 watts less total than the stockers) and my voltmeter tells me that the bird is happy burning all the lights and still generating 13.5 volts down to 3000revs. I can run the 40W heated grips, cruise control 15W and everything else (10W) flatout as well, but have to be pulling at least 4000rpm to keep the stator happy. Recommend installing a voltmeter and riding off that - if you can't get the heated gear and all lights on together, drop a gear or two and get the revs up, or turn off a light or two and slow down a little. (Best thing i ever did - well, after the HID of course!) Mine has a relay based switchboard - slightly difference to WC's, but means i can run light duty hookup around the flexing bits (ie up to the bars) without worrying about cracking leads or resistance on the bars. (see the boxes above the clutch reservoir below. Voltmeter under the main left side instruments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
testrider Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 Thank you all, for the info. I appreciate it. Bonox, you have a nice setup there. How did you install your lights by the mirrors? Were they attached to the mirror mounting bolts? Did they create more vibrations on the mirrors? Thanks again. -mike- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warchild Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 - What's the best mounting position for these lights? Do you have some pics that I can see? Yeah, I gotta couple pics you can see....... And here is the current setup I have on my Night Train. This arrangement is several orders of magnitude superior to any of my previous set-ups. It features 4300K HID lamps in both high- and low-beam stock lamp housings, and Philips HID (PHIDs) Driving Lamps mounted high and wide: Source for these brackets: http://www.blm-accessories.com/AuxLights.cfm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonox Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 testrider mine are the same as WC's. In the pic, they are just a pair of 3mm angle section aluminium strip. They don't cause the mirrors to vibrate more than usual and they are only mounted 3mm further out than stock. My update was to cut the mounts down to look pretty and annodise them. My idea is different to WC's in that i'm not using spot lights, and the angle mounting of my oval lights means that when you bank into a turn, the long axis of the ellipse becomes parallel to the road giving lots of light through a turn. I rarely use my as straight line driving lights - they are cornering lights that fill in the cutoff in the main lamp when you bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beondwacko Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 That's some nice bling! HID aux lights. Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZDave Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 Gees Warchild, D'ya ever clean that thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warchild Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 Gees Warchild, D'ya ever clean that thing? Cleaning a bike wastes valuable riding time. I'll eventually catch up with some rainfall somewhere... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RXX Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 Just a thought.... Consider HID's before the driving lights. You may see that you do not need them. The HID's are THAT good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlasticxxHead Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 I have a set of fog lights running off my 97.. HID low beam, (35w) Halogen High Beam (55w) 2X100w fog lights... They work well to light up the signs and the turn angles when sweeping.... I an thinking about going to driving light instead though.. MOST IMPORTANTLY GET AN HID.... First priority for a lighting upgrade... If you don't have the bucks for it you can get some cheapy driving lights and mount them up to help.. But you are always better off with the HID they are more rea$onable now than ever.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
testrider Posted June 8, 2006 Author Share Posted June 8, 2006 Ok, I just received the FF50 driving lights and they are well made. It came with relay, wires and switch. Now the questions are: - I checked out BLM for the brackets but at $103 a pair it's ridiculous. I'm sure they are well made but at $100+ I'm going to try to cut my own :-) So any recommendations? - what's a good source to tap for switched power to drive the relay? (The included relay has a built-in 15A fuse so I'm going to put it right under the seat and then run wires all the way to the front) Thanks! -mike- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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