Ducati Monster Forum

i think that ive been extremely patient, but im about to run out.....

(http://i25.tinypic.com/1z2q68w.jpg)

(http://i40.tinypic.com/1z5smk2.jpg)

had to call them on the phone to get a response, after waiting on hold for 10 minutes,
was told that
one;
they cant repair them there, theyre manufactued overseas and they dont stock spare parts
two;
they dont have ANY stock in their transition to the new factory/ warehouse, maybe in a month or so....
three;
that aside from daily operational emails, they wont reply, so maybe call back in a month....?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

i chopped off the date in the email pic....JUNE 16.
2 months with ZERO response;
when i had to initiate communication today, told,
"ehh call back in a month, we probably wont answer emails".....

WOW.
just wow.

If it is just detached you can fix that with a quick solder.  Go into a computer electronics shop and see if they will do it for ya.

I have soldered at least 10+ spots on my CA taillight to keep it working lol

If you can't find anyone I will fix it for free if you pay the shipping both ways.

yeah i can fix it here, got a good guy right next to the bike shop...
thats not the point;
its the HORRIBLE attention to detail/ customer service from them that im talking about here...

Wow, that's awful. When I got my C.A. tail light there was a mixup and I had to call them to get the correct light sent to me, then when I got that correct one part of the LED board was nonfunctional, so I again had to call them for a replacement. Although I had to deal with them twice over the phone, they were really understanding and they shipped replacements to me very quickly. It was just a pain in the arse since I had to wait to have installation complete, but other than that my experience with them was fine.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune.  :-\

 

yeah you cant really tell in the email,
but ive had ZERO problems with my CA unit on my 06 speed triple...
10,000+ well ridden miles with zero issues...

guess its just the vibration of the v-twin killed it....

nonetheless, their customer service in my case has been outstanding in its complete incompetence.....
frustrating and irritating;
ive kept my mouth shut since the end of june, but enough's enough......

JUNE 16 AND ZERO RESPONSE......

After you get the connection soldered back together, maybe put a drop of RTV between the transistor body and the board to dampen the vibrations.  That little thing is probably like a tuning fork vibrating constantly and eventually cracking the leads.  It almost looks like someone used acid core to solder that thing - lots of corrosion-looking stuff on the legs instead of nice and shiny like the other joints.

same thing happened to my light. exept ALL of the those things ( i think there are 3 of them??) shook loose. i ended up removing all the LEDs to put SMDs instead. the board is brighter, but it still sucks. im going to try to put reflective tape on the inside so its a bit brighter in the day light cause you cant see jack.

Sorry to hear you guys are having so many issues with your CA setups..
I read about stuff coming losse from vibration and incased all the connections with silicone before I installed it on my bike and
not onen LED has gone out yet.

Looking at that photo I would also just resolder the leg, I would also suggest touching up the solder joint directly under that leg, it also looks a bit sad, I soldered a number of dry solder joints on my CA LED brakelight before installing it.

I also saw a number of parts like that sticking up much higher than they needed to be, I desoldered them, trimmed the legs down and then resoldered them in place, and dropped a few dollops of silicone around on other components I figured may vibrate loose.

2 years on and it's still seems to be working fine.

I've too had major issues with these for both form and function.


This is true. They can't repair them because CA is just a middle man. Nothing more nothing less! Let's face it. These boards are pretty simple. 1970's technologies. Any body with a basic high school understanding of electronics can fix these. So why don't they(CA) just fix them?

This is why: These boards are manufactured in Ningbo China. I looked into this when i was researching/developing Vizi-tec's SupaNova SN490i. The factory sent me a list of prefabricated LEDs of popular motorcycles. The price for the Monster LED integrated board was quoted for ~$4.50 each for qty of 100 min. If i remember correctly the price dropped to ~$3 - $2 for 500-1000 or more pieces.

It will cost CA more to fix these then to send you a new replacement.

What's your plan?

I had a CA integrated taillight on my 848 for 2 days before it failed (left turn quit working). Sent it back, got a brand new one, and sold it. What a POS.

Devil's Advocate...  [evil]

14k on my CA integrated... no failures. Smoked lense, still pretty damn visible, except at hard angles.

Finally replaced it with a full custom tail, requiring a different light setup. Now my CA is sitting in a bucket... along with the reflectors, beer tray, emissions canister...

That said, from your experiences, it seems their "customer service" leaves a LOT to be desired.

Wow, that is some seriously craptastic soldering there.
The parts on the other side aren't bad, but the parts on this side are scary.
They look like some of my 4-beer work.
 :o

I'm confused - is the proper word "craptastic" or "craplacular"?   [laugh]

Well, either craptastic or craptacular would both work in this situation

It seems many people's experience with the CA tail lights end with component or board failure.  Mine did.  See this thread:

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=23274.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=23274.0)

Vizitech costs probably 3x as much but, as somebody else in that thread said, you get what you pay for in this case.

I love my Vizi-Tech. Bernard makes some amazing quality products...

Any word on Vizi-Tec?  I tried emailing a couple weeks ago but got no response and now his website is all jacked up.

I tried on about 4 or 5 occasions to purchase a ViziTech Tail light, everytime the reason for the delay was different, and then no more responses were forth coming, I have given up on the guy.

I'm pretty much to the point of giving up as well, I think I'll just get the Motodynamic tail light instead and hope it fairs better than the Clear Alternatives:  http://motodynamic.com/product_info.php?cPath=28_32&products_id=181 (http://motodynamic.com/product_info.php?cPath=28_32&products_id=181)

Someone flagged me to this post. Said you guys was talking about me.

First off. Before I go into details about the SupaNOVA and/or the next generation of it, I would like to set one thing striaght.
Vizi-tec.com is not my "Bread and Butter" so to speak. It does not pay my bills. Vizi-tec is simply a hobby of mine. It is something that allows me to combine my passions for motorcycles and electrical engineering. Nothing more. Lately it is proving to be more and more of a resource sink on my personal time. As a result i have shut down part of my site and have stop selling/manufacturing my small brake light modulators. I'm hoping this will free my time for more personal matters. Someone mention here that site is "jacked". That is why.
I just want some free time to ride like the rest of us.  [moto]

SN350/490i:
The second production batch went up for sale this past spring. It sold out in less then 2 months. This was much faster then i had imagine. If you where one of the 100 or so people who got one. Great [thumbsup]. For those of you who missed it. Sorry.
- Will more SN350/490i be produced? No. At least not in the near future. These things were not cheap/easy to manufacture. Lets just say it was a labor of love.

Next Gen SupaNova:  ;D
Like i said. This is a hobby of mine. I love to create new designs. So Yes. I do have something I've been working on. I have to be honest here. This new SupaNOVA will never be as "pretty" as the SN490i series. But it will kick a*s on how much light i puts out! To put it simply... it oozes light!!!!! See pic below.

Picture taken with garage door wide open at noon with all lights on. Very impressive light output. Good uniform dispersion pattern at the hardest of angles.
(http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt251/vizi-tec/SupaNova2/SupaNova-HSi_0.jpg)

Internal hardware of LED board. LAB/Automotive grade LEDs. Heatsink needed to keep efficiency of LEDs normal. 4 downwards facing bright white LEDs for lic plate illumination. Other PCA is an external current driver supply.
(http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt251/vizi-tec/SupaNova2/SupaNova-HSi_2.jpg)

(http://[url=http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt251/vizi-tec/SupaNova2/SupaNova-HSi_2.jpg]http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt251/vizi-tec/SupaNova2/SupaNova-HSi_2.jpg[/url])

Assembled LED board/heatsink. Gasket/seal to isolated LED optics from dirt etc.
(http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt251/vizi-tec/SupaNova2/SupaNova-HSi_5.jpg)

Two fans to keep things cool.
(http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt251/vizi-tec/SupaNova2/SupaNova-HSi_4.jpg)

First beta test unit was shipped this morning. Expect a review later/early next week. If everything test out, I'll invest in a production run batch and will start taking orders then.  So here you have it. What is happening with the SupaNOVA. Hope you have enjoyed the picture show. Now i'm off for a few cheers. It's Saturday night. Somewhere out there in San Jose there is a pint with my name on it. My "other hobby"  [drink]

Sorry. I get dozens of email each week. It is simply over overwhelming. Hence why i "jacked" up my site :)

Thanks!

-Bernard

That one looks pretty cool! $72 doesn't seem like a bad price either...

The price is right but the Vizi-Tec ones look a hell of a lot brighter and it looks like Bernard is alive after all so hopefully he'll have some tail lights available soon.

I received a package from Bernard in the mail today, just in time for me to evaluate it at some length (and hopefully write the review) this weekend.  Apparently I'm gonna need sunglasses.

8)

It doesn't exist without pics (unless there's some reason you can't)

There's no embargo on me talking about it, but I do want to do a proper evaluation and write-up (with pics and video) rather than a dribble of half-formed thoughts.  So you'll have to settle for one teaser photo...for now.

(http://homepage.mac.com/trenner/images/supanovaface1.jpg)

There will probably be something to keep from seeing the circuit board?

Here's the thread that I created to discuss the SupaNova HSi (and not threadjack this one):

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=28945.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=28945.0)

And here's my review of the HSi:

http://trenner.blogspot.com/2009/08/supanova.html (http://trenner.blogspot.com/2009/08/supanova.html)

Is there a vent for the fans?

Not sure what you mean? The SupaNova's lens have always been the un-frosted type. This allows for full exposure of the circuit board and LED devices. People seemed to like this feature on the SN490i. So i saw no reason to change with this version; Unlike the stock lens housing or the other aftermarket products which uses a frosted(shower glass type) lens housing.

Yes. There are holes on the top of the lens housing. These holes are also located behind a gasket that blocks ambient atmosphere from moving freely inside the clean(LEDs) compartment of the assembly. This will help to limit the amount of dust that can get inside over time.

bought it, wired up the signals so far (got dark couldnt do the main light as it needed soldering, i cut up the old harness)

and the signals are very sexy. light looks great. wish i bought it instead of the old CA unit.
i would have waited for visitec but my light broke and i needed something right now

I know this thread is old, but it helped me out so I thought I would chime in.
I just had to fix my Clear Alternatives taillight tonight. 
The other day a friend noticed that my taillight had a row of flickering red LEDs.  I took the lens off and sure enough, one row of red LEDs and one row of yellow LEDs for the indicators were out.  They were right next to each other on the far right.  By pressing on the LEDs, I was able to turn on the whole row of red or yellow by applying pressure to the bottom LED of the row.  I whipped out the soldering iron and touched up the solder on the LED posts and it works as good as new.  I did notice that when I melted the solder, the LED posts stuck out farther through the back of the board.  So they appeared to be coming loose.  The taillight has been trouble free for several years.  I hope this helps someone in future. 

UPDATE: complete change of opinion (sortof)..... ;)

after 4+ months of unanswered emails and interminable phonecalls,
clear alternatives finally re-stocked their warehouse/ supply of ducati taillights....
on my last call, i was handed off to a girl who simply took my name and address, no questions...
4-5 days later a warranty replacement arrived in the mail, no request for a return of the broken unit,
no questions period....!!!

but heres the kicker...
the reason i waited so long for a re-stock....??
theyve re-designed the unit...!!!

a company who actually listens, pays attention, and is interested in improving their product....?!?!?!?!?!?!
wow...

as youll see in the pics below, theyve rplaced all of the vibration-breakage prone long, tall and fragile components
with ?? surface mounted devices ?? im no electrician....
OBVIOUSLY much less prone to any vibration induced damages....
very cool...
if theyd only told me that the reason i was waiting so long for a replacement was this,
i'd have had no problem, certainly wouldnt gotten as aggravated or impatient...
nevertheless...
heres the NEW clear alternatives board for the monster;
electricians chime in....major improvement ??
looks like it to me, well find out tonight/ this week..... [thumbsup]
id be interested to hear exactly WHAT they did to improve this.....
any electrical/ efficiency improvements as well....??

(http://i36.tinypic.com/e5pvl3.jpg)

(http://i33.tinypic.com/1zu9o9.jpg)

(http://i34.tinypic.com/e3tas.jpg)

(http://i34.tinypic.com/k9ta9f.jpg)

(http://i34.tinypic.com/30adgs3.jpg)

(http://i35.tinypic.com/14y5zxi.jpg)

(http://i36.tinypic.com/261kt5g.jpg)

(http://i34.tinypic.com/24c61kn.jpg)

The new one looks good.
I bought a CA light 3 years ago.  It's on it's 2nd Monster and still going strong w/ no needed repairs.  I had to trim up the lens a little when I 1st installed it but other then that I've had no issues. 
Customer service does seem to suck recently though.

Hi,

My experience...

I've been using the tailight on the my 2003 Monster 800 for about 4yrs. No problems. I actually was in Las Vegas, so stopped in to pick it up in person. Super nice, efficient and he through is a few goodies for the hell of it...

A.A.