Sensible lighting upgrade (bulbs, relay & harness, etc)

[oldndumb]

We know you only intended to share your expertise and had no other motivation. And it only adds to S21FOLGORE's thread.

Interesting re your comment about using 85 for the ground on a diode equipped relay. Since it is obvious to all that I barely know my way around a wire I'll fess that I was quoting the Bosch manual on relays. Since it was probably authored by some marketing type I'll go with your advice. 

[xsephirot]

IF you really want to go that route (two LED driving lights to replace stock single head lamp) , I'd suggest to take a look at cyclops adventure's offerings. To be precise, their " long range optimus" lamp, with round housing.
They will fit right in between stock head lamp mounting tabs, they can be used with dimmer, AND you can put lens cover (filter)on to give them clear cut off just like DOT approved head lights. (Also, keep in mind that because they are "snap into place" covers, it doesn't matter which way you mount the lights.)

* I have no affiliation with that vendor, cyclops adventure, other than purchasing a set of LED lights.

How they look (on Monster)

My set up (notice right hand side and left hand side are different lens ? 10 degree spot on the left, 20 degree "slightly wider beam" on the right.







Here's an example of using them as "head lights".
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21189581&postcount=263

The products
http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/-Long-Range-Optimus-LED-Auxliary-light-Round_p_10.html

I'll cover this subject after the headlight story.

Curious, how did you mount the 2 cyclops onto the forks? I bought these (square ones unfortunately - they didn't have round ones when I bought them).

[S21FOLGORE]

Mine are actually mounted on the frame tubes, using the mount from “Tech mount”.

http://www.techmounts.com/products/index.php?page_function=detail&product_id=195

A lot of online vendors who sell auxiliary lights carry this mount. (I believe what PIAA sells as “360 bracket “ is actually the same products.)

Initially, I was thinking to mount the LED lights on the forks.
To be precise, fork bottom cases. Some of you may already know,  there are many “kit”  (including Clearwater,) that use front fender mounting bolts to mount the lights on the fork bottoms.

However, on my S4R, fork bottom case does not have threaded bosses for mounting the fender. Instead, two plastic ring- clips are mounted on the fork bottoms and mounting bolts  (M6) are threaded into that plastic rings.

I just couldn’t trust these plastic rings and M6 bolts for mounting the lights, so I though about getting something like this

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/20994/i/pro-tek-fork-tube-clamps

and mount them on the forks, slightly below the lower triples.

(another option would be lumalink mount
http://www.lumalink.com/gallery.php?c=Ducati

I have seen their products in the fresh, and they are really nice. (and they should be , for that kind of money).

In the end, I decided to mount them on the frame, rather than the forks.
I will write about this subject later. (which product to choose, mounting options, etc.)

[S21FOLGORE]

As for the relay (85 and 86 terminal), for the purpose of this tutorial thread, I explained the most basic way (the way relay is normally used. )

Terminal 85 and 86 are interchangeable UNLESS there’s a diode in the relay.( It doesn't matter which one goes which, since what you’re powering is a coil inside of the relay.)

There are more advanced , creative ways to use relays, but that subject does not belong to this thread.
(Here’s one example
http://www.the12volt.com/relays/relaydiagram17.html
If you find it interesting, look around the site, you will find a lot more interesting stuff over there.)

[xsephirot]

Ah thanks for the links! Curious, where did you hook the negative leads from the lights to? I have the 2 negative U's hooked to the metal bracket but the connection is a little iffy there.

[S21FOLGORE]

I hooked up mine to the (additional) fuse panel .




You can buy small terminal block and use it as a ground bus.

http://www.waytekwire.com/item/78256/TERMINAL-BLOCK-4-GANG-100A/
http://www.waytekwire.com/item/78255/TERMINAL-BLOCK-5-GANG-100A/
http://www.waytekwire.com/item/78257/BUSBAR-COVER-FOR-2304-2305/

(cover is not necessary.)

Connect one of the screw terminals and battery negative post  (use 12 gauge wire), then mount the terminal block somewhere convenient, such as under the seat, under the fuel tank, behind the side cover. Then, you can connect negative leads from the LED lights onto this terminal block. A lot more solid ground connection and looks neat / clean.(take a look at the example photos in 5-gang terminal’s link page.)

[xsephirot]

Ah that is genius. Thanks! Now I may have to solder some longer lines to the negative lines to make it all the way to the back of the bike...

Are you rerouting all your fuse lines to the additional fuse panel (i'm assuming that it's an electronic one?)

[S21FOLGORE]

Check out posi-lock before grabbing soldering iron.
http://www.posi-lock.com/posilock.html

When working on vehicle electrical project, this connector is very useful. (especially when you need to shorten / lengthen the wire a little bit).
They are re-usable, too.

[S21FOLGORE]

Okay, so here’s a little bit better beam shot at night.


First, low beam + Cyclops LED lights 10% brightness



Next, low beam + Cyclops 40% brightness



Then, low beam + Cyclops 70% brightness



And, high beam + Cyclops 100% brightness



Here’s the video shot from the front of the bike.


With my set up, Cyclops LED lights are controlled by Skene design’s programable dimmer, and there’s no ON / OFF switch. When the ignition is on, LED lights come on, and stay on all the time. Of course, you don’t have to do this kind of set up. You can just install them with simple ON / OFF switch. But I can guarantee you that you would be a lot happier with dimmer set up. (If you are going to go through all the trouble of fitting auxiliary lights on a Monster anyway.)
I installed three position toggle switch on the left side of handle bar (on clutch reservoir stay), so that I can change the brightness easily while riding.
The link for programable dimmer.
http://www.lights.skenedesign.com/IQ_175.shtml

[S21FOLGORE]

Are you rerouting all your fuse lines to the additional fuse panel (i'm assuming that it's an electronic one?)

I missed this question.
The additional fuse panel is for the accessories I've installed on the bike.
I will explain about the fuse panel stuff in the next post.
(The one I have on my bike is a simple fuse block that uses ATM (mini) fuse. )

[S21FOLGORE]

Trying to show the headlight + auxiliary light beam pattern in motion.
Photographing the beam pattern is hard enough. Taking video is even harder. For this video, I mounted Mobius under the turn signal stalk.

Lighting 01

Although it’s not really a good video quality,at least you can see that stock Bosh lamp isn’t actually that bad, after harness / relay mod and decent bulb.
You can see very sharp cut off in low beam. (and the low beam has nice, wide spread to the side. It casts a little bit more light on right hand side.)
You can also see high beam works pretty well. The yellow-ish light is coming from Cyclops lights.

[xsephirot]

Thanks for the video! I am quite impressed by your stock headlamp after the mod. And so nice of you to turn off the high beams mid turn haha.

BTW, I was rereading your first page and that headlight example on advrider is actually mines hahah. Sure wish there was a round option when I got my square ones. It was really hard to get the lights to fit under the front cowl, had to use alot of spacers stacked against each other which causes my left hand light to constantly droop lower and lower after a long day of riding. I need to find a longterm solution fix. Also, I routed my dimmer relay lines to the stock h4 relay and as a result the high beam tap switch doesn't work since it keeps both low and high beam on so the dimmer doesn't know to cut off.

[S21FOLGORE]

Dash-cam footage from Monday night.
This is why you want good headlight(s).
Also, this is why you need to keep your speed down ( in the situation like this.)

Deer

[Qomomoko]

Still on part II and also reading Daniel Stern Lighting and other help from Beaver Power and such.
Is it possible to update/re-link the photos/pics on the thread.

Fantastic thread, should have been one of my first reads when I first realized how weak our harness is.

Thanks again to DMF

[S21FOLGORE]

I will try. (Though, it's going to take some time. I first have to find my original photos.)
Sorry, Photobucket screwed this up. (It's all their fault.)