Lights & Lighting

[DavidFL]

Lights & more lights for night riding...

Not 100% happy with what I've got on the Vstrom now, I've been researching for some more power to hopefully light up the night sky ++

Denali seem to have the best reputation, but oh man do you ever pay over the top for those lights.
The best option I found was Baja Design Lights from Canada

Baja Designs

And then I stumbled across Mach1 lights Thailand
MACH1 Lights Co.,Ltd.

With a shop - Adventure Heaven - in Chiang Rai. Woo-hoo!

Owned by a smart educated Thai guy, Khun Tee, who rides a BMW 1200GS & graduated in mechanical engineering, and has a masters in construction management. He works one week in Bangkok & one week off in Chiang Rai.

So you need to make an appointment to meet him. I made an appointment & rode over from Chiang Khong.

We didn't get off to a good start

but once he had finished his somtam down the road we had a brilliant conversation.

I only wanted to check out the spec of his lights & see if the lenses were cut properly & compare them to the Baja Design.

No problem, out came some Baja Design Lights & a spec sheet with prices.

I was blown away. Here was a man who genuinely knows his stuff.
He also has his own brand Mach1 lights

The specs are a bit similar, but I'm pretty hooked on the Baja Design lights.

The set I want

40W Leds @ 9,500 baht.

That is superior to the crappy 12-16W Chinese Leds available locally.
I want the real deal. - blinding light to ride safely at night.

Now to sell the D-tracker.....

At the moment Mach 1 lights are located here Google Maps

But Tee will soon be moving closer to town at his family house.
He is only in Chiang Rai one week at a time & then a week in Bangkok @ work.
So you need to confirm an appointment.
Facebook contact: MACH1 Lights Co.,Ltd.

 

[canthai]

Tried to open attachments - error message
Win 10 running Firefox.
All updates up-to-date

 

[DavidFL]

Tried to open attachments - error message
Win 10 running Firefox.
All updates up-to-date

One of the complications of working late at night. Fixed now I believe.

 

[canthai]

Thanks David. The ones you like seem a very good price.
Picture seems to show 2 LED Hi beam pencil beamand 2 LED diffuser low beam
Is this correct ?

 

[canthai]

Sent Message via FB to see if he will send via EMS. Mentioned I saw your post on GT Rider, so any kickbacks gratefully appreciated !!! 555

 

[DavidFL]

Thanks David. The ones you like seem a very good price.
Picture seems to show 2 LED Hi beam pencil beamand 2 LED diffuser low beam
Is this correct ?

Yes I believe so. That's the beauty of the Baja Design lights.

Some Baja Design options.
1. Baja Designs

2. Baja Designs

He also had some bigger 50W Baja Design light kits, but that was way above my budget.

I reckon he can get anything from Baja & fit it for you easily, but he also has his own Mach1 lights.

 

[canthai]

Ordered. Will send EMS
Thanks David

 

[DavidFL]

Ordered. Will send EMS
Thanks David

How did you go:?
I'm hoping to get mine in a couple of days before Mukdahan & Savannakhet.

 

[canthai]

Excellent service. Received them in 3 days.
I have them up for sale - can not fit them where I would like them, so once I sell these I will shop for some smaller ones.
Ad in parts for sale

 

[DavidFL]

Another option for lights

GT Pro Light

 

[Ian Bungy]

Hell of a Price for all those Light! Incredible!

 

[DavidFL]

I've opted for the Baja Design 20W Led Squadron Sport lights for 12,900 baht.
Decided to pass on the Chinese Goldrunway lights.
BTW the Mach1 50W Led spotlight are 20,000 baht.
I sincerely hope I get my moneys worth with the Baja Design lights.
I've grown weary of Chinese products not really delivering the quality advertised or not lasting.

 

[DavidFL]

Here's an interesting review of lights

 

[DavidFL]

And another review

 

[DavidFL]

More ideas...

 

[DavidFL]

The guy to fit them for you is North Thailand's # 1 motorbike electrician Mr Kong @ Kongs Motorbike Electrics in Chiang Rai.

A bit of a comparison for those who maybe interested.
Coming home from a Mekong Pizza night @ the GT, riding on R1290, Paradise road.

East of Kiu Khan & looking down towards the Mekong

With LoBoo high beam only

With the Loboo high beam + Mach1 High Beam on together

Plenty of good light to still ride at a decent pace.

Further long, ascending the big hill after the Paradise Road sign, en route to the View Coffee

Loboo lights - high beam only

Loboo High Beam + Mach1 High Beam

Mach 1 High beam only. No Loboo

The visibility could actually be increased if did not use the yellow filter on the Loboo, but used both white lights.
However I have a strong fancy for the yellow filter because it is much easier to be seen in the day, it gets used all the time & left on at night. I have not yet felt the need to run the white lens when I have the Mach1 lights on, but maybe on a long night ride that will change.

 

[DavidFL]

See also

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Hi everyone, I installed some fog lights on my Himalayan a while ago. They're the kind of fog lights you get from Lazada in which you have 12 or 15 LEDs in one fog light aligned in rows of 3. Most likely crap from China. They seemed ok at first, installation went fine and I ran a resistor in...

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Will lights Make Me Safer?

In the last year I have been up and down the 107 from Tha Ton to Chiang Mai so many times I know almost every bump, pothole and dirt patch. Recently its been getting obvious that the increase in slow moving heavy trucks, often with trailers, is causing a lot of pick-up and truck drivers to lose...

www.gt-rider.com

 

[DavidFL]

Update testing lights at night

1 centre yellow running light for day time use around.

This single light is from the 1st set of Loboos I bought via Steve Prince, but after 50,000 kms 1 control box failed (no complaints after 50,000 kms), so I ended up with 2 working lights.
I had thought of selling them, but realized I would not get much for them, so decided to keep them & put one on the front centre for day time, a running light for use around town; & so now have a spare back up light.

Then for day time running lights on tour, out of town I bought a set of 60W Crees @ 1200 baht.

ไฟสปอร์ตไลท์ มอเตอร์ไซค์ หลอด CREE รุ่น L6X LED 6ชิป กำลังไฟ 60watt มาพร้อม ครอบเหลือง 2 ชิ้น และ ขาจับ 2 ชิ้น ในราคาสุดพิเศษ+ส่งชุดสายไฟ | Lazada.co.th

ไฟสปอร์ตไลท์ติดมอเตอร์ไซค์: สามารถตัดหรือปรับแต่งได้ตามความต้องการที่แท้จริงของคุณ สปอร์ตไลท์ติดมอเตอร์ไซค์: ง่ายต่อการติดตั้งและใช้งานง่ายต่อการติดตั้งและถอดออก led light for motorcycle: ง่ายต่อการติดตั้งและใช้งานปรับปรุงประสิทธิภาพการทํางานได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ ไฟสปอร์ตไลท์มอเตอร์ไซค์...

www.lazada.co.th

These are placed low down, where the original yellow Loboos where.

At 60W they are too bright for use around town, but will certainly get you noticed out on tour.
I'm a fan of yellow running lights, as they are more obvious, stand out more when there are so many vehicles - bikes & cars - with white running lights on the road. Yellow is the way to go.

These spots also have yellow lens can also be removed to have a bright white light.
However I don't feel I need to do that with the other spotlights I have on the bike.

So the real deal spotlights = Loboo.
Both the white sets I bought from Jamie at JJ Enginering.
I had some trouble with these lights in the wet season with water ingress, but Jamie saw that the warranty was honoured & the lights replaced (1 set) & repaired (1 set). Nice work Jamie, your efforts were much appreciated - excellent work.

The question was where to mount the 2 sets?
I had 1 spot already mounted mid level.

Where to put the other - as high as possible. Kong came up with a perfect solution, with the result the set was piggy-backed onto the original Baja Design bracket, with the Baja Design lights.

The Loboo spotlights have 3 levels
Low - 10 Watts / 800 Lumens
Medium - 36 Watts / 4000 Lumens
High - 76 Watts / 8000 Lumens

With the all spotlights all on low

With all spotlights on high.

Blinding light, & exactly what I was seeking for safe riding at night.

A couple of poor shots out on the road, facing up an incline.
I need to go back out a 2nd time with a riding shot, after I get my rebuilt Ohlins reinstalled early next week.
Some readjusting of the spotlights maybe necessary.

It was not easy setting these lights up. Each set of lights has a manual override switch, that has to be turned on first.
The Baja Design lights are wired into the high beam switch only.
The Yellow Cree running lights are turned on / off manually.
The Loboo lights have separate control box & switches with 3 levels each. I would prefer the two white spotlight sets to be wired direct into the high beam switch, but this more complicated because of the separate control box each set has. However we will have a go at this in the coming weeks.

If anyone needs any spotlight or electrical work I can highly recommend Kong in Chiang Rai.

รà¹à¸²à¸à¸à¹à¸à¹à¸à¸à¸£à¹à¸§à¸´à¸ª · 915/3 à¸.à¸à¸«à¸¥à¹à¸¢à¸à¸´à¸ à¸.à¹à¸§à¸µà¸¢à¸ à¸.à¹à¸¡à¸·à¸à¸ à¸.à¹à¸à¸µà¸¢à¸à¸£à¸²à¸¢ 57000 0812891647 à¹à¸¡à¸·à¸à¸ Chiang Rai 57000, Thailand

âââââ · Motorcycle repair shop

goo.gl

Chiang Rai Big Bike Repair - Service

Hi, I broke the brackets for my extra lights and need to get some new ones made out of steel. Any recommended shops in Chaing Rai that could do simple fabrication quickly?

www.gt-rider.com

Can the alternator runs these lights for any length of time, is a valid question?
Well they are not all on for any great length of time, because as a respectable rider / driver, you are constantly dipping your lights onto low beam.
I have yet to run with lights on full high beam for 20 minutes+, that will be the long test 45 minutes on full high; however with the 3 sets of spotlights having manual over ride switches, you can turn off some as you go.
Or that's the theory, let's see what happens in practice coming back from a Mekong Pizza in a few days.

I hope some of you riders find this info helpful.

 

[Heineken]

Bloody hell David only 9 spotlights + your headlights


Im sure you will be seen with that many lights, the very top lights next to the Baja design are too close to each other IMO, the light blends together as one


I am a firm believer that the yellow lights are the best option for daytime running lights, they are alot more noticeable, I also have the Loboo on my Honda NC750X and they have the flip up yellow lense so I could use as a white light at night if I wanted....................................I rarely ride at night though, I prefer to be sitting having a few beers in the evening, not riding motorbikes


On my X-Max I was running 2 small white spotlights up under the indicators, I recently changed them to small Kirin lights off Lazada @ 800 Baht a set, which have a yellow appearance front on, move slightly to the side and the light is white, I think it is from the lense design.


I prefer the lights up high, not on the lower forks where most mount auxiliary lights on scooters as mounting options are limited, I made my own mounting plates out of a bit of flatbar mounted behind the plastics, and the Kirin brackets are mounted to that on the outside, happy with the result and looks neat, plus the lights stay alot cleaner up away from the front wheel.

 

[DavidFL]

Bloody hell David only 9 spotlights + your headlights


Im sure you will be seen with that many lights, the very top lights next to the Baja design are too close to each other IMO, the light blends together as one


I am a firm believer that the yellow lights are the best option for daytime running lights, they are alot more noticeable, I also have the Loboo on my Honda NC750X and they have the flip up yellow lense so I could use as a white light at night if I wanted....................................I rarely ride at night though, I prefer to be sitting having a few beers in the evening, not riding motorbikes

1. 9 spotlights, because that's "the way the cookie crumbled." I had ended up with extra Loboos & thought I wouldn't get much if I sold them, so let's try & use them, to see if they can be set up nicely, & if it will work. To be honest I'm not sure I can run them all on high continuously for any extended length of time. If my calculations are right there's a total of 463 Watts on high on the front.
1. Vstrom high = 65W
2. Baja Design 2 x 20 = 40W
3. Cree Yellow 2 x 30 = 60W
4. Yellow Loboo 1 x 10 = 10W
5. White Loboo 4 x 72 = 288
Total = 463 W.

Accurately measuring the alternator output & the spotlight drain on the battery is the next task.
A 2013 Vstrom alternator puts out a claimed 375W. What a 2017 is supposed to produce I don't know exactly yet, maybe a tad more?
Fortunately all the spotlights can be turned off independently, so you don't have to run them all together.

2. Agree on the top Loboo fitted right on top of the Baja Design light, but that is the easiest, most convenient place to mount them, without making separate brackets.

3. Totally agree on the yellow running lights in the day. White really doesn't do it,, when most vehicles have white running lights. You're just another white light on the road.

4. I honestly think that the Loboos are the best lights to get now!
Multiple brightness levels
Low - 10 Watts / 800 Lumens
Medium - 36 Watts / 4000 Lumens
High - 76 Watts / 8000 Lumens

Most lights out there are less than 76W.
Those that are more than 76W don't seem to have multiple brightness levels.
Having 1 super powerful spotty was an option I was looking at, but then thought if it fails you have none, but with 2 sets of Loboos on you have more than enough & back up if one set fails.
If the BKK distributor would lift his game & provide better customer service, they would be a winner everytime IMHO.

As a kid I always remember crossing the Nullabor in Oz with Mum & Dad in the car, and at night was always in awe of the big truck spotlights you could see in the distance that would take up to 15-20 minutes before the truck was on you.

Rock on. I'm looking forward to more night riding. Living a dream......

 

[canthai]

As a kid I always remember crossing the Nullabor in Oz with Mum & Dad in the car, and at night was always in awe of the big truck spotlights you could see in the distance that would take up to 15-20 minutes before the truck was on you.

555 - Had a pair of Marchal 150W on my car back in the early 70's
People got the hint when they would not dim their high beam !
Switch them on at idle and you could hear the engine slow down !

 

[Ian Bungy]

I would be surprised if all that was Legal even? The one on the Beak looks out of place and spoils the profile of the bike? Main thing is you're happy so well done.

 

[Oddvar]

The DLT in Nan was not happy with the lights on the AT when I changed the ownership of the bike. Had to hand out a purple one.

 

[King of Jars]

The DLT in Nan was not happy with the lights on the AT when I changed the ownership of the bike. Had to hand out a purple one.

As if they would have a clue - but yes, if you can purple-fix such an issue, go for it. The alternative is an endless teasing by the purple-seekers ;-)

 

[Heineken]

The DLT in Nan was not happy with the lights on the AT when I changed the ownership of the bike. Had to hand out a purple one.

Would they not accept just having the lights turned off ?......................or are your lights wired direct to the ignition ?