BMW K bikes (Bricks)


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RS Rider

RS Rider
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I would like to add a pair of auxiliary LED driving lights to my bike for increased visibilty. I would prefer something that attaches to the front forks rather than having to drill holes in the fairing to mount. What are you guys and gals using? Recommendations?

Thanks,
Tom

    

robmack

robmack
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__________________________________________________
Robert
1987 K75 @k75retro.blogspot.ca
http://k75retro.blogspot.ca/
    

MartinW

MartinW
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Alternatively you can mount a rectangular LED under the fairing nose . The 75s has it mounted on an existing mounting bolt. The red LT has now had the same light mounted  under the fairing nose which required having a hole drilled. A reinforcing plate was used on the inside of the fairing on both bikes.
Regards Martin.
1985 K100RS auxiliary driving lights. Kane_t16


__________________________________________________
1992 K75s
    

RS Rider

RS Rider
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Bingo! That's what I'm after. I've been able to find them in Canada, too. I see that they come in spot light or flood light pattern also.

Thanks for your help.

    

Woodie

Woodie
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I have installed these as well on my RT and followed Duck's plan.  I bought a heated grips switch from him for the lights and also picked up the Eastern Beaver relay harness with the auxiliary lights leads.  It was a fairly straightforward install and the only challenge was my own brain struggling to understand even simple electrical things.  The first time I rode at night was fantastic in how much more light there was illuminating the road in front of me.  I tend to leave them on all the time as it, hopefully, makes me more visible to the folks in cars.


__________________________________________________
1985 K100RS auxiliary driving lights. Logo2111
1985 K100RT  52667
1990 K75RT 6018570 (project)

"Keep your stick on the ice.  We're all in this together."  Red Green
    

RS Rider

RS Rider
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Gold member
Woodie wrote:I have installed these as well on my RT and followed Duck's plan.  I bought a heated grips switch from him for the lights and also picked up the Eastern Beaver relay harness with the auxiliary lights leads.  It was a fairly straightforward install and the only challenge was my own brain struggling to understand even simple electrical things.  The first time I rode at night was fantastic in how much more light there was illuminating the road in front of me.  I tend to leave them on all the time as it, hopefully, makes me more visible to the folks in cars.
I, too, have an Eastern Beaver H4 relay harness but without a driving lights lead. I did wire the low beam cut-out through a spare rocker switch on the dash panel so I can switch the low beam off if I want to. Not that there is any particular useful function for that.

    

Dai

Dai
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Woodie wrote:The first time I rode at night was fantastic in how much more light there was illuminating the road in front of me.
If these are 'dip' beam type lights that illuminate the road close to the bike AND they remain on when you switch to high beam, you are seeing less of the light thrown by high beam. Because there is a spread of light on the road close to the bike, there may be more light on the road but not where you need it and it reflects back into your eyes, thus depriving your eyes of the furthest reach of the high beam. A standard K headlight is not brilliant (ha!) at the best of times as the reflectivity is down by at least 60% four years after manufacture (comparative figure from Cibie for their old Z-beam aftermarket headlights) and could be as much as 80% by now .

Any close-in lighting should switch off when high beam is switched on.


__________________________________________________
1983 K100 naked upgraded to K100LT spec after spending time as an RS and an RT
1987 K100RT
Others...
1978 Moto Guzzi 850-T3, 1979 Moto Guzzi 850-T3 California,1993 Moto Guzzi 1100ie California
2020 Royal Enfield Bullet 500
    

Point-Seven-five

Point-Seven-five
Life time member
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1985 K100RS auxiliary driving lights. Dscn2916
I have put them on five bikes now.  I mount them under the chin of the fairing to keep all the wiring inside the fairing.

I wire mine with w three position switch(with a heated grip switch).  Center off, one to 12v for always on(daytime conspicuity) and one to the high beam for night time riding. 

This lets me have them on in the daytime regardless of whether the high beam is on or not and then at night I can dip them to keep from blinding oncoming automobile drivers.


__________________________________________________
Present: 1991 K100RS "Moby Brick Too"
 
Past:
1994 K75RT "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS"
1988 K100RS SE "Special Ed"
1994 K75S "Cheetos"
1992 K100RS "Moby Brick" R.I.P.
1982 Honda FT500
1979 Honda XR185
1977 Honda XL125
1974 Honda XL125
1972 OSSA Pioneer 250
1968 Kawasaki 175
    

Woodie

Woodie
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Not sure at all what I specifically have Dai.  What I do know is that the auxiliary lights gave me the kind of illumination that I would get when running with the high beam on.  I was careful to cast the light down from them so as not to be a complete menace when out on the road at night.  

My winter list of work to do is now the spring list and aiming everything properly is on said list.  Bloody bike would start on the second hit every time when out in the shop and well below zero degrees so I ended up never getting to the maintenance.  The infamous K reliability will come back to bite me in the ass I'm sure.   Very Happy


__________________________________________________
1985 K100RS auxiliary driving lights. Logo2111
1985 K100RT  52667
1990 K75RT 6018570 (project)

"Keep your stick on the ice.  We're all in this together."  Red Green
    

RS Rider

RS Rider
Gold member
Gold member
Point-Seven-five wrote:1985 K100RS auxiliary driving lights. Dscn2916
I have put them on five bikes now.  I mount them under the chin of the fairing to keep all the wiring inside the fairing.

I wire mine with w three position switch(with a heated grip switch).  Center off, one to 12v for always on(daytime conspicuity) and one to the high beam for night time riding. 

This lets me have them on in the daytime regardless of whether the high beam is on or not and then at night I can dip them to keep from blinding oncoming automobile drivers.

Looks great! I think the under-fairing location looks more aesthetically pleasing than fork-mounted. I would just rather leave my fairing unmolested. If I don't like the look when fork-mounted I'll do what you have done. How many lumens are yours? Are they flood or spot beam?

Cheers,
Tom

    

Point-Seven-five

Point-Seven-five
Life time member
Life time member
Personally, I think they are more protected under the chin of the fairing. 

Mounting them is no big deal.  All I did was put two 1/4" holes for the mounting bolts.  They're underneath so you won't see the holes unless you're laying under the bike.  I like that the wiring is protected in the fairing and isn't being flexed as the forks work up and down.

My lights are the ones Duck linked to.  5-6 years ago they were everywhere on eBay, but now there are only a couple sellers left.  I have the spot beams to throw as much light downrange as possible.  I try to aim them off to the side of the road a bit to light up the eyes of the deer waiting to jump out in front of me. 

I can't recall what the lumens rating is, but they a rated at 10 watts which I think gives about the same light output as a 90-100 watt incandescent bulb.  Anything closer than 50 feet they will hurt your eyes like looking at an arc welder.  People have told me that they can easily see me coming from well over 2 miles away in broad daylight  As you can see from the photo, they are brighter than the headlight, especially off to the side where little old ladies in their bronze Buicks wait to cut you off..


__________________________________________________
Present: 1991 K100RS "Moby Brick Too"
 
Past:
1994 K75RT "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS"
1988 K100RS SE "Special Ed"
1994 K75S "Cheetos"
1992 K100RS "Moby Brick" R.I.P.
1982 Honda FT500
1979 Honda XR185
1977 Honda XL125
1974 Honda XL125
1972 OSSA Pioneer 250
1968 Kawasaki 175
    

RS Rider

RS Rider
Gold member
Gold member
Point-Seven-five wrote:Personally, I think they are more protected under the chin of the fairing. 

Mounting them is no big deal.  All I did was put two 1/4" holes for the mounting bolts.  They're underneath so you won't see the holes unless you're laying under the bike.  I like that the wiring is protected in the fairing and isn't being flexed as the forks work up and down.

My lights are the ones Duck linked to.  5-6 years ago they were everywhere on eBay, but now there are only a couple sellers left.  I have the spot beams to throw as much light downrange as possible.  I try to aim them off to the side of the road a bit to light up the eyes of the deer waiting to jump out in front of me. 

I can't recall what the lumens rating is, but they a rated at 10 watts which I think gives about the same light output as a 90-100 watt incandescent bulb.  Anything closer than 50 feet they will hurt your eyes like looking at an arc welder.  People have told me that they can easily see me coming from well over 2 miles away in broad daylight  As you can see from the photo, they are brighter than the headlight, especially off to the side where little old ladies in their bronze Buicks wait to cut you off..
I purchased the same ones-CREE 10W LED floods, not spot. The units on Drake's site look like the lens of the flood beams. I got mine from Maxpower LED Lighting in Toronto, Canada. Just checking their web site again and the specs show a rating of 800 lumens.

Thanks for your input.

    

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