recommend LED aux lights?

[virtualdev]

Wow, I guess I'm just super broke or frugal or cheap or something.  $225 sounds like a fortune to me for LED driving lights.  I paid $25 each here, looks like they are a little less now:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009SAAK7G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009SAAK7G&linkCode=as2&tag=theborkeduniv-20&linkId=XNBWLU2YGH3RVS3I

Pics of them mounted on Snarf mounts:

[PaulP]

Virtualdev, you get what you pay for generally. I think you'll find that the cheaper lights are not very weather resistant. I've also found that the weak link in LED lights are not the emitters; pretty much everybody uses Cree emitters these days, but in the drivers. LEDs require a constant current source and often times this is where the corners are cut. Another place is inferior heat sinks. High power LEDs put out a lot of heat, but unlike incan bulbs, the heat must be removed or they will burn out quickly. Heat sinks are made out of aluminum and skimping on this saves cost at the expense of overall lifetime of the LED module. The cheap Chinese units also overstate their output figures considerably; like 100% or more.

Personally I want lights that are made for on-road use, will work as DRLs, will work as fog-lights, and can work as backup lights to get me home if the main headlamp goes out at night. Oh, and they have to be made well so they don't fail after a few hundred hours. So far only the lights that Todd got look like they will meet all those requirements, and for $110 they are a good value all things considered.

[virtualdev]

Agreed, I'm not saying they are the best engineered thing ever, but at 10% the cost I feel they are a good product.  I've run mine for a year so far in many different kinds of weather, no issues to speak of.  The 30 degree beam is about as wide as I'd ever want to go, narrower wouldn't hurt.

YMMV.

[Outback Jon]

I'm on my second year with some cheap (at the time) LED driving/work/off-road lights mounted to my tip-over bars.  (They were $75 each when I got them - similar ones are about $30 now)  They're 27W each, with an array of 9 LEDs.  (They replaced a set of 55W each halogen lights)  And they are BRIGHT!  For using half the power, they work really well.  They seem quite weather resistant, and have been through all sorts of horrible weather, both on rides and while parked.  Most of the "shell" of the light is a really large heatsink, so I expect them to work for quite some time.  I rode herd on a group ride of 12 bikes a couple of weekends ago, and the leader had no problem seeing that I was back there, so he knew the group was together.  They have been used as my only "headlight" when I had a HID unit go bad on my way to work.  I just aimed the right side one higher than usual (I have them aimed roughly with the low beam) so I could see a bit further down the road.  Everyone I've ridden with has commented about how much more visible they make the bike.

Speaking of this, I just replaced my headlight with an LED unit.  So far, I really like it.  I've gone through several HID units with failed bulbs, solenoids, or ballasts.  Loved the light, but didn't like the failure rate.  So I figured I'd give some of the new LED units a try.  I wound up with a Genssi LED headlight conversion kit.  Plug and play, has a decent looking heatsink with a fan, and runs 40W on high beam.  (20W on low- and keeps the low on when you go to high)  Uses two LED arrays (one for high, one for low) and claims 2200 lumens, which I believe.  (They list at $200 on their website, but I got them off Ebay for $85) 

[virtualdev]

Wow, those look pretty good if they actually perform.  Interesting, I'll have to put that on my wish list.  Looks like they are on Amazon too, sometimes easier than eBay to deal with:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KQ04YI8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00KQ04YI8&linkCode=as2&tag=theborkeduniv-20&linkId=CON72HW6FAYH7FKG

Did you leave the rubber headlight gasket off so the heatsink hangs out in the air?

[Outback Jon]

Did you leave the rubber headlight gasket off so the heatsink hangs out in the air?

Yeah.  For now.  I've already modded the gasket a bit to fit on the HID bulbs I had.  I have to mod it a bit more to fit on the LEDs.  I will be putting it back on, though.  (Didn't have time the other day when I did the install)  I think with proper trimming, it won't interfere much with the heatsink's function.  Without it, too much light (for my taste, anyway) comes back through the back of the bulb mount and lights up inside the fairing.  It isn't a lot of light, but it is a bit distracting.

Thanks for the Amazon link.  I keep forgetting to check there, and I would have saved $5.  But no complaints from the folks I got it from on Ebay.  California to NY in 2 days via USPS Priority Mail. 

[PaulP]

Jon,

How does the pattern look compared to the original and HID bulbs? I'm concerned it won't have the proper horizontal cut-off to prevent blinding oncoming traffic.

[Outback Jon]

How does the pattern look compared to the original and HID bulbs? I'm concerned it won't have the proper horizontal cut-off to prevent blinding oncoming traffic.

Well, I haven't had anyone flash their high beams at me.  Actually, it seems pretty good.  The designs have gotten much better in the last couple of years to be used in standard reflector headlight shells like the C10 uses.  I compared the placement of the LED arrays with the placement of the filaments in the standard H4 bulb I removed, and they're really comparable, so they throw light in a very similar way.  And the added advantage of both the low and high being on when on high beam is really nice.  If it weren't for the deer around here, it is almost nice enough to turn off my extra lights.

I'll have to get it out in some real dark one night, find a good wall, and get some pictures of the beams. 

I also love the "instant on" that LEDs provide when I switch beams. 

[PaulP]

Hmmm, I see the GENSSI kit on Amazon is for cars and comes with a pair of modules. If this is the same one you got Jon, what did you do with the second module? I might be interested in buying it from you if you don't have a use for it.

[Outback Jon]

Hmmm, I see the GENSSI kit on Amazon is for cars and comes with a pair of modules. If this is the same one you got Jon, what did you do with the second module? I might be interested in buying it from you if you don't have a use for it.

I've been debating keeping it as a spare or whatever.  Tell you what, if you don't mind it slightly used, I'll sell it to you.  My daughter's Subaru has H4 headlights and I wanted to try it to compare the light on a two light system.  It will only be used for one night to see how it compares.

[PaulP]

Sounds good to me. At least I'll know that it works!

[Zarticus]

Been running these for a year & a half, They are on day & night & have almost 15,000 miles of use. Never a problem & at $129 a pair they are a great deal. Yes they are from overseas but they ship fast & got mine in 5 days.
 http://24x7diy.com/product_info.php/cPath/33/products_id/63

[TinDog]

Has anybody tried these basic (cheap) "work lights", usually advertized usually as 18 watt CREE?  I've got my Hella FF50's mounted for night time use when I actually want the driving lights to help me see, but these LED's might be a way to be seen during the daylight hours.  A lot of sellers carry them on Amazon, eBay, etc. for about $20 each (+ or -); almost certainly all just re-branded versions of the same Chinese product.  These, or similar, come in both spot and flood patterns and supposedly put out about 900 to 1200 lumens depending on whose ad you read, so similar to a 55w driving or fog light for total lumens , but at 1/2 the cost and 1/3rd the power. 

I'm not very hopeful about the LED's being adequate to light up the road, but being bright, glary (?), and white/blue, they hopefully will nicely augment my triangle of light.

[PaulP]

I'm always wary of putting these kind of lights on the front of any on-road vehicle. They are not designed for that purpose and can cause a lot of glare for oncoming drivers, even in daylight if they are bright enough. I actually do know someone that put high output floods on the front of his car because of the dark back roads he often drives. He wanted to be able to see deer and other wildlife far out in front of him and off to the sides. I understand his reasoning, but he was ticketed for having illegal lights. I think it was a $250 fine or something like that. After that incident he didn't take them off, but did run them through a switch so they don't run all the time. Now he only uses them on those back roads, although he admits he sometimes forgets he has them on when he gets back on a main road or goes in town. Amazingly he has only been flashed a couple of times. I think that's because so many cars have HIDs and other very bright lights these days that most people think it's normal to be a bit dazzled by oncoming traffic once in a while. It's not, and I will flash people that have obviously "upgraded" their lighting to illegal levels. But I'm in the minority. Most people where I live won't complain even if you are quite obnoxious. It's called "Minnesota Nice", but I call it "Minnesota Wimp".

[WillyP]

I don't often buys LED's but when I do... http://www.superbrightleds.com/

[Pierre1960]

Hi!

I was wondering about the vibration if the Aux lights are installed on the bottom section of the shock-absorber.

[Daboo]

My current bike has them installed on the forks and the lights are working fine.

I highly recommend ADVMonster for LED auxiliary lights.  The quality is excellent and the prices are really inexpensive.  They have a thread over on ADVRider and there's a lot of satisfied customers there.

Chris

[Boomer]

I bought these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2PCS-10W-Bright-Cree-LED-Car-Motorcycle-Work-Driving-Fog-Light-Spot-Beam-Lamp/263572417463?epid=24017221311&hash=item3d5e23ebb7:g:GQMAAOSwQKBaukor

Yes, they are cheap, but I have 4 of them and not one has leaked or failed on me in 4 years of English weather and 2 crashes.
I have 2 mounted to the mirror brackets wired to come on with high beam, and 2 mounted to the forks wired to be on with low and high beam. The low ones are aimed to not dazzle other road users but the high ones are set for distance.

I also have a pair of LED strips mounted on the front of the forks wired to be on all the time.

Combined with an LED headlamp bulb the lights are better than my C14s, which ain't bad for a 29 year old machine. 

[connie1079]

Here is my 2000 Connie and the aux lights that are installed and the H3 15w l.e.d bulbs i use and they work awesome and very low power draw.