Cheap Auxiliary passing lamp from Walmart

[azuogu1]

I bought a set of Burners high performance driving light kits QH-87CD which cost me only $18, and I mounted it on the edge of my Hoppe Quadzilla fairing on my 2006 Midnight RSTD.

I wired it in to the CC port of the fuse box behind the lower front right cowling so that they come on with my headlight when I start the bike up. Check out my pix and here is the the link to the the lights on the Walmart website.

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Driving-Light-Kit/16680058

[djh3]

Glad you got some extra lighting there. But you need to be aware of a couple of things. You have 55 watt lights there, the factory passing lamps on the RSV are only 35w and for good reason. I have been told the charging system may be taxed with the 55w bulbs. Also you were discribing where you had it hooked up. Do some research on the passing lights and wiring for the RSV. You should have those with a fuse and a relay and switch to keep from possibly having a melt down. What gauge of wire are you running? Is it seperate switched? Heres a couple of links friend.

http://www.venturerider.org/relay/image002.jpg

Edited October 2, 2012 by djh3
added info

[pofarm]

If you are worried about the 55 watt bulbs, you can get 35 watt halogen bulbs here.

http://www.memotronics.com/product?pid=1124

Get a couple of spares, too. They can be hard to find.

[Wizard765]

Actually the bulbs for those are available at Lowes and Home Depot for around $8 and come in 35 watt. They are a complete sealed unit. I have the same lights on my 84 with the 35 watt bulbs. I think they put out lots of light and are easily seen from oncoming traffic.

[Cougar]

http://www.venturerider.org/relay/image002.jpg

[Cougar]

RELAYS !!!

[djh3]

I probably should have posted that the pic is curtesy of an article Freebird wrote. But was I correct Cougar on the wattage and wire size coments?

Wizard: I dont recall seeing any H3 type bulbs in my local Lowes. I think they have the PAR 36 bulbs (sealed beams) in like the lawn mower parts section, I havent looked for them.

[Cougar]

I agree,, and freebird didn't write most of the tech articles he just post them and gives credit to whom ever wrote them . when he post them it will say by Freebird. and that makes it confusing I guess.

[Wizard765]

The bulbs that the platinum burners from Walmart take are called MR16 and come in a variety of wattages. 35 actually seems to be very popular. It is a complete unit with reflector, bulb and glass face. Not just a separate bulb.

 

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/CTGY/MR16-35W12V

 

This link is an example but they are available all over the place including Home Depot and Lowes.

 

I have mine mounted on Squidley's brackets and really like them.

 

They are wired with a relay AND a switch to the aux so that they go off with the key. Usually I just leave the switch on and they then come on with the bike.

[dacheedah]

Cougar, visually I like a smaller relay and a bigger battery, just sayin 4 hangin in da garage

[twigg]

I have a pair of those .... at $18, why wouldn't I?

 

As stated up thread, they must be wired through a relay ... That's 110W you have going on there, and few bikes have wiring that will cope.

 

They are described as "Driving Lights", a function for which they are entirely useless. As passing lights, always on, they are excellent but way over-powered.

 

I got 35W bulbs from Amazon for $3.50 each.

 

Or you could fit a single HID driving light and get real light out of it, but it would cost more.

[guns_usn_20]

Those same MR-16 bulbs are sold by Kuryakyn For $12.99:confused24: I think they are charging for the name.

Edited December 10, 2012 by guns_usn_20
I can't spell

[Guest tx2sturgis]

How badly are the lights vibrating when you are rolling? They seem to be mounted on the very edge of the plastic 'trim' around the fairing.

 

If you dont have some sort of metal backing or bracing on the mounts, you can be sure that those lights will vibrate, and loosen, and maybe crack the plastic. If they are vibrating when the bike is rolling, the filaments wont last long.

 

Others might not say this, they are too polite, But I will: Looks bad, son. But since looks are subjective, it might look ok to you.

 

Still, you should re-inforce the mounts if you havent already.

 

The others here are correct, those bulbs should be changed to 35 watts, and you need to have a switching relay as stated earlier. If you dont do these things, you will have problems later on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Globewalker]

The bulbs that the platinum burners from Walmart take are called MR16 and come in a variety of wattages. 35 actually seems to be very popular. It is a complete unit with reflector, bulb and glass face. Not just a separate bulb.

 

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/CTGY/MR16-35W12V

 

This link is an example but they are available all over the place including Home Depot and Lowes.

 

I have mine mounted on Squidley's brackets and really like them.

 

They are wired with a relay AND a switch to the aux so that they go off with the key. Usually I just leave the switch on and they then come on with the bike.

 

 

+1 on all this..

I have them mounted on my RSTD light bar for 2 years now and no problems.. mounted on blinker light bolt.

I did use relay - tapped into lighting circuit inside the headlight housing to drive the relay, so relay is in there and a kill switch is mounted on back of headlight housing..

They are hard to pop the cover off to change the bulb sometimes but doable..

[djh3]

Blinker light bolt is good idea. I was thinking of a "p" clamp to the same tube. Dont think I would want them mounted to plastic, atleast not without say a rubber grommet between surfaces.

[GolfVenture]

Good infor. Thanks

[DragonRider]

They are junk, I had them on my bike and after about a week one burned out, so I pulled out another from the other set I bought, replaced it and same thing, burned out. Wal Mart wouldnt exchange them, said I had to return to manufacturer. Didnt waste my time. If you want quality lights you have to pay the price for them.:mo money:

[AKRefugee]

I have been using these lights for several years now and they have been working fine for me. I have replaced them once because they were getting rusty.

Once I tried the replacement bulbs but that really didn't work out well at all and for the price of these it really wasn't worth it to me.

 

The one thing I learned was to put a touch of Loctite on the outer ring or they will shake loose.

 

Mine are mounted through one of the bolts on the lower deflectors on the forks. It gives it more of a triangle pattern, the same as a train, which helps oncoming traffic in judging your speed.

 

Here is a previous post of how I mounted them

[azuogu1]

I have had them on the faring for a while now, and the mount location is reinforced with a metal so it does not vibrate, and I have a relay on it too. I guess some people may not like the location and as you rightly stated, it is subjective on if you like the look or not. But thanks for the information, maybe I should have done a better job in my initial post in making all this clear in the first place.

 

 

How badly are the lights vibrating when you are rolling? They seem to be mounted on the very edge of the plastic 'trim' around the fairing.

 

If you dont have some sort of metal backing or bracing on the mounts, you can be sure that those lights will vibrate, and loosen, and maybe crack the plastic. If they are vibrating when the bike is rolling, the filaments wont last long.

 

Others might not say this, they are too polite, But I will: Looks bad, son. But since looks are subjective, it might look ok to you.

 

Still, you should re-inforce the mounts if you havent already.

 

The others here are correct, those bulbs should be changed to 35 watts, and you need to have a switching relay as stated earlier. If you dont do these things, you will have problems later on.