headlight mod

[Bueller]

I don't even feel that my 1125R has crazy power.  It doesn't pull on the arms like the Firebolt.  The best description I can think of is "light".  When I power on it feels like the bike has no weight and it's light in corners.  (It's also planted.)

One guy in the club went from a 250 to an 1125CR and the dealer was telling him he'd kill himself with all that power and he should get a Lightning.  I find the opposite.  I have to be moderately careful with the throttle on the 'bolt.  Even on bumps crossing railway lines if my hand moves a bit and puts on some throttle it throws me back and its away.

The 1125R just doesn't feel that way.  I have to open it out to about 8000 RPM to get a sensation of power, but when I do that I'm looking for power and it's not like its getting away from me.

My Firebolt makes 90 RWH on the dyno and my 1125R makes 127.  I've been meaning to graph them together.  The Firebolt has a system and the 1125R is stock at the moment, but at 6800 RPM the Firebolt has more HP and almost the same torque as the stock 1125R.  (With a Torquehammer on the 1125 it's got a bit more of both.)  Below 6800 the Firebolt is ahead and with a Micron its way ahead.  

If I could only have one of them I wouldn't know which one to choose.

[Rogue]

If I could only have one of them I wouldn't know which one to choose.

You have both so you don't have to.  

[Bueller]

You have both so you don't have to.  

I decided they are both safe.  I'm selling the house.

[Squidbuzz]

Ok, back to this.  I finally will be getting this installed tomorrow.  Been a long cold winter and I finally have been able to pry my mechanic off of his new girlfriend.  =)

I'll post more when it is install and working.

[Bueller]

Be keen to see what you think of it.  It's been pretty successful so far.

One setting you should do is the one that turns the high beam on at 50% brightness if it detects the low has blown.  This isn't factory default.  (You're supposed to consult the laws of the land before you set it.)

[Squidbuzz]

I can say this, WOW!  Houston we have lights!  

Didn't have time to play with the settings yesterday, but I did get to ride last night in the countryside in pretty much complete darkness.  BIG difference.

I will work today on modulation and the burned out low beam setting.

Also kinda odd to start the bike and not have the headlight be on.  But I'll get over that.

[Bueller]

Great you've got it running Squidbuzz

I use function 3 mode 29 for day and mode 20 for night.  You might find that mode 19 is a good at night for your bike.

The emergency high beam is setting 13.  You can disconnect your low beam wire to test that it is set correctly afterwards.

[Squidbuzz]

So there are different function 3's for day and night.  Ok, wasn't sure on that.  Are specific modes only for day light and low light or can they be used for either condition?

For now the day setting, since I'm assuming that configuring it outside during daylight means day light mode, I'm running mode 9.  Which seemed pretty obnoxious.  Which might be a good thing, since getting other drivers attention is what this is about.  So mode 29 only brings the highbeam up to 43% brightness for the blink.  I will need to experiment on that this weekend.  

For the night setting, again assuming I will need to be in darkness or will being in the garage work?  So exactly what does mode 20 do for me.  Does that dim everything down to 26% or what?  Kinda confused there because for night riding, I want as much light as possible for high beam and not sure if modulation is really needed in that case.

One thing my mechanic said stood out, the wire(s) from the battery coming forward could have been longer.  Might be because the Uly comfort kit doesn't allow for such a straight shot forward.  Otherwise the only other thing he commented on was getting the wires through the boot covers on the back of the headlight.  He said that was a challenge and he needed to be careful not to ripe the boot.

[Bueller]

The mode settings are for the high beam bulb when the bike is on low beam.  The low beam is always on at full brightness, and when you go to high beam both bulbs are at full brightness.  The high bulb on low beam is why its a twinlight.

The descriptions are the the manufacturer covering his tailbone.  The device places no restrictions on what you set.

The setting you are doing is based on the light sensor - like you are saying.  When you are in sunlight you are setting the daytime mode.  In the evening or indoors without too much light you are setting low light mode.  You can also try to cover the light sensor to get low light or use a torch to get daytime mode, but its more difficult.

Mode 9 with full modulation will make you stand out, but I've got a customer who was pulled over by a cop didn't know enough about the compliance standards to know that modulation is the legal way to run a high bulb on low beam during the day.  Mode 17 during the day or mode 26 would be my preference for your bike.  My Hella refectors are pretty efficient so I have to take a step down.  Setting mode 17 during the day and mode 19 at night iwill make your bike look like it is supposed to have both bulbs on low beam, and won't cause any issues for oncoming drivers.  If you think it does take the night mode to 20.  Set like that the bike looks normal, and your lights are bright enough for cars to see you better during the day.


Posted on: 16 April 2011, 15:48:39Just to show you the Twin Light effect.  (You probably saw them on the site when you ordered.)

This is low beam day and night.  The low bulb is the bright one.  (Firebolts have low and high the opposite way around to Ulys and Lightnings)


This is low and high at night.  I didn't bother setting the camera to get absolute light level comparisons.  It is automatic exposure, otherwise the low beam would look the same brightness in both pictures.



The only other Ulys who bought them don't have the comfort kit.  I've heard from a friend that he had problems wiring his GPS around the fan shroud.  The manufacturer has another harness for longer bikes, and we may have to look at a Uly version from what you say Squidbuzz - thanks for the tip.  The wires are hard to get through but they do go in.

I just noticed that'd I'd posted them up in this topic before.  Anyway it shows what the TL effect is.

[Squidbuzz]

So I have had the Twin Light running for the summer and things have been working really well with it.  The daytime modulator has been working great and seems to help.  The night time is awesome with this thing.  But the biggest surprise has been how it worked when the low beam bulb burned out the other night.  The system kicked in and worked like a champ.  The high beam toned down for low beam just like it said it would.  Of all the things that I have bought and installed this year, this one is probably the best.  =)

[Bueller]

Thanks very much for the feedback squidbuzz.  If you look back over 4 years of my posts this has been something I've wanted to get off the ground.  It has worked out better than expected.