You’re riding your Harley along a beautiful country lane. The weather is perfect – clear skies, a light breeze, and the scent of fresh hay in the air. All is right with the world. Suddenly, your motorcycle’s engine sputters and dies. You’ve lost all power, and you have to coast to the shoulder. This has…
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to buy a new motorcycle, one that fits my riding needs better than my old faithful 1993 Harley-Davidson Sportster, Manny. When I say “new,” I mean “new to me.” I will more than likely wind up buying a pre-owned motorcycle because I want to get the most for…
Mark Zimmerman
The PIAA 1100 LED kit comes complete with the wiring harness, fused connector, relay, and switch.
Installing a set of accessory spotlights is a practical and aesthetically pleasing way to enhance your cruiser’s appearance, as well as augmenting its OEM lighting. It’s also a relatively inexpensive upgrade, easily performed by anyone that can follow written directions. Nevertheless, like any project that involves moving electrons from end of the bike to another, it must be done properly, or there’s bound to be tears.
Stylistic considerations aside, spotlights fall into four broad categories: Fog lights; driving lights; long-range lights; and flood lights. Since the last two are for specialized applications, like off-road racing and nighttime construction work, we’ll concentrate on the ones most typically used on motorcycles; fog and driving lights.
As the name implies, fog lights are designed to illuminate the road under adverse atmospheric conditions, in particular when rain, snow, dust or, yep, fog, makes it difficult to see. Typically, fog lights produce a beam that’s between 35 degrees and 50 degrees wide, though some of the more aggressive fog lights can reach 90 degrees, and go roughly the length of your standard low beam, though some of the high power ones can extend up to 600 feet.
Mark Zimmerman
PIAA offers a clamp kit that lets you hang the lights anywhere you can find room. The kit includes everything you’ll need, including the wrenches.
Because fog lights produce a wide, short, beam pattern, their light isn’t reflected back at you by airborne particles (at least not when they’re properly mounted), so for optimal effect, fog lights should be mounted as close to the road as practical and wired to work in conjunction with your low beams. As a side benefit, the wide light of a fog lamp helps illuminate the edges of the road, especially in corners and tight bends, which makes them just as handy on clear nights.
…While fog lights are great on those nights when fog comes creeping in, they’re not nearly as useful on clear nights when you want to howl at the moon, or just get where you’re going without wadding yourself up on some murky road.
Driving lights are used to supplement your OEM high beam. As such, they project a longer, brighter—though somewhat narrower—beam than fog lights. Many of them can project a 20 degree beam over a mile, and some can produce 170 watts of power, though lights of that intensity aren’t intended for street use.
Driving lights work really well at illuminating distant objects, and they’re also pretty good at blinding oncoming drivers, so if you decide a pair of retina-burner 1000s are they way to go, use them with some consideration. Driving lights can be mounted just about anywhere you have room for them, though higher is always better and legally, they have to be dimmed with the high beam, so properly installed ones are always wired to work only in conjunction with the high beam.
There are also some dual-filament versions, like the PIAA 525 series, that incorporate a fog and driving function in one light, which comes in handy when mounting space is at a premium or you just don’t want to clutter up your bike with a lot of lights.
Picking the right lights takes some consideration, and obviously, for the majority of us, that includes the aesthetics. Since that’s an entirely subjective thing, I’m not going to comment, except to say choose wisely. Bling is as out of place on an adventure bike as a set of 8 1⁄2-inch rally lights would be on a cruiser.
First, consider what type of lights will do you the most good. Under most circumstances, I prefer driving lights
to fog lights. As I mentioned, while fog lights are great on those nights when fog comes creeping in, they’re not nearly as useful on clear nights when you want to howl at the moon, or just get where you’re going without wadding yourself up on some murky road. But who knows—maybe you spend a lot of time riding across the moors on damp nights, or live in Seattle, in which case fog lights might be the better choice.
Mark Zimmerman
The fuse block is wired to the battery and a good ground, the relay hung from a convenient mounting bolt.
If you decide on fog lights, I’d recommend avoiding the traditional amber lens versions. Without entering into a lengthy debate on their effectiveness during inclement weather, I can tell you that many manufacturers are moving away from amber because it reduces the amount of available light on clear nights.
Once you’ve settled on a type of light, check the fine print to ensure it’s compatible with your bike’s electrical system. What you need to know is how many watts of energy the lights use, and how many watts your charging system has to spare. If the former is less than the latter, all is well. If not, look for another set of lights.
The math is simple. Your shop or owner’s manual should list the alternator’s maximum output in watts. Understand that this is what the charging system is capable of producing at cruising speed, not at idle or when trolling around town, so take that into account. Next, you’ll have to figure out how many watts it takes to run the bike. this means adding up all the electrical loads that are placed on the bike when it’s operating. Most manuals don’t list this, so you’ll have to figure it out on your own by adding up each electrical component’s draw. That can get tedious so we’ve supplied a little cheat sheet for you as a side bar.
Mark Zimmerman
The spotlight wiring harness, visible below the white wire, needs to be run as cleanly as possible.
Although your manual should list these, it probably doesn’t. However, the nice people at Powerlet were good enough to gather them up for you. Here’s where all those electrons go.
| Common Operating Loads | Courtesy of Powerlet Products |
|---|---|
| High Beam | 65 watts |
| Low Beam | 55 watts |
| Number Plate | 5 watts |
| Brake/Tail | 21 watts |
| Instrument Panel | 2 watts |
| Computer | 25 watts |
| Fuel Pump | 60 watts |
| Cooling Fan | 60 watts |
| Electronic Ignition | 50 watts |
| A common operating load for a standard fuel-injected bike is about 285 watts. | |
| A common operating load for a standard carbureted bike is about 195 watts. |
Mark Zimmerman
Mounting the lights to the crash bar is always a popular option. Make certain the wiring is routed away from anything like exhaust pipes that’ll damage it.
Once you know how much electrical power is required to run the bike, you can subtract that from the alternator’s output. Whatever’s left is what you have to power up your new lights.
For example, the 2001 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 FI’s charging system churns out 588 watts. It needs 340 of those to get itself down the road, leaving 248 to power accessories. Most conventional spotlights draw between 55 and 100 watts, although some can go as high as 130. If you pick two 100-watt units, you’re perilously close to overextending your charging system, especially if you do a lot of slow-speed riding with the lights on. By that same token, constantly forcing your charging system to operate at or near its maximum capacity creates a lot of heat, which has an adverse effect on things like rectifiers, regulators and stators, so in this case a better choice might be a pair of 55 watt bulbs; combined they’ll use 110 watts of current, which leaves you with 138 watts in reserve. That’s more than enough, so long as you’re not towing along any beer coolers and a wet bar.
Mark Zimmerman
Mount the switch where it’s handy, and wire it to come on with the high beams.
The Get-Your-Hands-Dirty Part
Finding a location for your lights is the first hurdle. To get the most out of them, they should be mounted as high and as far forward as possible. Height allows light to work to its best advantage, and a forward mount prevents distracting reflections. Ideally, they should be mounted at eye level, about where your ears are. For most of us that’s an impractical location, so you’ll have to compromise. In some cases an OEM or aftermarket light bar may be available; if it isn’t, there are a variety of aftermarket clamps and mounts available that’ll let you hang the lights just about anywhere you want, from the fork tube to the handlebar. The overriding consideration here is that the lights need to have a solid and secure mount.
While the vast majority of aftermarket light kits are supplied with everything you’ll need—for instance, our PIAA 1100 LED lights came with a wiring harness, relay and switch, which essentially makes them a plug and play installation that only required one splice into the factory harness—the same can’t be said of every light kit. Fortunately that doesn’t mean you’ll have to hack something together.
Most any place that sells aftermarket lights can also supply a universal installation kit. In fact one of the best places to find them is at PEP BOYS, the nationwide auto parts chain. They offer some kits containing everything you’ll need for less than $20, which is cheaper than buying the individual components.
Mark Zimmerman
More light and much easier to spot by oncoming vehicles—what’s not to like?
Installing the wiring is as straightforward as it gets. Typically, you’ll connect the spotlight’s main power feed directly to the battery or a dedicated accessory power source, via the light relay and fuse. The control switch, which activates the lights through the relay, should be connected to your bike’s high beam circuit, at least to meet the letter of the law. Though it’s not a strict requirement, I like to pick up the control switch feed inside the headlight, usually by tapping directly into the high beam circuit or through the indicator light. Doing it that way, rather than by splicing into the harness under the tank is generally more convenient, and makes it a lot easier to troubleshoot the system if anything goes wrong.
Route the harness as neatly as possible; the key things are to avoid making any sharp bends or routing the wire over or through a sharp edge that may chafe through. If the harness has to pass through any drilled holes, chamfer the edges and use a grommet to protect the wire, and don’t forget to leave a
bit of slack in the harness. A harness stretched tight is one that’s waiting to break. Do yourself a favor and resist the urge to ty-wrap or permanently secure anything until you’re certain the lights work properly and the wiring is properly routed.
Make the final connections to the lights and test the operation. You don’t have to go crazy here; run them through their paces and quit. Driving lights can suck your battery dry in short order, and they get hot, even the LED versions. You don’t want to leave them on any longer than necessary when the engine’s off and the bike isn’t moving. Assuming everything works, you can tidy up all the loose ends and aim the spotlights.
Driving lights can suck your battery dry in short order, and they get hot, even the LED versions. You don’t want to leave them on any longer than necessary when the engine’s off and the bike isn’t moving.
Instructions vary, but to aim your new driving lights, this method works as well as any. Find a level spot—a garage floor or level driveway is perfect—and position the bike 25 feet from the nearest wall. Measure the distance from the floor to the center of the spot light. Transfer that measurement to the wall, then make another mark 1.5 inches below that. the center of the spotlight beam should be adjusted to hit the lower mark, when the rider is sitting on the bike.
The usual blather
All told, this upgrade should take no more than a couple of hours, depending on how much of the bike you strip to install the wiring harness. In this instance I had to remove the fuel tank, which is a bit of a hassle, and it still took less than four hours from start to finish. As far as tools go, figure on the most basic of hand tools, and an electrical test light to help identify the high beam circuit.
PIAA:
Lights mounting kits, brackets
www.piaa.com
Hella:
Lights, mounting kits
www.hella.com
Twisted Throttle:
Lighting kits
www.twisted throttle.com
Luma Link:
Light brackets
www.lumalink.com
Powerlet:
All kinds of electrical goodies
www.powerlet.com
Whitehorse Gear:
Everything you need
www.whitehorsegear.com
If you’re like me, you’re fascinated by the hit Discovery Channel show MythBusters. The hosts address various questionable assertions or videos, test them, and then declare whether that myth has been confirmed or busted. The program got me to thinking the other day about motorcycle myths, things that have become “common knowledge” but often are not completely true. Here is a selection of such motorcycle myths and the truth—if any—behind them.
High-octane fuel myth-BUSTED!
“My buddy runs premium gas in his sportbike, and it makes much more power than my cruiser. I figure I’ll run premium too so my bike will make more power!”
The reason sportbikes and other high-performance vehicles run high-octane premium fuel is to prevent pre-ignition, or knocking, in their high-compression motors. Generally, the more you compressed the fuel-air mixture in a motor, the more power it will deliver when you light it off with the spark plug. The problem is that in a high-compression motor this volatile mixture can be compressed so much that it actually explodes from the heat and pressure.
Now, rather than doing a controlled burn in which the flame front pushes the piston down in an orderly fashion, this explosive wave meets the piston on its way up, causing a collision of energies and actually lowering power. We hear it as pinging, or engine knock, and feel the lack of power. If prolonged, it can put a hole in the piston.
High-octane fuel has knock inhibitors that prevent the fuel from exploding at normal operating temperatures and pressures, but it does not provide any additional energy itself. It simply allows the high-compression motor to extract and utilize the power it was designed to provide.
Frequent oil change myth-BUSTED
“I don’t care if the owner’s manual says to change the oil every 5,000 miles. I’m going to change it twice that often to protect my motor.”
Okay, let’s think this through. The manufacturers invest millions of dollars in developing and testing their motors to be certain they’ll handle the stresses of use then back them with warranties that often states that if the motor fails, they will pay to fix it. Basically, the manufacturers have a lot invested in having those motors perform well and last a long time. If they say an oil change every 5,000 miles (after the shorter break-in oil change) is adequate, why should we expect them to require fresh fluids any more frequently? I tend to take the manufacturers at their word.
That’s not to say that changing motor oil more frequently will hurt the motor; it likely will not, but it will raise operating costs. More frequent oil changes will also require more frequent trips to the recycler, unless you dump the used oil illegally. Bad for the environment and bad for your biker soul.
The only caveat to this is that if you race your bike or if your usage is unusually harsh or in a dirty environment, then, okay, changing oil more frequently can make sense.
GVWR/GAWR myth-BUSTED
“What the heck does that GVWR figure actually mean anyway?”
This figure, which is listed in your owner’s manual and also on a plaque on the bike (often on the steering stem), shows the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating; it is sometimes shown as Gross Average Weight Rating or GAWR. This figure indicates the maximum weight the bike was designed to carry, including the weight of the bike itself. It is arrived at by considering the bike’s tires, suspension, frame, brakes, and performance characteristics.
You’re almost certainly staying within your bike’s GVWR if you ride solo and keep your machine relatively stock. However, if you ride two-up and have added lots of accessories and luggage, you could be approaching or exceeding the bike’s design parameters.
To get an idea if this is happening, weigh yourself and your passenger in riding gear, along with your luggage and any detachable accessories. Now find the bike’s wet weight either from the dealer or a magazine road test of the model. Total the amounts and compare them with the GVWR figure. If you exceed that figure, try to pare down. If you can’t do so, just note that your bike is technically overloaded and may not ride or handle as easily as you had expected. Riding overloaded also accelerates the wear and tear on tires, suspension, brakes, and your engine. Be kind to your bike and it will be kind to you.
Tire pressure myth-BUSTED
“I’m going to inflate my tires to the figure listed on the sidewall.”
Whoa. That figure on the tire sidewall is maximum pressure, not recommended pressure. Recommended pressures are listed in your owner’s manual and on a plate usually placed near the steering head…the same plate that lists the GVWR figure. For example, the tire shown in the photo carries a figure of 42 pounds maximum. The recommended tire pressure for a solo rider is 34 psi front and 36 psi rear; 42 is the maximum for the rear tire when riding two-up with luggage.
“In order to avoid an accident I had to lay it down.”
Hold on there, bucko. Laying it down is an accident—you didn’t avoid anything. You also have much more control of your bike when it’s upright and you have the grips in your hands rather than when it’s sliding down the road. Might look cool in an action movie—not so much in real life.
Brake fluid myth-BUSTED
“If the brake fluid is low, just top it off and you’re handled.”
As brake pads wear, they become thinner and the level in the brake-fluid reservoir drops a bit to compensate for this. This drop helps you monitor pad wear. If the fluid level drops to or below the “Low” mark on the reservoir, check your brake pads for wear or for a fluid leak. In either case, have the brake system serviced immediately.
“I always warm up my motor for several minutes before riding.”
That might have been good advice for yesteryear’s vehicles, but with today’s improved lubricants and fuel injection it’s less so today. Modern motors warm up more quickly when they’re driven, and the sooner they warm up the sooner they reach maximum efficiency and deliver the best fuel economy and performance. Just don’t rev the engine high during the first few miles while it’s warming up since the oil might not have thinned enough yet to protect fully.
“I use dishwashing or laundry detergent to wash my bike and car. Why use those expensive car or bike products?”
Use the purpose-made cleaners because they’re formulated specifically for a vehicle’s painted finish. Think about it: What is dishwashing detergent made to clean? Grease, dirty dishes, and food waste. When’s the last time you rode through a food fight? No, you want to wash away road grime, not oily food waste. Dish detergent can strip off a vehicle’s wax finish. Use a car/bike wash that has been formulated to clean without removing wax. Also, stay away from pressure washers, which can compromise brake lines and electrical wires.