Wednesday 29 April 2015

LED Spot Light fixture on KTM Duke

So this was pending for lonnng. I had purchased these two LED spot lights, bought it from aliexpress.com as I got a good deal (mind you they take 40-50 days to reach India via free shipping). So I was in procrastinating mode and never got it fixed and just kept asking around friends on the ideas on where should I fit it, the clamps and fixtures and all. I was acting lazy. Now after moving to Gurgaon this was on top of the list and last Sunday I managed to go to Carol Bagh to get it done. This write-up is just to share the pictures of the installation process for other riders to see if they want to do something similar. 

These are the lights and they come with complete set of clamps and allen keys and bolts along with them.
(Metzeler in the pic above got changed to Michelin Pilot Street Radial soon)

I was hesitant in putting these lights on the forks cuz didn't want to mess with the paint and I also didn't want to open the fork clamps. So our guy Mr. Saleem suggested that I can put the lights with the help of a strip on these joints on the headlight casing:


After being satisfied that there will be no problem in turning the handlebar completely and the strip will withstand the load of the lights even on a day long ride I gave a go-ahead to the mechanic. He quoted Rs. 300 to fix the lights which seemed pretty reasonable amount. 

He removed the headlight casing and the panel cover on top. Meanwhile I managed to take a transformer picture of myself:

                              



This is how the metal strips looked after fixing:

The electrical connection given was not direct to the battery but with the enging ignition. I am sorry I missed the wiring part and hence not able to explain it in detail here. He fixed the switch with the joint of the LH mirror and took the wires within the cable locks on the handle bar.









And the switch:

After this when he tried to fit the headlight casing back, it wasn't fitting properly and so he told me that he will need to cut a bit towards the end.

       

Once fitted back, this is how it looked.

                    

This post is incomplete. I will complete it by updating it with the review of the lights itself.


Till then, keep riding!


Part II! (Updated- 1-May-2015)

Today I clicked some pictures with and without these lights on for comparison purpose and you can see the difference below:

1. Headlight low beam, LED  OFF /ON (click the pic to enlarge)

First pic is with LED off and second pic is with LED on. As you can see there is an increased , longer visibility (2nd circle on top) and wider range (1st circle on top, and botton two circles).

2. Headlight high beam, LED  OFF /ON (click the pic to enlarge)

I rarely ride in high beam mode because I hate riding against it myself so I don't want others to suffer because of my high beam. However in high beam mode, there is small difference in range and visibility with these spot lights on. 2nd pic is with LED lights on. 

Now you can decide if this difference and increase in range and visibility is good enough for you to buy these lights or not!

However they look cool too ! 


My next plan is to install two jerry can holders on the bike. If you know any leads do give suggestions by commenting. Thanks!

Ride Safe!