EXR (Better) Headlight thread.

[BenEXR]

On 02/22/2017, I got my new Beta 500 RR-S and the first night I rode the bike I was shocked at how weak the headlight was. It was like an old incandescent D-cell flashlight shining through a jar of piss-yes, it was that bad. Thankfully, Motominded made a bracket so I could bolt up a Baja Designs Squadron Pro light and truly LIGHT up the night.

I really want the same thing for this EXR and I have seen the MotoMinded sub-section-I am so glad that MotoMinded has an Alta-and that for $12, we can mount a KTM mask and then use whatever MotoMinded/Baja Designs lights that have been made for the KTM. My question is, is this the best and easiest way? If so, this will likely be my first mod as I don't have many plans for add-ons as I like to run my bikes pretty plain.

I may have answered my own question but I just saw the Ultimate Kit from Motominded and I will have to have it.

Is the KTM kit plug and play into the Alta?

 

[snydes]

I think @MotoMinded makes a LED light for the Alta mask, I might be wrong about that. If the KTM's larger light has better overall optics than I'd say maybe that would be your best bet. Also, to the best of my knowledge the Alta light is a Polisport Halo. Polisport also makes an LED Halo which should be a direct replacement, but I don't personally know how much better that light may be over the stock incandescent. Or if you are only needing the extra light for off road than you can go all out with a baja style LED light bar from Task Racing

 

[BenEXR]

Great suggestions, thanks.

I wonder if the headlight takes anything away from the engines output/range. While I love night riding I don't do near enough so if the headlight uses battery power, I might go with a less powerful headlight in the Squadron Pro with an on-off switch to cut the power if need be.

 

[snydes]

I would guess that in the grand scheme of things it would make a very minimal impact on range. That’s just my semi-educated guess.

 

[BenEXR]

Good to know that the headlight draw is not really much as the battery is huge as compared to a motor vehicle battery. Probably like leaving an interior light on in a truck.

 

[Honcho]

I think @MotoMinded makes a LED light for the Alta mask, I might be wrong about that. If the KTM's larger light has better overall optics than I'd say maybe that would be your best bet. Also, to the best of my knowledge the Alta light is a Polisport Halo. Polisport also makes an LED Halo which should be a direct replacement, but I don't personally know how much better that light may be over the stock incandescent. Or if you are only needing the extra light for off road than you can go all out with a baja style LED light bar from Task Racing

I'm currently in the process of putting the Halo LED onto my personal ride - same exact Polisport shroud but a KOSO LED fixture in place of the incandescent one. It requires replacing the stock Polisport connector with an H4 male and an inline resistor to not trigger an ACM fault. Don't know the right resistor yet, nor the performance of the LED fixture vs just an aftermarket LED bulb in the standard fixture but will report back. As with the LED bulb rec from JudasLafourbe, this is not a validated upgrade and we have no idea of how it performs over the longhaul. If you follow my lead it will be at your own risk.

 

[Wnuudiction]

I got the h4 light, installed it. The issue is the light back has a fan and some cooling wings so it doesn’t go back together perfectly. The dust boot doesn’t fit over the light, so I jury rigged a dust boot out of a cut sheet of plastic fashioned into a cup and wrapped in electrical tape. It’s not great, but it will work for now. It rubs on the frame a little but it’s pretty tight to get something that covers the led housing but doesn’t touch allowing the fan space for intake. I’ll drive at night to see how much improvement it makes. It looks brighter during the day.

 

[MotoMinded]

Nice find on the LED> but those LEDs get really hot. There is a reason they took the time and $ to put the big head sink and fan on there. Heat kills the LEDs. We've also seen these melt plastic housings. I suggest keeping an close eye on it.

I got the h4 light, installed it. The issue is the light back has a fan and some cooling wings so it doesn’t go back together perfectly. The dust boot doesn’t fit over the light, so I jury rigged a dust boot out of a cut sheet of plastic fashioned into a cup and wrapped in electrical tape. It’s not great, but it will work for now. It rubs on the frame a little but it’s pretty tight to get something that covers the led housing but doesn’t touch allowing the fan space for intake. I’ll drive at night to see how much improvement it makes. It looks brighter during the day.





View attachment 1237

 

[Wnuudiction]

I took the cover off, it got pretty hot just riding for 20 min.

 

[Wnuudiction]

It does get very hot with the housing on, so I took it off. I drove to work last night and the light is great. The only downside is it’s open to the elements under the number plate. I’ll probably just run the risk of moisture contamination and take the light off when I run off-road. Well worth it for street driving though.

 

[Dirt-E]

For the sake of simplicity, what is the stock replacement bulb? I tried a 50/65 and it won't even come on. The stock one states 35/35 so I'm guessing it's a really weak circuit to begin with. I'm actually kind of surprised they didn't make it for the 50W setup since that's kind of the standard I've seen for most vehicles.

As it sits, the stock mask and light are abysmal. You get a ton of reflection back into your eyes while you ride and brights are nearly impossible to see without stuffing some rags down around the bezel. I ended up making some custom brackets and installed a cheap Amazon mask on mine and it looks a lot better. Still haven't had a chance to see how good the light diffusion is, but I'm confident it can't be worse than the stock setup. Sorry I don't have a picture with the final installation on it. I went for a ride right after finishing it and it's still covered in mud!

 

[TriumphTwins]

Not to hijcak this thread but has anyone ever tried using one of the LED Polisport Lokos (self powered, rechargeable battery) headlights? There are several models, some even solar charged.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LW69IOJ/?tag=sce0f-20

I thought about sticking on on my MXR. I might even get lucky and the AUX wire could possibly supply enough juice to charge the thing?

 

[TriumphTwins]

I just followed the link I just posted above and for some reason the price shown there is considerably higher than the one I originally looked for. Type the name in and search and they can be had for much cheaper.

 

[snydes]

Not to hijcak this thread but has anyone ever tried using one of the LED Polisport Lokos (self powered, rechargeable battery) headlights? There are several models, some even solar charged.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LW69IOJ/?tag=sce0f-20

I thought about sticking on on my MXR. I might even get lucky and the AUX wire could possibly supply enough juice to charge the thing?

@OneLapper is running one.

 

[OneLapper]

Yes, I have the solar version and really like it. The 12v battery has some weight so I don't race with it, but it comes off in 30 seconds. It has outputs for brake lights, tail light and blinkers. Just make up your own harness and lights, and you can easily turn your MX into an EX as I do.

You can also turn on just the tail light, brake light and blinkers without headlights, or just blinkers and brakes. Its has a Hi/Lo switch on the unit too. I can get 3 hours on Lo beam on a charge.

I have not tried using the Aux plug to charge it. I'll try it and see if it works.

I'm not sure the solar option is worth the cost, but it will keep the battery fully charged if you're not using the light. The solar panel and the 110vac charger both put out about the same, 750ma. It takes a while to charge it after a ride.

Also, the LED headlights are pretty bright. Nice beam spread, round pattern, very good for riding on trails. The Hi/Lo only turns one or both LEDs on, and the light pattern is the same on both lights. This lets you blind people with one headlight, or both! lol

 

[OneLapper]

I just followed the link I just posted above and for some reason the price shown there is considerably higher than the one I originally looked for. Type the name in and search and they can be had for much cheaper.

I paid $260 delivered from some web site. Not cheap, but it was easier than making my own battery system for the lights, and probably about the same cost

 

[TriumphTwins]

Wow Great info! I might have to pick one up. I picked up an EXR headlight and was planning on and running it off of some of my older or leftover RC plane/heli batteries which for me works great. But, this looks like a pretty good setup too.