Any Experience with Clearwater lights?

[Kinsley]

I saw an ad for these dimmable LED lights that draw 12 Watts

 

Clearwater Lights

 

[RedMac]

$500 bucks for a pair of lights? and I thought PIAA's were expensive....

[Kinsley]

MotoLights are $405.

I'm not sure about PIAAs, but you also could consider power usage and bulb replacements.

I have some Hella FF50's I like, that are just over $100, but I have never heard of these.

[JR356]

Search"clearwater"there are a number of posts.

 

From what I have read here and elsewhere,they are well made and certainly make you more visible to oncoming traffic,but they are questionable in their ability to throw a lot of useful light down the road.

 

JR356

[Matts_12GS]

I don't know about the Clearwater lights, but BMWGirl has these on her KGT

 

Visionx They seem bright as my HIDs on the GS...

[moshe_levy]

If you have Motolights, you can easily put LEDs in those, if you wanted to. LEDs are available in MR16 base.

 

Now, regarding the Glendas, there's a pretty good test on them here http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/motorcycle-led-driving-lights/

 

-MKL

[Kinsley]

If you have Motolights, you can easily put LEDs in those, if you wanted to. LEDs are available in MR16 base.

 

I want to keep the MotoLights as they are, yellow and low.

I want to mount a bright white pair on a light bar near the headlight.

If I decide to run both at the same time along with other things like Gerbings, I thought it might be good to draw less amps if I can get the look I want.

[EddyQ]

Now, regarding the Glendas, there's a pretty good test on them here http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/motorcycle-led-driving-lights/

 

-MKL

 

It is a great article for installation reasons. But there isn't much info relative to light output measurements or how hot the LEDs get (which I would be interested in).

 

There is a picture showing them brighter than the headlamp. Although this should not be any indicator of how much the LEDs output relative to the headlamp. I have a pocket lazer pointer that if pointed at a camera would look brighter than the sun.

 

The easiest tests of headlamp output are pictures of distant objects lit by the lamp with exactly the same camera settings.

 

I've said this on another post, I don't believe the light output of this LED lamp is greater than the 35W halogens in Motolights.

They may be great for getting seen, but not for lighting the roadway.

[sevenup]

I have been following candlepower forum on Ed lights for mountain bikes so you might want to take a wander over there and check it out. The LED and heat issue is well discussed there. LED lights on a motorcycle should be fine provided you are not stationary for too long as the wind blast should more than cool any light down. A lot of guys there building their own so the choice of metal for the lamp body and the grooves on the body have a big impact on cooling.

 

I think the most difficult thing about LE lamps is the issue of getting a suitable beam spread. Plummetting downhill in the dark on a mountain bike using 7 or 800 lumens is not the same requirement as driving the highways and byways with oncoming traffic.

 

candlepower will let you see a variety of beamshots from different configurations but you might also care to look at these 2 UK based guys

 

http://www.troutie.com/index.php

 

http://www.dstar-led.com/index.html

 

There are a number of US based equivalents

 

I use https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.29489 on my mountain bike but it is too unfocussed to be of any real use on a motorbike in traffic

 

[CruisinCruzan]

The Clearwater website refers to the Glendas as conspicuity lights more than driving lights that throw well concentrated lumens down the road. If you have a pair of motolights IMO you would get better value for your money by getting driving lights to give you more driving illumination.