Hella FF50 Driving Lights

[Shiny Side Up]

Anyone using these?

I've read some reviews about the housings cracking, but that may be to someone wrenching them down to tight on the brackets.

 

What say you about these for aux lighting?

[smiller]

I had a set on my RT and they worked very well. They are pencil beam driving lights and really put a lot of light down the road considering their smaller size and 55-watt lamp. I never had any durability problems with them.

[eddd]

I also had a set on my R1100RT after trying some others. I wouldn't say they were pencil beam...definately driving lights but with a pretty good flat horizontal pattern. Nothing fancy, just good quality halogen lights. I was very pleased with them.

[Ken H.]

Yup. have them on our GS. Been great. A rock finally took out one, but that was after more than a few rocks had tried previously and failed.

 

They make them in two different light patterns. Plus you can get H7 bulbs most anywhere in different colour temps, etc.

[Rougarou]

Give the little Wal-Mart lights a go. Some people may say that you get what you pay for,....well, I paid $14.95 and I think I am getting more than what I paid for in terms of longevity. They've been on my bike for over two years and put out enough light for me.

 

[Heck]

Had a set on my 1150RT- when I traded it off I kept the lights and put them on my VW Jetta. Also have a pair on my Dodge Ram pickup. On the cages, I have to aim them down about 4 feet in front of the vehicle to keep folks from flashing their lights at me, but they still put out great light. On the RT, I changed the stock bulbs to PIAA and it really lit up the world in front of the bike.

I recommend them if you can still find em..They are kinda hard to come by at times...

 

[Bud]

I have them on my current RT and my previous RT

 

Love them.

[flars]

I had them on my RS (for 40K miles) and RT (for 20K miles), and had no complaints. One on the RS got nailed by a big assed rock (they were mounted just above and in front the cylinders), but other than that they were great.

I changed them all out for Adv Monster LEDs because I wanted to, not because I had to. As an aside: the LEDs throw a much whiter light than the Hellas and I like the pattern(s) better.

[stripboat99]

I have a pair of the driving lights and a pair of the fog lights both mounted on the front of my RT. They work great. The fog lights are always on and provide the conspicious factor that I was looking for. They will drain your battery if you are stuck in traffic, idling is not enough to keep the battery charged.

[Burt]

Yup. have them on our GS. Been great. A rock finally took out one, but that was after more than a few rocks had tried previously and failed.

 

They make them in two different light patterns. Plus you can get H7 bulbs most anywhere in different colour temps, etc.

 

What mounting bar did you use on the GS? I bought the lights few years ago for an LT, but didn't mount them on the bike. I'd like to put them on my GS.

It looks like this place still stills them.

http://www.rallylights.com/ff50-driving-fog-lamp-kit.html

[racer7]

The FF50 differs from many other Hella lights (which I put in the junk category) in that its reflector holds up in humid weather. The FF series is a different constrcution and reflector design than their more commonly seen lights.

Its not a pencil - which means 5 degree beam. Instead it is a typical driving pattern with a bias much like the reflector shap and maybe 12 degree beam or something close to it- check specs.

It uses an H-7 bulb and will handle the 65W Osram BUT the longer filament of the Osram 65W distorts the pattern a little bit- may not be to everyones liking depending on rest of your setup. At present I'm using the last of my 65W IPF bulbs in my FF50s- they have a std H7 filament length but not good durability so are worthless in headlights. (Also no longer readily available).

The Hella kit is junk- cheap, marginal wire and connectors, no realy socket, poor switch, etc. I make my own harnesses using stuff from Eastern Beaver to get acceptable quality.

 

If you're looking at the FF50, be aware that you have some good LED choices but at more $. THere are of course the items from Clearwater. Also a very interesting new light from VisionX that is a single 25W LED putting out 2500 lumens (55W H7 is 1500, 65W H7 is 2100 and 35W HID is 3200 lumens} in a 4" housing. An RT can run anything, lots of juice available, but my older bikes and current limitied stuff the LEDs get the nod. VisionX sells good harnesses and event he PIAA harness will work fine with Hella lights and save you some work- all Hella sells you is some plain wire and cheap low quality parts.

[Shiny Side Up]

Question for 2004 R1150RT owners.

 

 

I'd like to mount these under the mirrors.

Has anyone done that? Does the ridge along the bottom of the mirror cause any mounting issues with aiming the lights?

[eddd]

...If you're looking at the FF50, be aware that you have some good LED choices but at more $. THere are of course the items from Clearwater. Also a very interesting new light from VisionX that is a single 25W LED putting out 2500 lumens (55W H7 is 1500, 65W H7 is 2100 and 35W HID is 3200 lumens} in a 4" housing. An RT can run anything, lots of juice available, but my older bikes and current limitied stuff the LEDs get the nod. VisionX sells good harnesses and event he PIAA harness will work fine with Hella lights and save you some work- all Hella sells you is some plain wire and cheap low quality parts.

 

Keep in mind that LEDs can put out more lumens, but that does not always mean better lighting. I recently tried a pair of LEDs from Adv Monster. They put out lots of light, but since they, like most current LED auxillary lights, are pretty much flood-type lights they did not help me see down the road the way a good set of driving light do. The FF50s I had used used on my RT provided very useful light. On my FJR at highway speed I could see down the road better with the Adv Monster lights off since when they are on they put so much bright light on the road close to the bike that they were kind of blinding me.

[DiggerJim]

On my FJR at highway speed I could see down the road better with the Adv Monster lights off since when they are on they put so much bright light on the road close to the bike that they were kind of blinding me.

I have the ADV 60w LEDs mounted under the mirrors of the 1200RT. They're on a dimmer that's at about 50% unless I hit the high beams. I have them canted a little vs. shining straight down the road - the right one points a bit left & the left points a bit right. That way I'm lighting up the side/edge of the road & the woods rather than just shooting the light down the road straight in front of me. I have HIDs for the headlights so I can see fine in front, I want to jacklight the deer so I can see them before they decide to suicide by motorcycle.

[racer7]

This points out why you should examine light specs before purchase and if the seller doesn't publish them, don't buy it.

The single most important spec for any light is the beam width in degrees. It is in fact far more important than the lumens output. The reason is simple- doubling the beam width quadruples the area the light output has to cover. And it cuts the light perceived coming back from the intended target even more.

There are some approximations that can be useful.

5 degrees or less is a pencil beam- getting the most distance from a narrow beam. Unless you're an off road racer or live where all the roads are straight (Iowa, anyone?) this isn't likely your best choice.

10-15 degrees is a driving light - good distance reach with enough width. Makes a good supplement to high beams if it has enough power.

20 degrees or more - for closer in and corners, not much reach. Good for illuminating roadsides, shoulders etc

A flood beam is more than 20 degrees, sometimes in the 30-45 degree range. Without a spec, you don't know what you're getting if its labelled as a flood, note the more than 4 fold variation between a 20 degree beam and a 45 degree one.

 

True fog lights are rare these days. To be truly useful in heavy fog a lamp must have a flat top cutoff beam. Traditional fog designs have beam widths of 60 degrees to about 110 degrees most commonly. It also helps if its yellow because yellow reflects back to the riders eyes off fog droplets a lot less than the higher color temps, more white or blueish.

 

VisionX, Hella, Clearwater and some others either publish beam specs for their lamps or can tell you what it is.