At last....extra lights!!!

[Aubrey]

Some stage before last Xmas my mate and I went for a blast over to Stirling via the legendary straights. After buzzing the Castle and the Wallace Monument we set out home. The weather closed in as darkness descended and we retraced our steps along that open, exposed road in poor vis, driving rain and gusting winds. Great!

I'd been leading for a while when Rich flashed me and went to pull over. Once his visor was up he said "mate, I keep loosing your light in the traffic you might as well be invisible" oh, how confident I felt. Dark blue bike, black jacket and black helmet, no need for stealth technology.

So, I set about increasing my visibility. High vis top box light was not too expensive so one of those please. Then two extra lights for the panniers, the ones here the websi te are too big for the contours of my shapely outriggers so a little more research was required.

CFR lights, an American company came up trumps (ask for Dan) . Big enough to be seen, small enough to fit. One set of duel intensity lights now strapped on (plus big discount for being military [not his military mind] plus free shipping, not that I'm suggesting UK companies should pull their fingers out!).

All mixed up with some helmet stickers, and a sam brown reflector belt. I saw a blind guy cover his eyes when I went past the other day!

A big thanks to everyone who recommended waterproof connections in my recent threads.

Regards

Alec

[davem]

Some stage before last Xmas my mate and I went for a blast over to Stirling via the legendary straights. After buzzing the Castle and the Wallace Monument we set out home. The weather closed in as darkness descended and we retraced our steps along that open, exposed road in poor vis, driving rain and gusting winds. Great!

I'd been leading for a while when Rich flashed me and went to pull over. Once his visor was up he said "mate, I keep loosing your light in the traffic you might as well be invisible" oh, how confident I felt. Dark blue bike, black jacket and black helmet, no need for stealth technology.

So, I set about increasing my visibility. High vis top box light was not too expensive so one of those please. Then two extra lights for the panniers, the ones here the websi te are too big for the contours of my shapely outriggers so a little more research was required.

CFR lights, an American company came up trumps (ask for Dan) . Big enough to be seen, small enough to fit. One set of duel intensity lights now strapped on (plus big discount for being military [not his military mind] plus free shipping, not that I'm suggesting UK companies should pull their fingers out!).

All mixed up with some helmet stickers, and a sam brown reflector belt. I saw a blind guy cover his eyes when I went past the other day!

A big thanks to everyone who recommended waterproof connections in my recent threads.

Regards

Alec

Hi
I am new to the forum, very impressed with all the comments I read, and very interested in what you did for the hi vis top box light. Was it a fitting designed for the box itself or an off the shelp adaptation?
davem

[Aubrey]

The top box was fitted for, but not with, a hi-viz brake light. I simply visited the Kappa site investigated the part number and then performed a google search to find it cheaper. Very easy to fit and simply required meshing into the wiring loom. Hey presto! The pannier lights are almost an entirely custom job but not difficult to do either.

I expect many top boxes with a red lense on them could be fitted with a brake light. Otherwise just look for led lights on line. The shop on this site actually sells light clusters which I'm sure could be used as hi-vis brake lights (just mesh them into the loop and brake and not the loop and running wire).

[mostlyskint]

Thanks for the photos. Its insired me to make my own led top box light conversion thingy.. Is yours just a brake light or is it duel intensity?
Im a bit concerned over legality of a high level rear running light.

Still Ithink Im going to do it anyway and see if I get a pull

Thanks

[Aubrey]

Mostly Skint (I know the feeling),

I have divided my lights two ways, the samller LEDs in the panniers are duel intensity so they are on as running lights all the time and increase brightness with the brake.

The top box is a brake light only. I think it grabs people's attention more if it comes on like that.

I sourced the lights and fittings from a couple of locations.

Topbox: http://www.kappaluggage.com/stop-lig...ec10a107df1edf

Pannier lights from here: http://www.cfrlights.com/servlet/the.../95/Categories (I used the three inch minis)

And while the top box came with attachments, I used the following for the side lights; they also come in 2 pin so could be used in a home made top light: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.e...connectors.php I, and others on the site, have used the waterproof connectors with very good results. Easy to use, small, and waterproof.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Alec