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deilenberger wrote:I got to try them last night on the way home from our local club meeting.

Marvelous! The pattern was about perfect, filling in and extending the reach of the stock headlight, while not adding additional light close to the motorcycle. They are bright and well focused.

The only thing I'm thinking on changing now is where I have the on/off switch located. It's fine - falls readily to thumb, but it also hits the tank bag when doing backing up tight turns - like backing the bike into my garage. That ends up switching the light on and off when it doesn't have to be. I means either a smaller tank bag (probably would actually be a good thing..) or a different location for the switch. But for now - it's fine and I'm going to take a break from messing with it for a bit.

Any questions - comments - more then welcome.

BTW - the MotoBozzo lights are for sale - $100 with a custom wiring harness - if you need daytime conspicuity lights they are just fine for that.

Don, can you update us as to how these lights are holding up?

Newportcycle wrote:Don, can you update us as to how these lights are holding up?

Sure. Love'm. Holding up just fine, have seen all sorts of weather, no sign of fogging up, they continue to outperform any other auxiliary light anyone in our local club has on their bikes (we park on one side of a parking lot - facing the lot - and there is an old brick warehouse about 50 yards across the parking lot. It immediately tells you who has usable lights and who has lights that are just for show..)

They impressed other club members enough that several went and bought their own - and just heard today that someone else had seen them on the brick wall at our last meeting and was having our local mechanic order a set to install.

BTW - two of the guys with the lights on their bikes were following me on a ride last Sunday. Sort of overcast, chilly day, a bit of fog in one or two spots. They were using the lights as daylight conspicuity lights. They were very impressive for that use. It was really easy to see they were behind me and where they were.

Good bit of kit as the Brits would say..

Don,

Thanks for the update, your input is greatly valued and appreciated. I've a parabellum scout fairing fitted; on the fairing just below the turn signal cutout's they've molded a flat, it appears suitable location mount a small light such as the piaa, what's your opinion of the durability and location of such an installation?


I'm thinking they don't present enough of an area to the wind and the stalks are rather short so the force's acting on the fairing should be minimal, I'm also thinking that an aluminum backing plate will prevent any damage to the fairing.

Your thoughts and input are appreciated.

I have a set of earlier Piaa lights mounted in that spot. With over 100,000 the bike has been over some pretty nasty roads, including miles of washboard dirt with no noticeable damage to the lights mounting area or the fairing in general. I guess that's a testimony mostly to the durability of the Parabellum fairing and it's mounting system.
I did use a fender washer on the back side of the fairing;




Looking at the Piaa site I think their might be a problem mounting these lights to a vertical surface. Looks like they are designed to be mounted from above or below. I had that problem with the Piaa lights on my bike and was only able to rotate the light 45 deg in the housing. (I use the lights as floods to light up the woods so this worked for me). It looks like you would have to rotate them 90 deg to maintain the original light pattern down the road.

That's handsome, Harry, and easy for those of us with Parabellum Scouts. If I add similar lights - I think of it from time to time - I'll do it this way.

Harry,
Thanks much, very valuable information, the fender washer was just what I was thinking to stiffen the fiberglass to guard against cracking. Which model light did you use Harry?

There would be no problem mounting them to that surface IMHO. Harry - the website must not be too clear - but PIAA thought of that - and there is a second set of mounting holes (blanked off with a decorative plastic plug) that would be used if you want to mount them to a vertical surface.

As far as backing - a fender washer or aluminum plate would likely be an excellent idea - and perhaps even a bit better if some high density very thing rubber were bonded to it to help it conform to the inside fiberglas(tm) surface, which is likely a bit rough. I might even consider putting some sort of load-spreading washer on the outside between the mount and the fairing material.

BTW - apparently there is some sort of sale on them on Amazon.. http://a.co/fck7lh5 ($260/Prime-Price) - there are a few other sellers, but their prices are close enough to Amazon that I'd pay the difference just for the Amazon ease of return if something is amiss.

I checked out the lights on Amazon and the price looked right, that and Don's recommendation resulted in the Piaa package being delivered to my front door.
This is in reference to mounting the lights on a Parabellum Scout fairing:
First the lights are a lot heavier and bigger that the small Piaa lights I had mounted.

To avoid hitting the fairing with the rear of the light I had to drill the mounting hole well forward on the flat spot.
The hole in the rear is for the wire (yes I cut the plugs off), note the grommet in the hole, a good idea whenever running a wire thru bodywork.

Locating the mounting hole so far forward negated the possibility of using a fender washer but I was able to use a flat washer that was about 3/4 inch in diameter. I put a small dab of construction adhesive between the washer and fairing to get maximum contact.

Lights mounted


I brought the wires together in a 'Y' and terminated them in a plug. Makes it a lot easier to remove the fairing when replacing a headlight bulb. Naturally solder and heat shrink on the connections.

End result looks good. I aimed them in the garage with the lights out, but I know I'll have to fine tune them at night on a real road. An unexpected benefit. The lower part of the Parabellum has had a slight vibration in the lower part of the fairing at idle that quickly stops when the RPMs go off idle. The heavier light seem to have stopped that.

Very sweet, the grommet at the wire penetration, great attention to details. I gotta find me a roundel for my fairing like that a lot. Thanks for the pics.

They look good Harry - I think you'll like them a lot at night.

Follow up:
Very happy. The lights came in handy riding home from the national in Salt Lake City. Stopped at Top of the Rockies Rally then picked up Rt50 in Montrose,Co and rode it to St. Louis. Leaving the motel long before dawn the lights paid for themselves in short order as their were no cars on the road and no visible lights in any direction. Rt50 can be a very lonely place.
At home I moved the trigger wire from the pilot lamp to the high beam wire, so when I dropped from the high beams to the low beams the driving lights also go off,I didn't want to have to use a separate switch to shut down the driving lights. Because of the narrow bean and high power these lights start to bother people a long way off. I also added a small LED indicator light inside the fairing to remind me the lights are on.

Glad to hear that Harry.. they also are great as conspicuity lights during the day. Two NJS riders who were following me had them on their bikes (wonder how that happened?) and I was always able to see if they remained behind me.