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Cowl Lights

2K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  bikerbillone 
#1 ·
My trike was in the shop so I drove my car to Wing Ding this past week. As expected I saw many bikes on the road and was totally impressed how much more visibility the cowl lights added to the bikes. I now have a set on my to do list in the future. The lights that look "bluish" is that just the bulb, or the whole light setup?
 
#2 ·
Certain bulbs show up blue, others white. Check out Electrical connections or Bike mp3 for the latest LED lights that take little power draw and very bright. I have EC 55watt lights with amber lens that show up well in the day light for being seen. I have seen LED's that are just as bright.
 
#4 ·
On the lights that look blue when theyre off,its just the lens color not the bulb. When the lights are on theyre not blue at all but almost the same color as a stockheadlight. I had a Showchrome set and never could figure what was with the blue lens. If your talking about HID or aftermarket bulbs now your getting into different colors depending on the output of the light. Take HID lights for example. The stronger the light the more of a color change in the spectrum.For example checkout this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ-5JumrMzU
 
#5 ·
#6 ·
ALL Q'S COULD BE GOOGLED ! BUT THATS WHAT FORUM IS FOR !! YOUR OPINION :lol::agree:
 
#7 ·
ALL Q'S COULD BE GOOGLED ! BUT THATS WHAT FORUM IS FOR !! YOUR OPINION :lol::agree:
YEAH,,,,,,,,THAT MAY BE SO.........BUT IF THE O.P. WANTS THE "RIGHT" ANSWER - GOOGLE IS THE PLACE TO GO FOR A TECHNICAL EXPLANATION.......TO HIS QUESTION. :wrong::banghead:
 
#8 ·
The first set of cowl lights were oem Honda. :money1::money1::money1: Problem was, they mount to the engine and the vibration was just enough that a bulb would blow now and then. But worse than that, they were never centered in the cowl holes. I'm not super picky , but they just looked like an afterthought. Eventually, I got smart and purchased the cowl lights from Electrical Connection. Not sure, but I think I'm on my second set. They really have a ingenuous mounting system that mounts them directly to the cowl. Real easy to aim and they always look nice. When you are ready to buy at least go their website and check them out. They have all types of colors and bulbs including LED, which I don't have. They really do make you more visible.
 
#9 ·
YEAH,,,,,,,,THAT MAY BE SO.........BUT IF THE O.P. WANTS THE "RIGHT" ANSWER - GOOGLE IS THE PLACE TO GO FOR A TECHNICAL EXPLANATION.......TO HIS QUESTION. :wrong::banghead:
The "right" answer depends on which link or website you chose to find the answer to your search. Lots of misinformation out on the web. Using google doesn't guarantee the right answer to a search. :doorag:
 
#10 ·
The first set of cowl lights were oem Honda. :money1::money1::money1: Problem was, they mount to the engine and the vibration was just enough that a bulb would blow now and then. But worse than that, they were never centered in the cowl holes. I'm not super picky , but they just looked like an afterthought. Eventually, I got smart and purchased the cowl lights from Electrical Connection. Not sure, but I think I'm on my second set. They really have a ingenuous mounting system that mounts them directly to the cowl. Real easy to aim and they always look nice. When you are ready to buy at least go their website and check them out. They have all types of colors and bulbs including LED, which I don't have. They really do make you more visible.
Thanks, for some reason I thought it was better if the lights attached to the engine rather than the cowl. I will look again at
EC.
 
#11 ·
On my GL1800 I had the OEM cowl lights that with time cracked. At Cats-Cade in '07 I had Electrical Connection, who was there as a vendor, install his latest (at the time) cowl lights along with a protective film. In a couple of years, one bulb burnt out and I had to replace it at my cost. With time, the lens on the EC lights cracked and filled with rain water. I then replaced them with $29.00 55w lights bought at Pep Boys and mounted them onto the EC mounting brackets. With time, the Pep Boys lights cracked as well and have recently replaced them with another identical new set from Pep Boys.

It is inevitable that due to the location of the cowl lights, they suffer from hits from road debris. For $29.00 I'm happy to replace the Pep Boys' lights anytime that I see a crack in the plastic lens.

On my '09 Vmax I mounted 50w Moto Lights on its calipers (I didn't like their set up on the forks and thought them to be too close to the headlight). This set up along with the high beam gives a defined triangulated view from the front which is very noticeable from oncoming traffic (the reason for them in the first place). The Moto Lights, although expensive, have a very strong glass lens on their lights. I recently called them to say that one of their bulbs had burnt out at 11,000 miles (they were on the bike since April of 2009). They replaced both bulbs with new ones along with the waterproof gaskets (which the lady on the phone thought would deteriorate over time) free of charge, shipping was on them as well, so now I have a used one as a spare. The Moto Lights are very expensive, but their bulbs come with a lifetime replacement guarantee.

I have no financial interest in Moto Lights products. This is just another opinion for anyone to consider alternatives.
 
#12 ·
Thanks, for some reason I thought it was better if the lights attached to the engine rather than the cowl. I will look again at
EC.
Probably should have mentioned... rocks are not your friend. I did have one break that way, but have since out protectors over them. A rock may not break the lens/bulb, but it will sure give it a good shock, which is not so great if the light is on. I'm sure that explains a lot of "burnt out bulbs" and lets face it... it is not the ideal location either.
 
#13 ·
Just came back from Knoxville and went by Electrical Connection's office yesterday. Lewis showed me around and explained his product. I bought the white single shooter LED for my 2012 CSC Viper and installed them tonight. Pretty easy install even with the ground effects on the trike. Wow are they bright! I don't think they aim at oncoming cars but don't know if they will bother oncoming drivers just because of the brightness.
 
#14 ·
It seems to me that many of these simple questions are best answered if people would just use "google search"..........!!!! Just my opinion only...READ THIS FOUND BY USING GOOGLE SEARCH - http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/blue/bad/bad.html
ALL Q'S COULD BE GOOGLED ! BUT THATS WHAT FORUM IS FOR !! YOUR OPINION :lol::agree:
YEAH,,,,,,,,THAT MAY BE SO.........BUT IF THE O.P. WANTS THE "RIGHT" ANSWER - GOOGLE IS THE PLACE TO GO FOR A TECHNICAL EXPLANATION.......TO HIS QUESTION. :wrong::banghead:
The "right" answer depends on which link or website you chose to find the answer to your search. Lots of misinformation out on the web. Using google doesn't guarantee the right answer to a search. :doorag:
To Google (or search) or NOT to Google,... THAT is the question.

While my wife is 'the Google Queen', I on the other hand am not. Very seldom when I do a search does what I'm looking for show up. More often are threads that have absolutely nothing to do with what I asked for.

To me that's what the forums are all about. v8eyedoc, if it bugs ya if someone asks a question, don't bother answering it. There are some jokesters here on the forum that may give flip answers and I have no problem with that. I have been known to resemble that remark myself. If the poster shows his displeasure I have even been known to apologize and back out. But I'll never chide someone for asking what to some may be an elementary question. BTW v8, I'm not saying you did. You just gave your opinion as far as I see it. I was just countering with mine.
This is a great forum.
thecruiser
 
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