Those that have read my articles may think I’m a little OCD when it comes to motorcycle lighting and safety. However, when we have documents like the Hurt Report on motorcycle safety showing that one of the most common accidents between motorcycles and other vehicles is drivers turning in front of them violating the rider’s right of way, I think a little paranoia may be justified. Hence why I tend to favour my unfashionably bright neon riding jacket, and why I’ve upgraded my headlight from stock to HID. Motorcycle LED Light Kits The final piece of the visibility puzzle, as well as making a substantial increase in night time light output, was to install some auxiliary lights.
I won’t mince words here. My personal opinion is that the Triumph Tiger 1050’s stock lighting is terrible. We’ve had five different motorcycles in our garage over the last ten years, and I’ve ridden numerous others short term. My Tiger is the worst of the bunch when it comes to its stock lighting set up. Bike LED Kits On a Tiger rider’s forum the lights have been sarcastically described as “headlights that are as bright as an Ikea tea light”. Despite my frustration with the Tiger’s lights and its stock windscreen, the Tiger is also the motorcycle I have loved more than any other I’ve ridden. It is extremely comfortable, handles very well, is easy to ride at both high and low speeds, and has fantastic power. I prefer the power, handling and looks of this bike to many much more expensive motorcycles. Therefore it was time to start farkling and get the lights sorted out to make my favourite ride perfect for night time use.
I began reading about all the various options out there for improving stock lighting. Upgrading the headlight from stock halogen to a better aftermarket bulb was an option I tried on my old motorcycle. This time I would try a HID kit, mostly because it allowed me to reduce my power draw 20 watts from the original halogen while at the same time giving substantially more and better light. I would use those precious saved 20 amps later when the auxiliary lights were installed. Next I needed to look at which auxiliary lights to buy. PIAA, and Denali are some of the big names out there. They are no doubt excellent lights, but they are very expensive too. Reading forums, and searching Youtube for possible answers I came upon Mark Robbins’ video. I was very impressed with what I saw, and asked Mark if he would send us an article which is the one you can now read on this site. In the end the lights I bought were the same lights Mark wrote about which were the Cree lights from Hong Kong. The product quality was reported as very high, yet they cost roughly half as much as all the big name competing products. I spent some of my savings on my HID kit, and still had some money left over for beer. (Always important, after a good day of riding. )
These lights are manufactured in Hong Kong by a man named Komy Kwan. You will often hear people including myself affectionately call his lights “Komy Lights” even though he doesn’t label them this way. I’ve contacted Komy several times before purchasing, and afterwards to get information before writing this article. He has always impressed me as an exceptionally bright and decent person who really stands behind his product.
There are three different Motorcycle LED Auxiliary Light Pairs available for purchase. They are; a 780 Lumen pair, a 1, 600 Lumen pair, and a 3, 000 Lumen pair. Which light is right for your bike is really a personal issue. The 780 Lumen lights are ideally paired with your low beam and make excellent daytime running lights. The 1600 Lumen set will be too bright to use without the dimmer installed when facing traffic, but will give off lots light when running alone at night on an unlit road. The 3, 000 Lumen set absolutely needs the dimmer for use in traffic, at full bright they are damn near blinding, however when you are alone riding a highway at night it is like having stadium lighting mounted to your motorcycle frame.