Lights

[Bill]

Has anyone mounted additional lights on their GZ250 for night riding? There aren't many after market items available for the GZ250 although I haven't looked into a light bar. It would be more than I would want to invest anyway. At one time I was hoping that some effective highway bars could be found but no luck except for some that had been discontinued.
Since decent highway bars are not available I am thinking about using some Suzuki engine guards as a mounting place for a couple of lights I had seen in JC Whitney.
Has anyone done this? If anyone has done this I admit that I am electrically challenged and would not know where to start so I would appreciate some guidance. Anyone know where I can get engine guards cheap?

Cheers!

[Dupo]

Tell you whats amazing. My GZ had better light output than the Shadow Spirit i have now. I wish my shadow had as good a lighting as the GZ, i cant see crap at night lol.

There IS a place that sells lightbars for the GZ...

Universal light bar - http://www.classiccruiser.com/product.asp?item=379600
Spotlight - just type spotlight in the search box and you'll get a ton of them listed.

You could also try ebay for some smaller type motorcycle driving lights that they use on sport bikes. I was thinking about modifying something to get them mounted somewhere on the GZ i had. I wouldnt recommend putting lights on engine guards, the vibration might be too much (just a guess), not to mention having wires across the bar, frame and into the headlight area.

I'd also recommend looking on ebay for xenon bulbs for the headlight. They make a big difference as i had them on my bronco and i know i seen them for motorcycles as well.

[Bill]

The idea is too light up the bike in the morning when my wife rides it to work. I haven't actually seen the light on when it is dark out. Glad to hear it is fairly bright.

Do the xenon bulbs have the same draw on the system as the stock light? Is there a particular model/wattage of xenon bulb for the GZ250 I should look for as a replacement? Would this burn hotter than the stock light?

I think I'll cancel the idea about the lights on the engine guard. It may very well be too much vibration. Add to that the cost of the (pretty useless otherwise) engine guards it is getting too expensive for a rigged up system like that. Thanks for the tip on a light bar. I'll keep that in mind.

Cheers!

[Dupo]

Xenon usually has the same wattage draw as stock (atleast the ones i got for my bronco were). I got them off ebay rather cheap. You should look for the ones that are 7000k color (i believe thats correct). The higher the K the whiter they are. 4 and 5's are 'blue' and the 7ks are white. You should have no problem finding them on ebay for about $15 if not cheaper.

[Bill]

Thanks, I'll give them a try. I think she would like those.

Cheers!

[Badbob]

I use a Sylvania Silverstar bulb in my head light. It's brighter than the stock light and uses less power. It costs about $20 for a bulb at AutoZone.

HID lights are very bright and very epensive.

Small motorcycles do not have a lot of power to spare so you need to be sure your charging system can handle the load before you star buying lights or you will wind up with a dead battery.

LEDs are low power and farily safe to add but good ones can be expensive.

A headlight modulator might be a good option for you if they are legal where you live.

[Bill]

There is an AutoZone near home so I might check on the Sylvania Silverstar first before considering any other more extensive modifications.

Any other suggestions for how to make her more visible on her GZ250 when she is riding in the early morning will be appreciated. She has to turn at an intersection that is one of the most dangerous in Jacksonville. It was on the front page headlines this Sunday along with a few other danger areas.

Cheers!

[Badbob]

There is good assortment of LED brake light add ons from complete brake light replacements to remote brake lights that mount on your helmet.

Lighter color helmets such as white or yellow.

Reflective decals.

[oneyunguy]

I prefer LED's myself. Super low power consumption. You can get them DIRECT from China (coincidentally where pretty much ALL of LED's are manufactured), from Ebay pretty darn cheaply. There are LED's that can temporarily blind a human that looks directly into them. That said, you must be carefull with placement of the aforementioned. But if you look into it, LED's are taking over from conventional filament type bulbs., which consume alot more power than LED's. LED's are impervious to vibration. I have taken an ABS (tough plastic) strip and made troughs lengthwise with a table saw to accomodate wiring, and placed a few blue LED's through it and placed it both of the frame uprights facing forward to accentuate the engine. They also give a more visible appearance. These LED's are pretty bright, 5,000 MCD's. One MCD = the light of one candle. I do not worry one iota about my battery and LED's. I will place more in time. Soon my brake light will be LED's, and I will put LED's as my 'forward' lights to add to the stock headlight.

My 2 cents worth.

[oneyunguy]

As an added tip, I always take the "fast" , (inside) , lane when turning left. That way, there is a vehicle beside me that will take the impact before me. I live in a metroplotian city with a population of about 2.5 million. Myself I just take my time and try my best to look all ways before entering or exiting an intersection.