Auxiliary lighting

So I've been wanting to add some auxiliary lighting for a while now. Love the Motolights, but I wanted to see what I could come up with on a smaller budget. I like the "triangle of light" concept. I hope that simply MORE light will make me more visible, and the triangle will help my bike to stand out as a separate vehicle rather than blend in with the headlights of the cars behind me.



I've been trolling for PIAA's on eBay for a while, but was never really sure what would work best. I finally settled on some PIAA 002 X Extreme lights and got them for $46. If you got them for less, please don't tell me.

I chose them because they were only 35 watts, and I am concerned about using too much power and being stranded with a run-down battery. I would actually prefer to have a freight train headlight, but for some reason I don't think that would work. My bike, an SV650, doesn't generate a lot of surplus power (I think I have about 125 watts to play with, and like to run a GPS occasionally and have heated gear when it's cold. I'll probably still have to choose between heat or light.) Plus they looked about the right size and weren't fugly.

I was a little worried about how I was going to mount them and have been looking through various forums for ideas. When they came in, a friend helped me wire them up, and I mounted them right where the front wheel reflectors were. Put some wire conduit around the white wire harness to clean it up. The brackets have two slotted holes for mounting, but I only used one. It seems pretty solid, but I'll have to keep checking them to make sure they stand up to vibrations and velocity. The best thing of all is how BRIGHT they are!

They are smaller than I thought they would be, but they blend in with the bike really well (in my most humble opinion). I'm very happy with them. Here's some pics of them, they actually look brighter in person.

Happy Birthday to my boy!

Happy 20th birthday Ryan!



I don't tell you nearly enough, but I love you very much and am very proud of the man you have become!

Lula, Bruce, Shelby, and Bailey

Here is our ever-growing menagerie of domestic wildlife (??). We've had Lula for a few years, but "the boys" came to us rather suddenly about a year ago. It's taken about that long for them to get used to each other.

Lula is our little bundle of energy. She was a rescue dog, found when she was only two days old. We think she's a rat terror...err...terrier. She's a wonderful little dog with boundless energy and a very sweet disposition. Did I mention she has a lot of energy?












This is Bruce. He is a very sweet little guy, but is the original 'fraidy cat. He likes to hide on top of various pieces of furniture as seen here :)

















Shelby is Bruce's brother, and truly thinks he is king of all he sees. He has serious "catitude", yet he'll follow me around like a puppy. Funny little guy.

















Update! On October 30th, we brought home Bailey! Tiny and cute, so far she's fitting in pretty well.

Project bike!

Last week we bought a used 2002 Buell Blast for Katie to start riding on. It's small size and light weight will do well for her I think. It doesn't have too many miles, just under 4,000, but definitely shows signs of being someone else's learning bike! I hadn't counted on a few things when I agreed to buy it, so there are a few "projects" to do on it. First up is to replace the broken rear turn signal. I've got a set of Shock LED signals to put on there. I've never been a fan of LED signals whose purpose is to be small and not seen, but these Shocks are very bright - perhaps brighter than stock. Next on the list is to replace the rear tire. The previous owner thought it would be fun to do a burnout so it's got a nice tread-free flat spot in the middle. Next the barend mirrors will come off and be replaced with the originals. I want her to see as much as possible. Then I guess we'll need some bar ends in there.

The most challenging aspect will be the color. It started life as a darkish purple color (don't know the official name). The last owner, being the manly man that he is, decided that the Barney color would not do, so he painted it black. The only problem is that the Buell body panels are all plastic. The paint didn't take to the plastic too well to start, and in the few months since then has degraded, starting to flake and peel off and bubble where gas has dripped on it. I tested a small area with some paint thinner, which took the black off, and then polished it with some regular automotive wax, and it seemed to work very well. I don't know how that will affect the areas that have decals. Unfortunately, Katie doesn't think her gear will match the original color, so she's not in favor of stripping it.

Pictures and progress reports to follow.