Auxiliary Motorcycle Lighting

Micro HID Lights From Hella

Debating whether to mount my old Hella HID Micro lights on my new '13 BMW R1200RT bike. I've had this set since about 2005 and have had them on BMWs and Harleys. They have never failed me and they give off a great light. The negatives are that they each have a ballast that's almost 4"X4"X1" so they're hard to place under the fairing or anywhere else where they're out of sight. On the Harley Ultra Classics they are easy to install because you can just place the ballasts in the pocket of the lowers (the fairing that's for leg protection). All it takes is drilling a small hole in the lower fairing to route the cable to the ballast.
Another issue with the ballasts is that they generate a great deal of heat so it's good to find some place where they get some air flow if possible.
The new setups, like from Clearwater are much easier to install, but I really like the size and quality construction of my Hellas.
I'll be checking out those other systems and will file a followup to the blog in the near future.

With Ballast

BMW LT Setup

By the way, in case anybody is concerned, here's the law in Texas concerning number of lights we can have up front: 

(d)  Not more than four of the following may be lighted at one time on the front of a motor vehicle:


(1)  a headlamp required by this chapter;  or


(2)  a lamp, including an auxiliary lamp or spotlamp, that projects a beam with an intensity brighter than 300 candlepower.


I would take the risk of getting a ticket than not seeing something down some dark country road out is West Texas.