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Cruiser
Posts: 60
| I am impressed with how much light my vision puts out it has the best lighting by far of any bike I have ridden. That being said more is always better. I like all that I have read about the clearwater lights but how do they compare to the ones offered from Victory?
Edited by Point 2011-04-14 9:15 AM
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Visionary
Posts: 1229
Rancho Cucamonga, CA | The PIAA HIDs are a little brighter, but the Clearwaters are still extremely bright. The advantages of the Clearwater's :
LEDs are not affected by vibration. If you are mounting on the front fender, this is very important, fillament bulbs are damaged easily and HIDs will fail earlier also.
They last 5-10X longer than Halogen or HIDs (50k-100k hours), probably longer than the bike.
They draw only 2 amps total when at max, no need to wire a power relay on your bike. Good if you run multiple power consuming accessories.
They can be dimmed. I never turn mine off, if I don't need the light output, I dim them down so they are still visible to oncoming traffic for added safety.
They do not turn off like the Victory ones when you turn your highbeams on, instead, they go to full brightness. They will also go to full brightness when you hit your horn (with an easy mod).
They are made in the USA!!!
There are many good threads about the Clearwater's, and I also posted a tech-reference. Do a search to find them all.
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 40
Kansas | The factory PIAA lights are garbage and can't compete with the HID driving light. I'm pulling mine off next month and replacing them, most likely with the Clearwaters. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 162
Northern NJ | I'm a major fan of the Clearwater LEDs. I have them on BOTH of my Visions. Simply the best "mod" I've made to the Visions.
I've seen the Victory/PIAA lights, and I had PIAAs on my Vegas & Kingpin. The Clearwater LED lights are better, period.
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Cruiser
Posts: 208
Wichita, Kansas | I put the PIAA fog lights on to get more visibility for cagers. But, they draw 70 watts which is a lot of heat and a pretty healthy alternator load. I've been on familiar roads with a little bit of moonlight and shut off all the other lights for a few seconds to see what they really do, and they're mostly decoration. The light output, IMHO, is not that much, compared to the two headlights and the driving light on the Vision. The turn off when brights are on mentioned above is only if you use the factory wiring. I put another switch in the blank space on the console so I have them on all the time.
BUT, I've been told that driving toward me is like being targeted by a laser. That's good - maybe no one will pull out on me!!
I'm considering LED driving lights, though, to reduce the alternator load. And while the Clearwaters are an excellent product, there are others that are cheaper and have similar output. But you may have to fab a mount and do your own wiring. LED lighting is just now becoming second generation, i.e. bright enough for headlights and driving lights while still at a reasonable price. I think there will be some really good stuff come out over the next year. We are even engineering them onto the aircraft I design for, and those suckers are SERIOUSLY bright. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 156
Bluff Park, Alabama - God's Country! 2011 PW VV | Ooooohhhhhh! I want some landing lights on my VV!!! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 60
| Thanks for the replies. It looks like the Clearwater lights are way out in front of the PIAA. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 208
Wichita, Kansas | Ghost, Here you go. The light equivalent of a 200W spotlight. Just a bit pricey though, but when it's on, there will be no doubt. And only draws about 35 watts. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/whelen461l.php |
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Visionary
Posts: 1229
Rancho Cucamonga, CA | Clearwater Kristas are about the same Lumens, but smaller, with all the hardware needed to mount to a bike. I was thinking of mounting them where the upper deflectors are. http://clearwaterlights.com/infopg_krista.html |
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Cruiser
Posts: 156
Bluff Park, Alabama - God's Country! 2011 PW VV |  KansasGuardsman - 2011-04-16 2:05 PM Ghost, Here you go. The light equivalent of a 200W spotlight. Just a bit pricey though, but when it's on, there will be no doubt. And only draws about 35 watts. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/whelen461l.php |
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Tourer
Posts: 395
Moravia, IA | I cant imagine needing any better lighting.....the HID driving light is insane. My Vision has better lighting then all my cars. At some point I think your just annoying oncoming traffic.....and I really think the HID driving light is almost at that limit really.
I get bright'd all the time.....but I live in deer country and will deal with a little bright light action to be able to see the road so well. |
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