Wilsons Sandbox

I just thought I'd pass along some info on the latest bit of farkle that I acquired. I purchased a set of Off-Road driving lights from Brian H. You may remember that I also picked up his blade-type fuse conversion kit some time ago. I finally got home from a long trip to CA, kissed my wife hello and headed out to the shop. My first thought when pulling the lights out of the box was "Cool!". My next thought when pulling the wiring harness out was "What have I gotten myself into?" As it turned out, installation wasn't bad at all. The kit is made of top shelf components, packed like a professional, and includes all the hardware needed for installation as well as very complete instructions. For comparison purposes I fired up the bike and took note of how bright the stock headlight was shining against a wall. Next, I followed the instructions for installation. The first step is removing the fairing and marking the holes for the Off-Road lights. Brian includes a nicely made aluminum support that is hidden inside the fairing. I cheated a little and held the aluminum piece in place with a small "C" Vise-Grip pliers and drilled out the holes from the inside of the fairing with a Close Quarters drill. If you don't have one, most any mechanic will have one that you can borrow for about 2 minutes. Makes life much easier as there was no was I could fit my screw gun inside the fairing. Mounting the lights takes 4 bolts which come with the kit and even includes 2 foam rubber cushions that go between the fairing and the light mounts which are pre-cut and have the bolt holes neatly punched in them as well. The actual wiring part of the installation is just as simple. You pull of the wiring cover behind the instrument panel (2 screws), unplug a factory wiring connector, plug the new loom in its place, hook up 1 ground wire and run a wire direct to the battery. Tuck the added wiring back under the ignition switch, replace the wiring cover, mount the switch on the instrument cluster, replace the fairing, put the seat and side covers back on and you're done! Installation took me about 1-1/2 hours. It will likely take you less time as I had 2 cats helping me. Apparently they thought my 3 week trip was too long. They especially liked helping with the wiring! I put my tools away and fired up the bike again to make sure everything worked. The first thing I noticed was the stock headlight was much brighter than before. It makes sense I guess since the lights are now getting their power directly from the battery. I hit the switch for the Off-Road lights and said "Whoa!" It was like the sun came up! Where the Stock High Beam generally shoots out a beam straight ahead, the Off-Road lights not only put out WAAAY more light, it was more light everywhere! I turned off the light in the shop and the floor lit up, the ceiling, and everything else. I think this kit will greatly improve your peripheral and forward vision at night. I was unable to road test it though as we have ice and snow here on the roads in Northern MN. While installing the kit I wondered what function the high beam switch would have. When the off-road lights are off, your headlight functions normally. When the off-road lights are on using the high beam switch toggles between the stock high beam and the off-road lights which I thought was a nice function. Just the thing for finding your way home on our deer infested roads. The off-road lights aren't DOT legal, but it's pretty quiet where I live, so I'm not worried about getting a ticket. Here are my thoughts on the kit. I really liked the ease of installation. One other nice feature is you don't have to cut or splice any of the factory wiring. If you trade bikes, just unplug the off-road harness and reconnect the factory connectors. The components and construction were first rate, top shelf stuff. All the wires were the right length, all hardware is included, even the plastic zip-ties. All you need is a screwdriver, a 10MM socket and a side cutter for trimming the wire ties. That's it! I would heartily recommend this kit to anyone wanting more light on their KLR. An additional benefit is the ability to upgrade to a higher wattage headlight bulb without worrying about toasting the wiring. I thought the price was more than fair and the fact that it is being produced by one of our own who is probably making these kits on his kitchen table made it really attractive to me. I don't have any connection to Brian, and I'm not making any money off the deal. I'm pretty particular and somewhat hard to impress, but I really am pleased with this kit and I thought some of you might like to hear about it. One last thing. If you have done the blue Loc-Tite treatment on your screws, I would recommend a Snap-On or equivalent screwdriver for your tool kit. Years ago when working in a body shop I found that there is something about Snap-On's screwdriver tips that help them hang on to really tight screws without buggering them up. I had Loc-Tited my bike when it was brand new and squeaky clean, so I had to use a wrench on the screwdriver bolster to get the fairing screws out. At least I know now that they aren't going to vibrate out! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

How about posting some pics? Ross Lindberg wrote: I just thought I'd pass along some info on the latest bit of farkle that I acquired. I purchased a set of Off-Road driving lights from Brian H. You may remember that I also picked up his blade-type fuse conversion kit some time ago. I finally got home from a long trip to CA, kissed my wife hello and headed out to the shop. My first thought when pulling the lights out of the box was "Cool!". My next thought when pulling the wiring harness out was "What have I gotten myself into?" As it turned out, installation wasn't bad at all. The kit is made of top shelf components, packed like a professional, and includes all the hardware needed for installation as well as very complete instructions. For comparison purposes I fired up the bike and took note of how bright the stock headlight was shining against a wall. Next, I followed the instructions for installation. The first step is removing the fairing and marking the holes for the Off-Road lights. Brian includes a nicely made aluminum support that is hidden inside the fairing. I cheated a little and held the aluminum piece in place with a small "C" Vise-Grip pliers and drilled out the holes from the inside of the fairing with a Close Quarters drill. If you don't have one, most any mechanic will have one that you can borrow for about 2 minutes. Makes life much easier as there was no was I could fit my screw gun inside the fairing. Mounting the lights takes 4 bolts which come with the kit and even includes 2 foam rubber cushions that go between the fairing and the light mounts which are pre-cut and have the bolt holes neatly punched in them as well. The actual wiring part of the installation is just as simple. You pull of the wiring cover behind the instrument panel (2 screws), unplug a factory wiring connector, plug the new loom in its place, hook up 1 ground wire and run a wire direct to the battery. Tuck the added wiring back under the ignition switch, replace the wiring cover, mount the switch on the instrument cluster, replace the fairing, put the seat and side covers back on and you're done! Installation took me about 1-1/2 hours. It will likely take you less time as I had 2 cats helping me. Apparently they thought my 3 week trip was too long. They especially liked helping with the wiring! I put my tools away and fired up the bike again to make sure everything worked. The first thing I noticed was the stock headlight was much brighter than before. It makes sense I guess since the lights are now getting their power directly from the battery. I hit the switch for the Off-Road lights and said "Whoa!" It was like the sun came up! Where the Stock High Beam generally shoots out a beam straight ahead, the Off-Road lights not only put out WAAAY more light, it was more light everywhere! I turned off the light in the shop and the floor lit up, the ceiling, and everything else. I think this kit will greatly improve your peripheral and forward vision at night. I was unable to road test it though as we have ice and snow here on the roads in Northern MN. While installing the kit I wondered what function the high beam switch would have. When the off-road lights are off, your headlight functions normally. When the off-road lights are on using the high beam switch toggles between the stock high beam and the off-road lights which I thought was a nice function. Just the thing for finding your way home on our deer infested roads. The off-road lights aren't DOT legal, but it's pretty quiet where I live, so I'm not worried about getting a ticket. Here are my thoughts on the kit. I really liked the ease of installation. One other nice feature is you don't have to cut or splice any of the factory wiring. If you trade bikes, just unplug the off-road harness and reconnect the factory connectors. The components and construction were first rate, top shelf stuff. All the wires were the right length, all hardware is included, even the plastic zip-ties. All you need is a screwdriver, a 10MM socket and a side cutter for trimming the wire ties. That's it! I would heartily recommend this kit to anyone wanting more light on their KLR. An additional benefit is the ability to upgrade to a higher wattage headlight bulb without worrying about toasting the wiring. I thought the price was more than fair and the fact that it is being produced by one of our own who is probably making these kits on his kitchen table made it really attractive to me. I don't have any connection to Brian, and I'm not making any money off the deal. I'm pretty particular and somewhat hard to impress, but I really am pleased with this kit and I thought some of you might like to hear about it. One last thing. If you have done the blue Loc-Tite treatment on your screws, I would recommend a Snap-On or equivalent screwdriver for your tool kit. Years ago when working in a body shop I found that there is something about Snap-On's screwdriver tips that help them hang on to really tight screws without buggering them up. I had Loc-Tited my bike when it was brand new and squeaky clean, so I had to use a wrench on the screwdriver bolster to get the fairing screws out. At least I know now that they aren't going to vibrate out! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --------------------------------- Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]