Upgrade tho TricLED Spotlight installation

[OverHillAndDale]

Yes, I’m bragging about my farkling but I know a few of you appreciate new ideas. Plus, who else is gonna listen? Also, this is my first time posting pics from an iPad so if they look funny mark it down to my learning curve.

I installed the TricLED fender mounted spotlights a while ago but I’ve been unhappy with the installation. There were a couple of issues.

First, the installation is from the battery to a dimmer switch, but I would sometimes leave the lights on when I left the bike. So, I replaced the dimmer with a lighted on/off rocker switch. Now I could see that they were left on but I still sometimes walked away and left them on. And without the dimmer, they were so bright that I had to aim them down a lot, which defeated the purpose of the lights at night.

So, I reinstalled the dimmer so I could aim the lights forward again. I put a horn relay in the circuit fed from the dashboard lights so I could kill the circuit every time I turned to bike off. (A horn relay only pulls about 3ma)


Finally, I installed a dashboard LED AFTER the dimmer so that I could tell at a glance how bright I’d turned the lights up.


Now I can aim the lights forward, dim them during the day to improve my visibility, turn them WAY down at night so that people will see me better but I won’t blind them, turn them up if there’s no one in front of me on the road, and now I can’t leave them on after I shut off the bike.

So, this was just a few hours of work for the once or twice in the life of the bike I’ll need this flexibility, but as you all know farkling doesn’t really have to be useful.

[OverHillAndDale]

Aargh - this pics didn’t post. I’ll put them out there once I figure out how.

[Chupaca]

The pictures that is...sound like a bit of a trial and error venture to get them where you want them. Ah but that is the fun of the DIY ventures but most satisfying when you get there..congrats... will wait for the pic's

[OverHillAndDale]

Whenever I'm posted pics on my local hard drive, I've always gone to

- The "Picture" icon
- Selected "From Computer"
- Browsed for the pic
- Clicked "Upload file"
- Clicked "OK"

Now when I try this, I don't have the "Upload file" or "OK" buttons anywhere. Has this changed?

[Bob S]

Yes, I’m bragging about my farkling but I know a few of you appreciate new ideas. Plus, who else is gonna listen? Also, this is my first time posting pics from an iPad so if they look funny mark it down to my learning curve.

I installed the TricLED fender mounted spotlights a while ago but I’ve been unhappy with the installation. There were a couple of issues.

First, the installation is from the battery to a dimmer switch, but I would sometimes leave the lights on when I left the bike. So, I replaced the dimmer with a lighted on/off rocker switch. Now I could see that they were left on but I still sometimes walked away and left them on. And without the dimmer, they were so bright that I had to aim them down a lot, which defeated the purpose of the lights at night.

So, I reinstalled the dimmer so I could aim the lights forward again. I put a horn relay in the circuit fed from the dashboard lights so I could kill the circuit every time I turned to bike off. (A horn relay only pulls about 3ma)


Finally, I installed a dashboard LED AFTER the dimmer so that I could tell at a glance how bright I’d turned the lights up.


Now I can aim the lights forward, dim them during the day to improve my visibility, turn them WAY down at night so that people will see me better but I won’t blind them, turn them up if there’s no one in front of me on the road, and now I can’t leave them on after I shut off the bike.

So, this was just a few hours of work for the once or twice in the life of the bike I’ll need this flexibility, but as you all know farkling doesn’t really have to be useful.

I also installed these lights.
Not happy about the single screw to hold them.
They will eventually begin to slide downward.
I also would forget to turn them off so I put a small
sign in the rear trunk that reads, "Turn off driving lights"
I always go there when I get off the bike to get my carry bag
and to turn off the Sena SM10. Boy, they are bright and fill in
the voids that I get with the Tricled headlights.

[DGoebel]

Whenever I'm posted pics on my local hard drive, I've always gone to

- The "Picture" icon
- Selected "From Computer"
- Browsed for the pic
- Clicked "Upload file"
- Clicked "OK"

Now when I try this, I don't have the "Upload file" or "OK" buttons anywhere. Has this changed?

OverHillandDale,
Didn't you say you were trying to do this from your IPAD? I suspect that upload file feature is a Adobe Flash feature, you might have to enable flash in your browser or use a different flash enabled browser on the IPAD to get the upload choice to show.

[wd8ajj]

I wonder if I could dim the Rimco lights also. Very bright at night. 3000CP each. Turm them on and the headlight do away

[OverHillAndDale]

Got the pictures in - there is an issue uploading pictures using Chrome. Switched to IE and it worked. Couldn't get it to work in Chrome using iPad or PC.

Pic 1 is lights turned on in front of the bike. Pic to is the dashboard light that dims with the spotlights. Pic 2 is the dimmer (left side, just in front of glovebox).
IMG_2606 (1).jpgIMG_2610 (1).jpgIMG_2608 (1).JPG

[OverHillAndDale]

And to the smart-alecks who PMed me, YES, my garage is sideways and the floor is vertical.

[DGoebel]

I suspect you have to enable Flash for all websites, open your Chrome browser and type chrome://settings/content in the address bar, then press enter. Then on the Content Settings page, scroll down to Flash and select the button next to 'Allow sites to run Flash'

[UtahPete]

And to the smart-alecks who PMed me, YES, my garage is sideways and the floor is vertical.

Those are some sticky tires you got there!

Was it much trouble to access / remove the panel where you mounted the dimmer switch?

[OverHillAndDale]

Those are some sticky tires you got there!

Was it much trouble to access / remove the panel where you mounted the dimmer switch?

Yes, the panel that the switch is installed in is AWFUL to remove. I did it once to install USB ports between the rocker switches and it is a first class PITA. Fortunately it isn't necessary to install the dimmer switch.

If you remove the side panel that runs besides the black panel, you can drill and install the switch with the panel in place. The dimmer that comes with the lights is a bit bulky, I bought this one from Amazon for less that $10. Before you drill, make sure you've got room underneath for the dimmer and the wiring.

https://www.amazon.com/Volt-Dimmer-L...s=12vdc+dimmer

Send me a picture when you're done.

[OverHillAndDale]

Also, the dimmer switch I showed comes in two version - long shaft and short shaft. You'll want the long shaft version.

[OverHillAndDale]

If you’d rather not wire in the switch (which requires drilling into perfectly good plastic), here’s another possibility I considered.

https://www.amazon.com/BZONE-12-24V-...er+with+remote

[UtahPete]

The dimmer that comes with the lights is a bit bulky, I bought this one from Amazon for less that $10. Before you drill, make sure you've got room underneath for the dimmer and the wiring.

https://www.amazon.com/Volt-Dimmer-L...s=12vdc+dimmer

I think this is the same dimmer switch, sold by TricLED https://www.tricledusa.com/_p/prd1/4...-dimmer-switch for $15. I think I'm going to try it with my driving lights. Not sure where I'm going to mount it though, as I hate putting holes in body panels.

[PocoToro]

Thanks, I'm going to install the lights on my f3L, one question. Where did you get the LED light for the dash??

[OverHillAndDale]

Here’s the one I used.

https://www.amazon.com/PLUG-N-PLAY-I...ash+led+lights

[MeudtPG]

I know this thread is going on 3 years old but does anyone have any experiences running these TricLED spotlights with a dimmer?
How have they held up and any problems using amazon dimmer?
Thanks!