Dasmoetorhead
Active member
Went on my daily ride between showers.
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What did you do to your Spyder today?
- Thread starter Mazo EMS2
- Start date
CloverHillCrawler
Active member
Went out for a short ride after switching to summer mode, removed the windshield and put the gauge spoiler on.
The crawler is also sporting a new nose piercing. I was reading that you should never ride faster than your guardian angel and it should be low to the ground.
I did the piercing and the wife did the honors of hanging the guardian angel bell as she is the one that gave it to me.
The crawler is also sporting a new nose piercing. I was reading that you should never ride faster than your guardian angel and it should be low to the ground.
I did the piercing and the wife did the honors of hanging the guardian angel bell as she is the one that gave it to me.
Lew L
Well-known member
Had a headlight out and had a replacement in the garage waiting for the next (this one) to fail. I thought that LEDs were supposed to last much longer than incandescent bulbs? Had a bit of difficulty with one of the headlight mounting bolts (the bottom one that is buried). All better now...........
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PMK
Active member
Interesting, yes, quality LED headlights should last a long time.
Some of the concerns though are heat, generated from the LED chip to generate actual light.
Old school halogen bulbs do run hot. However as everyone knows, that heat from the halogen is on account of passing electrical current thru a fine wire, until it glows to produce actual light.
LED though is more susceptible to decreasing output as the diodes operate, getting hot without proper cooling.
Early, and possibly still today, LED headlights used a stacked pile of braided fine wire electrical braid. The intention being, the braids would extract the heat, and keep the actual LED cool enough to remain efficient, bright, all while having longevity.
These days, it is more common to see a finned heatsink. The heat sink is expected to have a free flow of cool air moving across the cooling fins. Placing a finned type LED inside a closed cover headlight assembly can result with the LED running hot, decreasing output, and shortening life.
Many high output LED headlights utilize a small brushless fan with one moving part, spinning on ball bearings. Essentially the same, but smaller size, as we have all used in our computers and laptops. Those fans, in computer survive a dusty life, running for tens of thousands, if not more hours without complaining or failing.
The fan cooled LED headlights, force cooling air over critical LED components, keeping them cool, efficient, and long lasting. To clarify further, inside the headlight housing, the air circulates, and is able to utilize the headlights cool plastic shell to dissipate heat. Folks often state they do not want fan cooled LEDs believing the fan is the weakest link. Honestly overheated LED electronics from lack of good cooling is the weak link.
Yes, for many, many years, our Spyder has run high quality, fan cooled LED headlights and driving lights without issues.
So Lew, just curious, what type cooling method is utilized by the LED that failed?
Dasmoetorhead
Active member
3 hour ride and lunch in the E.TN mountains on an absolutely beautiful day.
Changed out the Route 129 windscreen to the gauge spoiler prior to the ride. The wind felt good.
Changed out the Route 129 windscreen to the gauge spoiler prior to the ride. The wind felt good.
f110tech
New member
My previous owner ran a USB cable from the trunk all the way to the handlebars. I thought it was resourceful but ugly, and when I plugged in a USB adapter in the trunk I randomly got RFI out of the speakers when the USB cord was plugged into my phone. Probably a cheap USB adapter in the 12vdc plug, but hey a good excuse to delete the cable and add a "Rocker Style" USB port.
Poppie65
Active member
We had decided that we were going to use our phones for navigation, but found that the GPS antennas are failing in the phones. Rather than buy new phones sooner than we'd intended and then put them to use in this manner, we chose to get the Garmin.
I purchased the Zumo XT2 kit, along with a Motopumps GPS lock and the plug & play wiring harness from Lamonster last week. Did the installation today. I was counting on daisy chaining the harness with the front light kit harness that was installed a few months ago but it didn't work out, so I spliced into the previously installed harness and soldered the power & ground wires there. Everything powers up (and down) appropriately. Also used the Ram Mount Key Knob in place of the standard nut that comes with the Ram Mount.
Unpaired the helmet connections from the Spyder, which then freed up the GPS channels on the Cardo units and allowed them to pair with the Garmin.
While the body panels were off, I re-routed the brake repeater light through to the front and then up the cowling. The light bulb protrudes just enough to be seen from the seat. I'd made a much less professional looking install earlier, thinking that it would be removed relatively soon, but I like that I can keep an eye on the brake module performance and tune as needed.
I purchased the Zumo XT2 kit, along with a Motopumps GPS lock and the plug & play wiring harness from Lamonster last week. Did the installation today. I was counting on daisy chaining the harness with the front light kit harness that was installed a few months ago but it didn't work out, so I spliced into the previously installed harness and soldered the power & ground wires there. Everything powers up (and down) appropriately. Also used the Ram Mount Key Knob in place of the standard nut that comes with the Ram Mount.
Unpaired the helmet connections from the Spyder, which then freed up the GPS channels on the Cardo units and allowed them to pair with the Garmin.
While the body panels were off, I re-routed the brake repeater light through to the front and then up the cowling. The light bulb protrudes just enough to be seen from the seat. I'd made a much less professional looking install earlier, thinking that it would be removed relatively soon, but I like that I can keep an eye on the brake module performance and tune as needed.
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BLUEKNIGHT911
Sadly Passed Oct 2024 - RIP
Well about years ago My OEM antenna broke, so I decided to prevent that from happening again. I bought a manual retractable auto antenna, and last year that broke also (my fault, it was fully extended and hit the overhead garage door). So I bought a replacement made by Metra, and I am re-installing it into the right rear speaker pod. Yep, a bit of disassembly, but it is worth it. I live in rural Vermont and FM reception is spotty except for one station. With this antenna, I get about 12 stations .... Mike :thumbup:
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Quickdraw
Member
Which antenna from Metra did you buy? I replaced my OEM with a short version and the reception is horrible, and I live in an area where reception is not a problem.
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BLUEKNIGHT911
Sadly Passed Oct 2024 - RIP
It's model # 44 UL09 was $20.95 @ Amazon with free shipping. Crutchfield has it for less but no free shipping. The Metra is relatively short, so you only need about 8 inches of space below the mounting point, and the speaker box allows that. You would have to remove the OEM parts and get an OEM antenna plug from BRP (it's the same as the plug for the left side antenna hole). In order to do, this the metal antenna must go thru the rear edge of the ARM-REST which is on top of the speaker box. At least it does that on my 14 RT, I don't know what your Spyder is, so all this might not matter. Mike :thumbup: :thumbup:
Ps: I just brought the speaker pod with antenna out and tested it by plugging it into the radio connection. Well, I now get 12 FM stations instead of just one! :clap: For your issue, if you haven't already done so, clean off ALL the LokTite from the antenna and make sure the ground strap is connected properly and makes good contact. Many folks have found this makes a big difference in reception. ....Mike :thumbup:
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Dasmoetorhead
Active member
I took a beautiful ride from Piney Flats TN to Watuga, Elizabethton, to Hwy 107, Fairview, to hwy 173 Limestone, Unicoi, interstate 26, Johnson City, and back home. 77°F & Partly Cloudy.
Most of the ride is narrow 2 lane (typical E.TN) lots of curves, and wooded mountain scenery.
Most of the ride is narrow 2 lane (typical E.TN) lots of curves, and wooded mountain scenery.
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