Motorcycle lighting (Suzuki 2001 Bandit 1200S)

[-Virgil-]

Yeah, that BMW headlamp is a great technical achievement made by ZKW, but it is also mind-blowingly complex with a lot of delicately-calibrated moving parts (not such an excellent thing in the punishing environment of motorcycle service!), and frightfully expensive. I would not want to be the owner of such a bike after the warranty runs out!

The JW Speaker item will cost a lot less and has no moving parts to fail or go out of calibration.

 

[Supur-Lyte]

The JW Speaker item will cost a lot less and has no moving parts to fail or go out of calibration.

Do you care to make a wild guess as to an approximate price range?

 

[-Virgil-]

A wild guess would be exactly that; I have no basis to make any kind of useful guess on. We'll just have to wait! It will certainly be less than the BMW item.

 

[Franco]

-Virgil-, do you know, or may you tell us, any more about these cool moving-part/calibration-less motorcycle headlights, at least conceptually? I'm just really interested in how JW Speaker worked on the banking issue.

 

[jaycee88]

Yeah, that BMW headlamp is a great technical achievement made by ZKW, but it is also mind-blowingly complex with a lot of delicately-calibrated moving parts (not such an excellent thing in the punishing environment of motorcycle service!), and frightfully expensive. I would not want to be the owner of such a bike after the warranty runs out!

Out of curiosity I went online and did some 'parts shopping'. The headlight housing is $1700. That's just the optics, no bulbs or ballast or control unit. With all of the necessary electronics and bulbs and hardware to enable the banking/leveling mechanism, all told the entire headlight runs about $3300. And that's the online Web store price, which tends to be a bit lower than the manufacturer's suggested retail price.

The JW Speaker item will cost a lot less and has no moving parts to fail or go out of calibration.

How does it achieve bank angle compensation without moving parts?

 

[-Virgil-]

How does it achieve bank angle compensation without moving parts?

Several arrays of LEDs and optics to put light in areas the beam swings away from, progressively in accordance with the direction and amount of lean. Driven by several sensors (now that I think of it, there may be a mini gyroscope as part of one of the sensors, so I guess that would count as a moving part)

 

[fastgun]

Is it anything like a trailer brake sensor that engages voltage as the banking/inertia increases?

 

[jaycee88]

Several arrays of LEDs and optics to put light in areas the beam swings away from, progressively in accordance with the direction and amount of lean. Driven by several sensors (now that I think of it, there may be a mini gyroscope as part of one of the sensors, so I guess that would count as a moving part)

ktm's newly released 1290 super adventure now has this as well - arrays of led's that illuminate automatically and progressively depending on lean angle. ktm calls them 'cornering lights'.

http://www.cycleworld.com/2015/01/3...ycle-first-ride-review-photos-specifications/

 

[-Virgil-]

I don't think those are the same, functionally. We will have to wait and see!

 

[Supur-Lyte]

Here is an article and video from KTM with numerous shots of the lights in action. Unfortunately, the closest thing to riding at night is riding through a tunnel in Monaco.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? The cornering lights can be seen at 2:11, 2:40 and 3:04. Anyone care to translate?