Dude you have the most informative videos and great taste in bikes, I went from K1600 GLT to K1300s to R1200RT and just like you, the bikes never fail to amaze me
Very neat and clean Chris, but you left out all the mess about combining all green, red, and black wires into those little blue wire caps. I was very excited to get these lights and for the price I expected a complete bike specific harnessing, not having to twist wires and put caps on the end.
Chris, Clearwater lights are top notch, but they are not DOT certified. I found this out when I tried to get a state inspection (VA) and the guys at my BMW shop told me that my bike would fail inspection because of the Clearwater lights. I have BMW aux lights on my RTW, but my F700GS has Clearwater lights. I ended up bringing my 700GS to car shop that doesn't usually inspect motorcycles...so they didn't look too closely at the lights. I removed the fuse so the aux lights wouldn't come on. I told the inspector that I only use the Clearwater lights when I'm off-road. He shrugged and said, "OK". Kind of a hassle, but only once a year.
Hello. I have a 2018 RT. I was wondering your thoughts on mounting LED lights. I was going to install them on my Ilium works crash bars, but now I am thinking by the mirrors. I’m torn. Some guys say if they are on the bars, they will get dirtier quicker and that may obstruct the light output. Others say if mounted up high by the mirrors, we are much more visible to others. Thank you for any advise. I am leaning a bit more towards the mirrors. I purchased Denali DR1 lights with the Cansmart/Hex ezCan controller.
I think the idea that the lights get dirtier on the bars might be speculation, not the real picture. It seems logical that being closer to the road means a dirtier environment, and that may be the case, but the real life experience is that this difference is negligible. My experience is that when the driving lights are dirty, so is the headlamp. Regarding visibility, i would be less concerned about the location of the driving lamps and more about the color. I have been using a yellow filter on mine since i bought them and i consistently get comments on how eye catching the color is. At night i take them off. All that being said, if you have lights with a good mounting near the mirror, and you are happy, put them on -- you wont regret it.
Chris just wondering did you consider the fork mounted option? I'm tossing up between fork mounted and where you mounted yours for both the daytime visibility triangle for cars is my primary goal but also the occasional night ride. Let me know your thoughts and whether you debated this. Thanks! BTW great video.
I think the fork mounted option is a great one, and the only reason i went with the bracket mounts was because that is how i mounted my aux lights on my GT. Clearwater makes several mounting options available , and many like the clean look of the fork mounts. Because Darla's are so small, you have these options. The larger lights are more limited.
Chris, do you recall about how much time it took you to install these? Any "Dang it!" moments you can remember? Have a '16 RT, as well, and may have a tight window ahead to install these before a trip. Thanks for creating the video, BTW. Showing where this connects answered an unanswered question I had just two hours ago about what that dead-end harness was for.
esthomason if you worked at an easy pace the install would take you a couple hours start to finish. The challenge I found was determining the location of the can-opener given the length of its cord. Aside from that there is a ton of room under the beak and more than enough on the right side of the bike. It's an easy install.
Question.....When I went to the Clearwater website and put in my model number (R1200RT), it didn't come up with the mounting option you used it only gives you crashbar or fork mount options... my bike doesn't have crash bars and i'm not sure I want the lights to turn along with the front wheel.....suggestions?
Unfortunately they only offer this sort of bracket set-up on a few models , since this bracket is actually and accessory mount by BWW. If you don't want a fork mounted light, then you will need to find a hard point somewhere on your bike and search your owner forums. For example, my riding buddy is on a k13 and he uses the hard point in the oil cooler intake.
I will try with my Kristas this weekend in my R1200RTW. Mine is 2016 and has TPM I understand the CanOpener goes there, I hope I understood correctly. I've heard that installing the relay in the front is a PITA, but it worth to try.
+guillermo Lucero -- actually, its easy, and on the RTW there is a lot of room where the relay should be mounted up front. The wire lengths are appropriate for the RTW, so you really don't need to deviate from the instructions in the package. The Canopener plugs in between the TPM and the harness -- sort of a middle man-- they chose the TPM because of its location, but i am told with Canbus they could have used any plug on the bike. The bike continues working as if the Canopener isn't there. Its a quiet system that doesn't require any "cutting" into wires. From the Canopener there is a green plug and a long thin wire that runs up to the relay and lights. (the Data wire in the video) The relay fits very easily under the beak in the video , and its very easy to reach and place. Get both lights on the bike, then run the Left light wire up the frame, under the steering head, and down the right side to meet up with the relay , data wire and right light lead. Its much easier than i anticipated. There is a ton of room on the frame under the steering head (in the video you can see the relay zip tied there with a bunch of red wires coming out of it @ 4:12 ) The only space challenge was being careful about where the Canopener itself gets stuck too. Before pulling off the tape to stick it, try your passenger seat to make sure there is no interference with it or the associated wires.
+Sam Rowland The Can-opener actually does all that for you. It sits in between the tire pressure module and its harness plug (sort of like a middle man). I assume all of the "computer chatter" on the bike is sent all over and it acts like a phone tap to listen to it all. Regardless, it can sense what controls i use on the bike (turn signals, horn, brakes, etc). It in turn signals the light relay (under the beak of the bike) when to turn on and how bright. So there isn't a need to tap into any wiring. The Darla lights, and others, turn high and low with the headlight beam, as i show in this video, but they also go bright with the horn, and can strobe when i hold the hazard lights button. All of this is adjustable by you. Interestingly, the can-opener can also run a few other accessories-- it can signal an additional set of brake lights , an additional horn, additional lights, among others. The actual power for these things needs to come from the battery or a terminal of some sort, but the command to turn off and on comes from the can-opener. Its a great feature of these lights.
kiki231000 Well it sounds like the Can-opener is a "does everything" device...I am really considering the Clearwater lites over any others I have checked.
Dude you have the most informative videos and great taste in bikes, I went from K1600 GLT to K1300s to R1200RT and just like you, the bikes never fail to amaze me
Expensive yes but many BMW riders do appreciate the quality,ease of fitment,intigration and good illumination these units provide.
Very neat and clean Chris, but you left out all the mess about combining all green, red, and black wires into those little blue wire caps. I was very excited to get these lights and for the price I expected a complete bike specific harnessing, not having to twist wires and put caps on the end.
Chris, Clearwater lights are top notch, but they are not DOT certified. I found this out when I tried to get a state inspection (VA) and the guys at my BMW shop told me that my bike would fail inspection because of the Clearwater lights. I have BMW aux lights on my RTW, but my F700GS has Clearwater lights. I ended up bringing my 700GS to car shop that doesn't usually inspect motorcycles...so they didn't look too closely at the lights. I removed the fuse so the aux lights wouldn't come on. I told the inspector that I only use the Clearwater lights when I'm off-road. He shrugged and said, "OK". Kind of a hassle, but only once a year.
You are correct and the same situation exists here in Canada. I am lucky in that my Province does not require safety inspections of motorcycles.
You do great videos. Thanks
Awesome lights. Thanks for the video.
Hello. I have a 2018 RT. I was wondering your thoughts on mounting LED lights. I was going to install them on my Ilium works crash bars, but now I am thinking by the mirrors. I’m torn. Some guys say if they are on the bars, they will get dirtier quicker and that may obstruct the light output. Others say if mounted up high by the mirrors, we are much more visible to others.
Thank you for any advise. I am leaning a bit more towards the mirrors. I purchased Denali DR1 lights with the Cansmart/Hex ezCan controller.
I think the idea that the lights get dirtier on the bars might be speculation, not the real picture. It seems logical that being closer to the road means a dirtier environment, and that may be the case, but the real life experience is that this difference is negligible. My experience is that when the driving lights are dirty, so is the headlamp.
Regarding visibility, i would be less concerned about the location of the driving lamps and more about the color. I have been using a yellow filter on mine since i bought them and i consistently get comments on how eye catching the color is. At night i take them off.
All that being said, if you have lights with a good mounting near the mirror, and you are happy, put them on -- you wont regret it.
Chris just wondering did you consider the fork mounted option? I'm tossing up between fork mounted and where you mounted yours for both the daytime visibility triangle for cars is my primary goal but also the occasional night ride. Let me know your thoughts and whether you debated this. Thanks! BTW great video.
I think the fork mounted option is a great one, and the only reason i went with the bracket mounts was because that is how i mounted my aux lights on my GT. Clearwater makes several mounting options available , and many like the clean look of the fork mounts. Because Darla's are so small, you have these options. The larger lights are more limited.
Chris, do you recall about how much time it took you to install these? Any "Dang it!" moments you can remember? Have a '16 RT, as well, and may have a tight window ahead to install these before a trip. Thanks for creating the video, BTW. Showing where this connects answered an unanswered question I had just two hours ago about what that dead-end harness was for.
esthomason if you worked at an easy pace the install would take you a couple hours start to finish. The challenge I found was determining the location of the can-opener given the length of its cord. Aside from that there is a ton of room under the beak and more than enough on the right side of the bike. It's an easy install.
Question.....When I went to the Clearwater website and put in my model number (R1200RT), it didn't come up with the mounting option you used it only gives you crashbar or fork mount options... my bike doesn't have crash bars and i'm not sure I want the lights to turn along with the front wheel.....suggestions?
Unfortunately they only offer this sort of bracket set-up on a few models , since this bracket is actually and accessory mount by BWW. If you don't want a fork mounted light, then you will need to find a hard point somewhere on your bike and search your owner forums. For example, my riding buddy is on a k13 and he uses the hard point in the oil cooler intake.
I will try with my Kristas this weekend in my R1200RTW. Mine is 2016 and has TPM I understand the CanOpener goes there, I hope I understood correctly. I've heard that installing the relay in the front is a PITA, but it worth to try.
+guillermo Lucero -- actually, its easy, and on the RTW there is a lot of room where the relay should be mounted up front. The wire lengths are appropriate for the RTW, so you really don't need to deviate from the instructions in the package. The Canopener plugs in between the TPM and the harness -- sort of a middle man-- they chose the TPM because of its location, but i am told with Canbus they could have used any plug on the bike. The bike continues working as if the Canopener isn't there. Its a quiet system that doesn't require any "cutting" into wires.
From the Canopener there is a green plug and a long thin wire that runs up to the relay and lights. (the Data wire in the video)
The relay fits very easily under the beak in the video , and its very easy to reach and place. Get both lights on the bike, then run the Left light wire up the frame, under the steering head, and down the right side to meet up with the relay , data wire and right light lead. Its much easier than i anticipated. There is a ton of room on the frame under the steering head (in the video you can see the relay zip tied there with a bunch of red wires coming out of it @ 4:12 )
The only space challenge was being careful about where the Canopener itself gets stuck too. Before pulling off the tape to stick it, try your passenger seat to make sure there is no interference with it or the associated wires.
+Chris On the Street thanks a lot. I'm really looking forward to these lights, either this or next weekend! Your video is really clear.
Does the wiring harness for these Darla lights have the connection to the horn so they flash when you used the horn?
+Sam Rowland The Can-opener actually does all that for you. It sits in between the tire pressure module and its harness plug (sort of like a middle man). I assume all of the "computer chatter" on the bike is sent all over and it acts like a phone tap to listen to it all.
Regardless, it can sense what controls i use on the bike (turn signals, horn, brakes, etc). It in turn signals the light relay (under the beak of the bike) when to turn on and how bright. So there isn't a need to tap into any wiring.
The Darla lights, and others, turn high and low with the headlight beam, as i show in this video, but they also go bright with the horn, and can strobe when i hold the hazard lights button. All of this is adjustable by you.
Interestingly, the can-opener can also run a few other accessories-- it can signal an additional set of brake lights , an additional horn, additional lights, among others. The actual power for these things needs to come from the battery or a terminal of some sort, but the command to turn off and on comes from the can-opener. Its a great feature of these lights.
kiki231000
Well it sounds like the Can-opener is a "does everything" device...I am really considering the Clearwater lites over any others I have checked.
Does the Can-opener come with the light package? or need to buy separately?
Fariz Hashim the light package that I bought included the can opener system, yes.
Is this light always on ? Can't be turn off ?
They are always on - they get brighter with high beam
لدي موتسكل BMW RT 1200 2010 اريد له قطع غيار مثل طابلون rpm km