Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => Accessories and modifications - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: Slideways on January 23, 2014, 11:00:50 AM
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So really how sexy can a license plate frame get? But I believed in the Vololight concept enough to back their Kickstarter project. It arrived yesterday and was a 15min install.
If you have not heard of Vololights jump the link and check them out:
http://vololights.com (http://vololights.com)
(http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x417/Walterwanabe/80fa94f680cdbfdaad32424963f7e799.jpg)
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Have you had anybody behind to tell you if it works?
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Yes my ever patient wife was voluteered to follow me and give me feedback. First, they at least functioned as promised and second she reported that they showed up well.
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Spock - Fascinating! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFods1KSWsQ#)
How was the installation?
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Mine came in to. Where did you hook up the power?
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Did not use their connectors, cut and spliced into existing plate light power so they both work. Also drilled two holes about a half inch below existing holes in plastic fender and moved the mounting bracket down that half inch. This keeps the Volo from touching the factory plate light.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlkdwpHd_io (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlkdwpHd_io)
Man that video is terrible. They talk and they talk but never show the product in action. Showing it from inches away doesn't show it working. They need to show what a driver behind it with normal spacing sees. How bright are they? Would love to hear what someone following you and sees them has to say. My concern comes from my purchase and installation of Projeckt D LED mirror turn indicators. They just aren't bright enough. I had my wife follow me during the day and she could not see them at all. Again, please tell us how they look.
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Arrg...still waiting fro mine to come in.
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"Oh boy, oh boy we got a GoPro. Let's spend all day figuring out how to mount it pointed at the Vololight and make video!"
Why not spend a half hour and shoot the video from a car following the bike and show your customers what the cagers will be lookin' at? K.I.S.S. just sayin'.
Did about 100mi yesterday with a buddy on his new Triumph. He was impressed positively.
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Here's the video shot from a car. It's a bit hard to see the one on the sport bike though....
http://youtu.be/FDzkMjM0egc (http://youtu.be/FDzkMjM0egc)
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Good find Chris, thanks. Maybe if I'd actually looked myself I'd have found it. Now I have to take back the smart aleck remarks about the other video....
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Here's the video shot from a car. It's a bit hard to see the one on the sport bike though....
The reason for that is:
1) The sport bike has an incorrectly mounted aftermarket chopped plate holder that is practically at 45 degrees. (Very unsafe. Also possibly illegal.)
2) The sport bike is always further away from the camera.
3) The sport bike has the Volo mounted right next to the stock regular brake light.
4) The cruiser thing has barely effective normal brake lights, so there is more contrast.
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Good find Chris, thanks. Maybe if I'd actually looked myself I'd have found it. Now I have to take back the smart aleck remarks about the other video....
Neigher video is very good. I understand lo budget, but they need to mount them correctly and take vidoe without the sun hitting the camera.
All LED lights need to be aimed properly. That is clearly not the case with the sport bike. Things pointing to the sky!
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Ah, makes me think of Jimi Hendrix... Thanks.
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Got mine on Saturday and got it installed yesterday. I took the stock light off and will be looking for something to put there to "block off" the holes. Maybe a simple red reflector? Not sure yet.
Install was easy, I did use their little connectors, but didn't need to.
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Thinking of what to cover the holes for the old light with... I was thinking a simple reflector or something, maybe the mini ones that some people use to hold their license plate on to their motorcycles but they are probably too small.
I found a 24 LED light/reflector on Amazon for $9 (link (http://www.amazon.com/Rectangle-Reflector-Trailer-Grizzly-Kawasaki/dp/B00BUT0MIU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391563613&sr=8-1&keywords=reflector+kawasaki)). It's a little wider than needed and the height would be fine. I have not found normal reflectors that are around the right size yet.
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I got some of the license plate reflector screws and put them in place. Here is what it looks like now:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/SVonhof/moto/Vololight_2_zpsf10f8b93.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/SVonhof/media/moto/Vololight_2_zpsf10f8b93.jpg.html)
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Have you had any feedback from people behind you?
I've ordered the cabon fiber plate...
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Have you had any feedback from people behind you?
I've ordered the cabon fiber plate...
Nope. It's been raining around here quite a bit and I generally just drive the car when it's rainy, foggy or really cold. Fair weather rider? Sure.
So my Vololights have a grand total of 0 miles on them.
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That's 0 more than me so far.
They've shipped..
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They've arrived... It will be the weekend until I can get it installed. The installation paper references a web site that I couldn't seem to make work. However I did find the Youtube video of the instructions.
Vololights Installation Instructional Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMTeWb3Qg_I#ws)
Also, the unit is 'programmed' via a magnet that is taped to the inside of the box. Don't throw the box away until you find this magnet.
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I don't know why you could not get to the video, but that is the one I watched on that link they gave.
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Do me a favor, can you go to the website indicated in the instructions and post the link here? I've typed it all different ways and I can't make it work.
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It's basically like TinyUrl so you don't need to type the whole thing and it brings up a Youtube page with that video ready to go.
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http://bit.ly/ITNGxv (http://bit.ly/ITNGxv) is what's written on my little piece of paper...
And that works here in a text box, but I couldn't make it work in a browser...
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Funny, I click on the link and it takes me to the Youtube video... I am on Firefox, maybe it doesn't like whatever browser you are using? Works on IE as well.
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http://bit.ly/ITNGxv (http://bit.ly/ITNGxv) is what's written on my little piece of paper...
And that works here in a text box, but I couldn't make it work in a browser...
Same thing here, Jim. It works when I click your link but not when I copy and paste it to a google search box. Firefox.
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Funny, I click on the link and it takes me to the Youtube video... I am on Firefox, maybe it doesn't like whatever browser you are using? Works on IE as well.
Using Firefox...strange..
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I have the skene design LEDs on either side of my license plate. They are so bright cars give me plenty of room. Even when they stop behind me.
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wow those tags look great
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Here's the video shot from a car. It's a bit hard to see the one on the sport bike though....
Now that's a funny statement describing lights that are supposed to help you be seen.
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:rotflmao: Yeah, but mine is carbon fiber! It looks marvelous!
Billy Crystal - You Look Marvelous (1985) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXydX9p_ZxA#)
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Sorry Jim that's Faux carbon fiber
But if you like it it must be MARVELOUS :salute:
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I certainly can't tell the difference so we'll keep that a secret for now..but it does look good.
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I have the skene design LEDs on either side of my license plate. They are so bright cars give me plenty of room. Even when they stop behind me.
Finally someone else with Jerry Skene's lights. My Konnie is the third bike that Skene Design lights have been on. Originally the rears were on the hard bags but I've not been using them much lately. I think the bike looks better with them but rear vision and lane splitting are better without them. It bothered me to not have the Skene lights on board at the rear so I bought just the LEDs (Jerry sells just the bits and pieces as well as complete systems) and installed them as shown. Now with the panniers on the back side of the Konnie is lighted like a Christmas tree.
(http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x417/Walterwanabe/7d4a786126313f33a2b0731e4a79cd39.jpg)
To keep this connected to the original thread two riding buddies on separate rides told me that the Skene lights are much brighter then the Vololight. When I am stopped at a traffic signal I tap the brake to cause the Skene light to go through their flash sequence when a car is pulling up behind. It is surprisingly common for them to stop well in back of me as if they are worried about getting too close. In defense of the Vololight it works if I slow without touching a brake and that is exactly why I backed their Kickstarted campaign and bought them.
Also have the Skene Photon Blasters on the front, basically like the rear only in amber. Jump the link for more onfo on Skene.
http://www.skenedesign.com/lights/index.shtml (http://www.skenedesign.com/lights/index.shtml)
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Do me a favor, can you go to the website indicated in the instructions and post the link here? I've typed it all different ways and I can't make it work.
Strange. Works fine with Firefox under Linux. Here is the full URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti8NzKhfmSc
Here is the video, which the board will automatically embed:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti8NzKhfmSc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti8NzKhfmSc#ws)
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Seems there is a voltage issue on a small % of Vololights. I've not gotten around to installing mine yet, so I'll wait for the fix.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vololights/vololights-enhanced-motorcycle-visibility/posts/754301 (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vololights/vololights-enhanced-motorcycle-visibility/posts/754301)
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Not sure I will. For those that have installed on a C14, have you had any of the issues described? I don't think I've ever seen the voltage go over 14.5 but if there is a short spike I wouldn't see it necessarily. I probably should have let this purchase go. Looks like they didn't test it enough or have a better understanding of vehicle electrical systems.
Ok, in looking around, most auto electrical systems are limited to 14.5v. The alternator will stop charging when it hits that mark. The C14, on the other hand is limited to between 14.5 and 15vdc, according to my manual. The Vololight has a max voltage of 15vdc so it could be possible under some situations to reach the 15vdc mark.
My thoughts are that the product was/is defective if it can't handle 15vdc or at the very least under engineered. In either case, the user or backer should not have to pay anything to get it fixed. It's not a user error. They should take care of it. I don't mind adding the fix. I do mind having to pay for it no matter how little the cost involved.
If it is their (Vololights) intent to pass their under engineering efforts to their customers then I would definitely warn anyone off from buying their products. We'll see. The more I think about this the more it's bothering me, so in order to mellow me out, I'm going to listen to some music and then start drinking...
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I have ridden my Concours in to work a few times since installing it and have not seen any problems with the lights, everything still works, I checked it today.
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That's good news...thanks.
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Installation - day 1
Remove side cases for better view of the rear of the plate holder
Remove (try) helmet guardian and plate assembly.....
Can't find the :censored: special bit to remove the security screws.... :censored:
Use a wire cutter to grab the screw head whilst I remove the nut on each screw
Finally get them off and go to the hw store to replace the screws
Find a different style of stainless security screw
Ask one of the clerks do they have the tool to get it off
Takes me around and they have a whole bunch of specialized removal bits
Thinking.....don't need new screws, just need the right bit.
Find the right bit and go to check out
Get half way out the door and realized I don't have the :censored: nut I walked in with...
Go back and ask the clerk do they have the special nuts with the plastic in them...stainless of course.
He gives me one and says don't worry about it...
Just about walk out the door and see the old nut lying on the floor
Take the new nut back and head for home
Take the Vololight assembly apart to put plate in it..
Plate won't fit through the guides and have to loosen the bottom gizmo like they said to do on the video
Attach the helmet guardian and see if the holes line up.......they don't. Will have to drill them out some so it fits
End of day one.
Drinking...
2nd day..
Drilled out the holes so I could mount it...
Drilled a hole in the rear plastic fender to run the wires through then got sidetracked..
Put away the bit for the security screws....found a whole set of security bits in my toolbox :doh: :banghead:
I've decided to keep the license plate light working...VA takes a dim view of a light on a vehicle that doesn't work. If it's there, it has to work.
3rd day...
Finally warmed up enough to work on the bike. Spliced the wires together....note to self, when you are using those connectors that splice into wires, there is no need to cut them first. Appears to be working...at least they flash like they are supposed to. Checked the voltage via the display and I'm not going above 14.5v. They appear quite bright but then again, I was testing in the evening. I'm glad I've got them behind me.
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looks like the electrical issue was the license plate's cutting into the electrical circuit ribbon and shorting the board. Fix is fiberglass tape or notch your plate so it won't rub.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vololights/vololights-enhanced-motorcycle-visibility/posts/779338?at=BAh7CDoMcG9zdF9pZGkDSuQLSSIIdWlkBjoGRVRpA5ZlZEkiC2V4cGlyeQY7BlRJIhgyMDE0LTA0LTE3IDAxOjI0OjE0BjsGVA%3D%3D--01e019a9860094896a5745b3a8084ce8b5e76f1a&ref=backer_project_update (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vololights/vololights-enhanced-motorcycle-visibility/posts/779338?at=BAh7CDoMcG9zdF9pZGkDSuQLSSIIdWlkBjoGRVRpA5ZlZEkiC2V4cGlyeQY7BlRJIhgyMDE0LTA0LTE3IDAxOjI0OjE0BjsGVA%3D%3D--01e019a9860094896a5745b3a8084ce8b5e76f1a&ref=backer_project_update)
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Thanks for the update. I'll check mine this upcoming weekend and either notch the plate or use the tape to protect the ribbon harness.
Thoughts on this product rollout.... While I do like the product, I'm thinking it wasn't ready for prime time or at least GA to the MC public. They pushed that a bit too quick, methinks.
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Here's the video shot from a car. It's a bit hard to see the one on the sport bike though....
http://youtu.be/FDzkMjM0egc (http://youtu.be/FDzkMjM0egc)
That Hardley-Ableson took forever on the "emergency brake" ;D