Fog lights, choice is HD engine guard (#68913-98B)
or motolight caliper (https://www.motolight.com/products.php?cat=8) install.
Local HD mechanic not a fan of motolight.
Any experience appreciated. Thanks.

 

Go with the HD's/ There have been a lot of good write ups on here. I haven't heard one person talk bad about the HD fog's. IMO they look better as well.

 

I am a Motolight fan. Been using them for 4 1/2 years with never a failure or even a burned out bulb. Currently have a set of the caliper mounts on my Roadglide, and a set of the strap mounts on my Dyna (only one caliper available)

I did both installations myself and I'm not a very good wrench. No problems whatsoever.

The Motolights are expensive but are very rugged and in my opinion worth if if you ride a lot and intend to keep the bike a while.

And I think the Motolights look better! They look like they were designed as part of the bike. The HD lights look like an add-on piece of bling..

 

SG07: What's your mechanic's objection to Motolights?

I've had the HD fog lights on my bike for 2+ years and 40K miles and they're a great value/lots of light/excellent visibility for cagers.

However, I'll probably switch to Motolights when I add fairing lowers--for me that's the only drawback to the fog lamps--can't mount fairing lowers and keept the HD fog lights. But at 350 bucks, they are grossly overpriced for what they are. However, they do hold a patent for caliper mounted lights, so I doubt we'll be seeing a less expensive alternative anytime soon.

As for appearance, it's a personal opinion and yours is the only one that counts when spending YOUR money.

 

i certainly agree that the HD lights are a better choice however I will tell you that you should do yourself a favor and get a couple of extra relays to throw in your saddlebags. I've had mine for about 8 months now and the first time i used the lights (2 days after i put them on) they worked for about 2 hours then wouldn't come on after that. Turned out to be the relay had gone bad. I changed it and off I went again. 2 months went by and then WHALA! out again. so back to the HD shop and picked up a hand full of them and threw em in the saddlebags.

Friend of mine is a HD mechanic, said they have constant problems with that cheap-assed relay. One would think that for $135 HD would use a quality relay like BOSCH to power their lights. Cheap *****.... and of course they used some jacked up socket for that particularrelay so unless you want to cut wires off the socket then you have to use their relay....

Exact same thing happened to me with the new air horn HD came out with. Put it on the bike, it blew the first time and never again. This time they were smart enough to use a common type auto relay so I just went down to autozone and bought a 30A BOSCH relay.

PAY ATTENTION HD!!!!!!!

 

I've seen several bikes running caliper mount lights.....I assume they are Motolights, not that it matters if they are or not because what I didn't like about them was the way they bounce and dance with every bump in the road.

I don't know how this effects the rider, but I'm left wondering if he sees a "now-you see-me, now-you-don't" picture when riding ruff roads.

I work mainly nights and evenings....2/3 of my commute is either before daylight or after dark....I also travel remote rural roads and we have lots of debris and deer to contend with.....So you might assume that I am a "light freak"....Well, I am as you can see by the lighting array I installed on my toyota:



Those are four 100 watt spots and a pair of 55 watt fogs connected via relays and cab switches......And yeah, they turn night into day, and turn day into tomorrow.

You can believe I am currently working on a lighting solution for my RKC and when I'm done it will be more than adequate. For now I have the HD fogs and upgraded main bulbs, but it just ain't enuff.

 

I used the H-D fog lights and love them.Do a search and you will get alot more info.Here's the last thread:
https://www.hdforums.com/m_2610045/m...tm.htm#2610316

 

I have nothing against MotoLights. However, local HD mechanic stated there were install issues w product. Broad statement; need to find out what was the issue.
Hence asking the forum for useful input.

 

We have used Motolights for the past three (3) HD/Buells with great results.

I would suggest that the mechanic spend some time looking at the Iron Butt/Endurance rider web sites, before making statements about being hard to install.

Great product, great service, life time bulb warranty.

Give them a try

 

Cop, my concern ain't about the quality or reliability of caliper mount lights, instead I wonder how they actually perform on ruff roads.

We have a 20 mile stretch of concrete interstate herewith uneven joints that actually hurt my back on my Sporty.....My Road King smoothes them out quite a bit, but there is no way I would consider using caliper mount lights on that road......The lower forks where the lights mount get beat to death and the light beam would be up n down like a saber saw. My crashbar mounted lights and head light are dampened by the forks, but caliper lights dance on that road.

Seeing as how you have years of experience with them, please relate how they actually look to the rider when subjected to those conditions. Do they offer a scattered and confusing light-site of the road?