Lighting up a V-Strom

This small project was to add some extra lighting to the bike, and specifically to make the appearance quite wide at night time for on coming vehicles to see me better.
I had seen the new Ducati Multistrada and its very impressive LED's on the hand-guards, and the intention was to try and mimic this effect using much cheaper materials.


So lets see how it turned out?..

Strip of waterproof 12V white LED's encased in silicone

Time to mark and drill some holes in the handguard

They seem to fit nice and snug

Slightly protruding on the front face is intentional

Some silicone to fix in place

So far so good

Testing with a 9V battery

And fitting on the bike and run from the 12V supply

Very effective at night!

Chevron Graphics

Made by Humvee Graphics for the BMW GS style aluminum boxes, these coloured and reflective chevrons look great on any luggage and do a decent job of letting other traffic know how wide you are when riding with a full set of luggage.

Red on the rear

Amber on the side

White on the front

Storage Tubes

The idea of these Tool Storage Tubes began as a group buy on the VSRI forum.  They are essentially a waterproof ABS plastic tube usually fixed to machinery/vehicles etc. and used to store tools, instruction and maintenance manuals.


They make an ideal extra bit of valuable storage for the touring motorcyclist, where space is always at a premium.  The problem of course is where and how to mount them.  I have seen many ideas from cable tied to engine crash bars to vertically mounted to the top-box.  There really isn't a right or wrong way, it is all down to your personal preference and your intended use.


Personally, I wanted to store anything dirty or that could leak, such as a litre of oil, chain lube or a dirty chain and padlock.  And I bought two thinking that I would keep one spare, but then considered the possibility of mounting both of them.


Anyway, this is very much a work in progress for me, and by no means finished.  And although not very 'ptretty' at the moment, they have given me the opportunity to test them out.

I have the SW Motech Quick Lock Pannier racks

The whole rack can be quickly removed when not required

The inside of the rack shows the aluminium plate/bracket that I made

This is shown from the front

I am not very happy with the way it looks at the moment

View from the rear

View looking though the bike

Looks okay from this angle

Shows the clearance to the wheel and plastics

With the Givi E21 cases on, it doesn't look too bad

The angle of the tubes was important to me, visually had to look right

You can see the angle matches the exhaust

So this is my idea so far.  I haven't painted it yet because it is not finished and I will continue to find a better solution to mounting them that visually looks good, and without having to have the side racks installed.