projector retrofit..adaptive xenons cornering lights

[gusss]

Yes, that's right...

I just bought bmw 535 bixenon bi-xenon projectors, and these also have the turning (left-right) mechanism.
These are suppossed to turn when your steering wheel turn....

I am for sure going to install the bixenon projectors......
I was just thinking it would be great to have this turning function..

Points for consideration

1. I have one mayor doubt... when we turn or curve, we do not turn our handle bar.... we kind of lean the motorcyle, so 2 leaning sensors would be required.
2. The faster the steadyer the handle bar, so when going in the neighbourhood, full turning mechanism could be helpfull, but when going fast, leaning is most of it...
3. I can't think of any other issues...
Here is a little video of how these work

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wLaIF0mmwM[/ame]

Any thougths?
ideas welcome

 

[Fred]

You'd have an interesting time making the swivels work, but they have potential to be very useful.

One thing you'll need to work with is the fact that they're not designed for a vehicle that leans. If you lean right and the headlights swivel to the right, they'll just be pointing at the ground.

Ideally, on a bike you'd want them to both swivel and rotate so that the beam pattern stays level. Can this be done? I don't know.

I think your first step is to see what sort of control signal is needed to make the headlights swivel. Knowing BMW, it's going to need a fairly complex signal, which means creating your own controller for the headlights.

The results, however, could be extremely cool if done right.

 

[Fred]

Ok, I thought about this some more, and you can make them rotate as they swivel. What you need to do is mount them so that they can spin freely.

Then you need to connect a bar from the top or bottom of the light to the backing plate. The bar will have a ball joint on each end. So now, as the light pivots side to side, the motion will also cause it to rotate.

You'd have to play with the length and offset of the bar to get the motion where you want it, and of course you'd have to make it all fit inside the headlight housing. But if you can pull it off, it would be utterly awesome.

 

[Sawblade]

Mount static headlights to your forks, problem solved.

 

[abacall]

Fred's got a good idea. They would have to rotate and tilt in order to work. This would be amazing.
One of the things that sucks about motorcycle headlights is that when leaning, you lose light on the road. We've all experienced this. You take a fast long left, and all of a sudden there is NO light on the curve you're taking. Makes for some scary moments.

Can it be done? Surely, but at what cost? The lights would have to be able to swivel to the upper corners as you turn. Good luck, if you attempt it let us know.

 

[gusss]

Ok, I thought about this some more, and you can make them rotate as they swivel. What you need to do is mount them so that they can spin freely.

Then you need to connect a bar from the top or bottom of the light to the backing plate. The bar will have a ball joint on each end. So now, as the light pivots side to side, the motion will also cause it to rotate.

You'd have to play with the length and offset of the bar to get the motion where you want it, and of course you'd have to make it all fit inside the headlight housing. But if you can pull it off, it would be utterly awesome.

I've been thinking on this for a while....
and I found something else....

The projectors can turn to the sides (because of the adaptive driving ..bla bla bla..) and the can also go up and down (besides bi-xenon solenoid) (since the bmw's are also equipped with self leveling headlights)

Knowing this, .....

I have an idea... when turning or curving let's say to the right, I would need at least, that the right hand side projector to turn right and up at the same time, just the right projector..... and when the motorcycle gets in to the vertical position, the the projector goes back into normal position..
same with left....

does any body have a good idea for a leaning sensor?
I need to get a signal from a sensor when the bike is at any angle....

 

[Fred]

does any body have a good idea for a leaning sensor?
I need to get a signal from a sensor when the bike is at any angle....

Neat. I like the up and down idea.

As far as a lean sensor, I'd start by taping a bubble level to your dash. See if the bubble moves when you're leaned over in a corner. I have a feeling that it's going to stay centered, since you're balancing gravity against centripetal acceleration.

If the bubble doesn't move, then a lean sensor isn't going to do you any good.

If it does, then you start to have options. You can go as simple as a mercury switch, or get a proper angle sensor. (I don't know anything about these, I'm afraid. Maybe somebody else can chime in here.)

The FZ6 does have a lean angle sensor built in. But it's just an on-off switch, and only activates when you've dropped the bike on the ground. So I don't think it will help you.

Fred

 

[gusss]

Neat. I like the up and down idea.

As far as a lean sensor, I'd start by taping a bubble level to your dash. See if the bubble moves when you're leaned over in a corner. I have a feeling that it's going to stay centered, since you're balancing gravity against centripetal acceleration.

If the bubble doesn't move, then a lean sensor isn't going to do you any good.

If it does, then you start to have options. You can go as simple as a mercury switch, or get a proper angle sensor. (I don't know anything about these, I'm afraid. Maybe somebody else can chime in here.)

The FZ6 does have a lean angle sensor built in. But it's just an on-off switch, and only activates when you've dropped the bike on the ground. So I don't think it will help you.

Fred

as a matter of fact, I was already thinking and looking into "tilt sensors", digital ones instead of few position analog ones, and the idea now has grown, since I will find a good digital sensor, and make a circuit with a pic and then programing it for many positions........can't wait.....

I will test tomorrow the bubble level doubt of yours, and let us know!

 

[gusss]

bad news!!!! the projectors only turn to the side, seems to be that the ones moving up and down are the headlamps...I also need to check if everything is going to fit in there,,, the projector with the moving system is kind of big