New Baja Designs Squadron + S2 LED Motorcycle Light

Damn, and I just ordered the '05 - '07 kit that doesn't come with a mask :-( Oh well I wouldn't want white anyway.

Same as with pepetrueba, my brother-in-law ordered and mentioned the discount but his credit card didn't reflect the discount. He called and said it would come out on the final invoice??

Can't wait, ordering a dimmer and a mask this weekend

Sweet if you want your discount give us a call

yes it sometimes doesn't show in the original invoice and the salesman has to fix it in the program after the original invoice, customers credit cards are not charged till they leave the warehouse and at the time should show the discount.
If it doesn't we are happy to fix it and give us a call
Thanks
Mike
BD

FYI: For some of you who doubt the LM/Lumens output of the CREE LEDs', it's because the specs. that you're sourcing are those slated for the US/North American market.

The CREE LEDs=(emitters)' & pills=(driver boards) are way more advanced for the overseas market, the availability for North America concerning CREE XML/Q5 or SEOUL SSC P7 won't be widely available in the US for a while. The North American companies are 'a couple-several generations' behind the curve in this area.

"Case in point, people are just now starting to hear & be aware of CREE LEDs' while I have CREE lights from 5 years or more back."

I don't know why the North American is being kept down. Aloha! from California

Not really sure about that, I've had P7's and Q5's for over well over 3 years and XML's for over a year, you couldn't get them at your corner Radio Shack, but over the internet anyone can easily get what they want. Emitters, drivers, reflectors and lenses, all the components to make whatever you wanted, they've been there you just had to look.

Back then the mountain bike forums were the big movers. Look what we have now, they're too bright for DOT, back then a fully driven P7 or Q5 would barely be noticed except for the color. According to the specs and the bin, the Squadron XML's aren't even fully driven, 'a couple-several generations' behind? Behind what, XML's are IT right now.

This is a pretty exciting time, LED's are getting better and brighter and last our lifetime, they just need more throw, then everything else will go away.

Can we get a picture of the rear of the SII LED and it's mounting bracket please?

I can get one as soon as we have one in the offices all the complete built ones just left to the sand sport super show this weekend. I just have the aluminum housing on my desk.

Quote:
Not really sure about that, I've had P7's and Q5's for over well over 3 years and XML's for over a year, you couldn't get them at your corner Radio Shack, but over the internet anyone can easily get what they want. Emitters, drivers, reflectors and lenses, all the components to make whatever you wanted, they've been there you just had to look.

My comments were in reference to 'the major manufacturers & suppliers in the North American retail market' the big companies are so heavily invested in their current stock/materials that they have to sell whatever's on their shelves before they can move into the 'state-of-the-art' stuff. But by then they are again 'behind-the-curve' I agree with you I buy & research online with the smaller/progressive companies. It sounds like you know what the 411 is....

The physical limitations for 'light output' seems to be limited by the heat/temperature by-products.

More throw usually needs deeper optics/refelectors, and many of the LED lights have very shallow reflectors. Deeper optics means bigger lights, so I'm sure BD has to balance all that.

This is one of the differences between modifying a flashlight pill/puck and a purpose built board with thermal protection along with large heat sink surfaces like the Squadron. The design mitigates any heat concerns.

I've asked quite a few questions about the differences of throw between high powered LED's and HID's, not really satisfied with the answers I've gotten, but if it was a reflector issue it would be solved by now, reflectors are the easy part. Reflector design has a lot to do with the focal point of the source, LEDs are surface mount for heat dissipation more then anything else, the depth of the reflector is driven by the fact that it is only outputting light 180deg.

A while back I researched LED lighting patents the car manufacturers were pumping out, some pretty innovative designs for removing heat, but the reflectors were pretty predictable.

The way I understand it the throw of LED's is one of the last Holy Grails to be solved, do that and I'd say you'll be the next millionaire.

The HID upgrade uses a HID bulb and ballast
The light fill of an LED is better while still having decent distance but HID have a little more distance

Heres a link for the squadron ktm kit fits in the oem shell
http://www.bajadesigns.com/ProductDetail?ItemNumber=660037
Thanks
Mike
BD

Yes deeper optics is part of achieving more distance but you also have to take in consideration of how much you can drive a LED power wise, and then you have to think about heat because your trying to drive it as much as possible but don't want to damage the LED.
So it can become a very complicated process of how we specifically engineer our optics, circuit boards and our thermal heat management...but the technology with LEDs now are awesome

For those of you guys talking about more distance with an LED check out our new Onx LED light bar
it has the distance of an HID with the light fill of an LED!
http://www.bajadesigns.com/SearchByKeyword?word=onx

Please let me know if you have any questions about lighting
Thanks
Mike
BD

Wow, that sounds great! Looking forward to those pics you mentioned!

Hi Ned
Which pictures were you interested in?
Thanks
mike

The illumination pics in same setting showing Onx vs Squadron so we can visualize the difference in the lighting characteristics. It would be nice to see spot, flood, etc in both Onx and Squadron if possible.

just put the KTM kit into my 2011 Husaberg FE570s and it was plug and play and simple as pie. The fader works flawlessly and the light output is amazing. Great product.

We don't have both beam pattern in the same settings.
The closest I have to that right now is a combo 1 cell Onx and a wide-cornering Squadron
Should have more soon

Well I got my light last Tuesday, on Wednesday I got my new '05 mask and dimmer Couldn't set it all up because I had the kids this weekend.

Since this was going on a D/S with an H4 candle as a headlight I had to cut the BD connector off. Looked over BD's site to determine which wire was + and which was - (duh, black is ground - and white is +). The install was easy enough once I had tested for the proper wires that supplied power from the bike to the dimmer and then from the dimmer to the light. Went through the setup procedure for the dimmer and set it on 30%. Rolled it outside and aimed it and the truck at the garage door to get an idea where it needed to be aimed.

All I can say is WOW! The light is great! I played around with the dimmer settings between 30% and 50%. Right now it's on 40%. So far on my commute I haven't had any issues from oncoming traffic or from blinding someone in front of me through their rear view mirror. With the Squadron set to 40% and aimed at about the same level as the truck, I have a very good low beam setting although without a cutoff I do notice that I illuminate road signs for quite a distance

For reference, I was the owner of Trail Tech X2 HID That light was very good for light but would blow bulbs and ballasts on a regular basis, leaving me in the dark on 2 occasions! This light is about the same @ 40% as the X2 was when I was running the 2" spot and a 40w ballast. @ 100% the squadron is every bit as much light as the X2 but with better fill and a bit more narrow focus. The X2 4" was wider but the lamp never seemed to reach full power. The advantages of this LED, instant on and dim-able make it an excellent choice. I know it is an off-road light and for that it is awesome! With the dimmer, and the fact that LEO has not yet cracked down on all manner of lighting that is clearly not DOT legal, I believe I have finally found a suitable headlight for my bike.


With the black mask and crappy cell phone pic it's not a very good photo but it's all I have at the moment.

Looks good with the black mask
Glad your enjoying the light have fun with it
Thanks for the support
Mike
BD

In the field report: I have really thrashed my BD Squadron offroad now for almost 1000 miles on my Husaberg 390, a lot of it very tough rocky, muddy, sandy offroad. It's been through lots of rainstorms and dustclouds, sat in the rain all day many times, been hammered in offroad getoffs, and it still works perfectly. It is an awesome nighttime trail riding light, as much as I will ever need since I don't race anymore.

The Skene Designs dimmer still works great and has been durable. The 'Alert' feature has worked really great with the super bright Squadron, to stop people who were going to cut in front of me from parking lots and crossroads. This is not a dis on the BD dimmer, I just couldn't find anywhere to mount the BD dimmer on my super-tightly packed Husaberg.

Quite a few KTM riders have seen my setup on group/event rides and want it now. I told them BD had ready-made kits to drop one in a KTM, so maybe a few have done it. Well worth it, fantastic light.