Looking for basic but top-quality driving lights that help motorists see you in daylight–and help you see better after dark? Glendina driving lights, from Clearwater Lights, function both as low-intensity running lights to improve conspicuity by day and high-intensity floodlights to improve visibility at night.
Glendina lights are precision manufactured in California from die-cast aluminum and CNC-machined components. They’re only 1.8 inches across but integrate three high-output LEDs, creating 900-plus lumens per light from only 10 watts of input power at 1 amp.
Proprietary digital thermal feedback circuits monitor the temperature of the LEDs and regulate power accordingly. Clearwater says this technology extends the projected life of the LEDs to about 50,000 hours.
The Glendinas have two brightness levels that adjust automatically. With your bike’s OEM dimmer on low beam, Glendina lights operate at lower intensity. Switch to high beam for 100-percent intensity.
This seemed like a smart approach to improve lighting on my Kawasaki Versys, so I installed a set. The Glendina Universal Kit, which Clearwater designed to fit more than 100 different bikes, includes machined brackets and stainless steel hardware to provide flexibility in positioning the lights according to a bike’s design and the rider’s preference. I positioned the lights above the mounting point on the fork. Clearwater offers optional crash bar mounts, too.
Using parts supplied in the kit and the clear instructions, wiring the Glendina lights was straightforward. Tap the bike’s low beam lead (or another switched hot lead), tap the high beam lead, tap a ground wire and connect the lights’ color-coded wires. Done.
My experience with Clearwater Lights is they are very bright, so I aimed these a few degrees down from level so they won’t annoy oncoming traffic in daylight. The Universal Kit includes slide-on covers with both clear and selective yellow lenses. During the day I’ve been riding with the yellow lenses, figuring the splashes of color make my bike stand out even more. It’s good to be seen.
After dark, the Glendina’s flood pattern fills in my bike’s single low beam bulb pattern with brighter light on the road ahead. Switching to high beam improves lighting significantly over stock in terms of brightness, reach ahead and extra illumination along the edge of the road.
They cast an impressive amount of additional light, especially considering their compact size and minimal power draw. This upgrade should give me additional time to react to nocturnal critters and other hazards on the dark mountain roads in my neck of the woods and the four dirt roads leading to camp.
Note that Glendina lights may not work on bikes with factory LED headlights since the 12-volt low beam and/or high beam signal may not be on a wire, as with conventional headlights. Clearwater also advises that Glendina lights may impact FM radio performance. For the majority of motorcycles without an on-board radio this isn’t an issue, but it’s working on a solution.
The Glendina Universal Kit from Clearwater Lights is $279.
For more information, call (916) 852-7029 or visit clearwaterlights.com.