If any of you readers have been on a hardcore road trip across states, you might have experienced the need for some additional illumination on the road for your bikes. This is actually a reality because no matter how great of a bike you have, they just cannot match the illumination on the road as that of a car. And secondly no matter how much of a high intensity light you got, it will never be good enough if you end up in a foggy atmosphere. So for that reason the next best thing that you can get is Fog lights for your bike.
What are Fog lights?
Do not get confused of fog lights being anything too different. It is nothing but a regular light but suited for a completely different purpose and hence is designed and made that way. If you work some things right, you can even use your headlights as a fog light, but trust me, you do not want to be doing that. It is just that when the visibility of the road decreases either due to pitch darkness or fog, your regular headlight becomes the least capable to handle the task of illumination. For this reason you will require auxiliary lights and those are nothing but fog lights.
How are they different?
For starters, fog lights are high intensity beams but spread over a shorter distance. Our headlights are generally made in such a way that they illuminate the road enough but also have that certain amount of penetration level so that a farther area is lit up. But in case of fogs lights, the main purpose is to illuminate the not so far region very brightly so that you can see the road clearly and that gives you the buffer space to spot any objects on the way.
Importance of Fog lights:
Fog lights are important to have because they work well for multiple reasons. In case there is fog, then yes, fog lights help there for sure. But the extra illumination also helps when you are riding during the night and there is pitch black darkness. Here the fog lights not just illuminate your path, but also make it easier for others on the road to spot you properly so that there are no mishaps happening.
Function of Fog lights:
This is something important to understand so as to get the correct fog lights for you. Fog lights are nothing but regular lights made in such a way that they have a higher illumination, but lower penetration than your regular headlights. So for this reason the ray of light used is a lot whiter because white has high illumination but less penetration compared to yellow light.
Secondly they are set up closer to the road level and not at the usual height of the headlight. This is because since they do not have an adjustable beam, these lights can cause a strong glare beam and blind the oncoming drivers. Another reason for this is because doing this helps illuminate the road nearby more which improves vision and hence any undulations or objects on the road can be easily detected even in foggy conditions.
Which Fog lights to choose?
One has to understand this really well as to how and which fog lights to get. After all the fog lights are going to be powered by your bike’s battery. So one has to understand how much is the battery capable of powering before it gives up. So therefore if you already have a headlight which is sucking all the juice out of the battery, then it would be really hard for the fog lamps to fit in. So either you will have to hardwire the lights directly to the alternator, or else shift to a bigger battery or tone down the headlight to fit in the fog lamps.
Secondly the light of the fog lamps is very important. One can go for halogen lights, or xenon gas lights, but they are somewhat taxing on the battery a lot as they need a lot of juice. Instead with LED technology developed so much, it would be preferable to go for LED lights. The advantage of this would be brighter illumination, the ability to fit in more LEDs in the same space for the extra illumination and also saving on the power consumption as well. So that means no issues of being stranded somewhere due to a battery drain by using the fog lights.
Also the thing about light beams; as discussed before, yellow beams have higher penetration while white and bluish light have higher illumination. So if you are looking for a medium penetration light then white will do the perfect trick for you. But you are looking for something more illuminating, then better to go with the bluish lights. Else you can opt for yellow for the extra penetration into the dark. You can even work out the combination lights for illumination and penetration in case of LED lights.
So now that we have checked out the importance of fog lights and their functioning, you can now opt for them in case you are planning to go on a long road trip and might happen to be riding in the dark or in foggy conditions. It is always better to be prepared in case of all things and this is one of those things you should be careful about.
By: Pratik Patole
What are Fog lights?Do not get confused of fog lights being anything too different. It is nothing but a regular light but suited for a completely different purpose and hence is designed and made that way. If you work some things right, you can even use your headlights as a fog light, but trust me, you do not want to be doing that. It is just that when the visibility of the road decreases either due to pitch darkness or fog, your regular headlight becomes the least capable to handle the task of illumination. For this reason you will require auxiliary lights and those are nothing but fog lights.
How are they different?
For starters, fog lights are high intensity beams but spread over a shorter distance. Our headlights are generally made in such a way that they illuminate the road enough but also have that certain amount of penetration level so that a farther area is lit up. But in case of fogs lights, the main purpose is to illuminate the not so far region very brightly so that you can see the road clearly and that gives you the buffer space to spot any objects on the way.
Importance of Fog lights:Fog lights are important to have because they work well for multiple reasons. In case there is fog, then yes, fog lights help there for sure. But the extra illumination also helps when you are riding during the night and there is pitch black darkness. Here the fog lights not just illuminate your path, but also make it easier for others on the road to spot you properly so that there are no mishaps happening.
Function of Fog lights:
This is something important to understand so as to get the correct fog lights for you. Fog lights are nothing but regular lights made in such a way that they have a higher illumination, but lower penetration than your regular headlights. So for this reason the ray of light used is a lot whiter because white has high illumination but less penetration compared to yellow light.
Secondly they are set up closer to the road level and not at the usual height of the headlight. This is because since they do not have an adjustable beam, these lights can cause a strong glare beam and blind the oncoming drivers. Another reason for this is because doing this helps illuminate the road nearby more which improves vision and hence any undulations or objects on the road can be easily detected even in foggy conditions.
Which Fog lights to choose?One has to understand this really well as to how and which fog lights to get. After all the fog lights are going to be powered by your bike’s battery. So one has to understand how much is the battery capable of powering before it gives up. So therefore if you already have a headlight which is sucking all the juice out of the battery, then it would be really hard for the fog lamps to fit in. So either you will have to hardwire the lights directly to the alternator, or else shift to a bigger battery or tone down the headlight to fit in the fog lamps.
Secondly the light of the fog lamps is very important. One can go for halogen lights, or xenon gas lights, but they are somewhat taxing on the battery a lot as they need a lot of juice. Instead with LED technology developed so much, it would be preferable to go for LED lights. The advantage of this would be brighter illumination, the ability to fit in more LEDs in the same space for the extra illumination and also saving on the power consumption as well. So that means no issues of being stranded somewhere due to a battery drain by using the fog lights.
Also the thing about light beams; as discussed before, yellow beams have higher penetration while white and bluish light have higher illumination. So if you are looking for a medium penetration light then white will do the perfect trick for you. But you are looking for something more illuminating, then better to go with the bluish lights. Else you can opt for yellow for the extra penetration into the dark. You can even work out the combination lights for illumination and penetration in case of LED lights.
So now that we have checked out the importance of fog lights and their functioning, you can now opt for them in case you are planning to go on a long road trip and might happen to be riding in the dark or in foggy conditions. It is always better to be prepared in case of all things and this is one of those things you should be careful about.
By: Pratik Patole