Hi guys,
I am Mike from HighTechSpeed.
I just wanted to sign on and address a couple questions. I am not here to spam you
First, thanks for the orders - it is much appreciated. Nate @ New Enough and one of our dealers in Australia were telling me "you have to make these for the 250R, so many want them!", so we did. Glad they were well received.
So just to address a couple questions/comments
1) The Proton lights do not have "built in resistors". They have a microcontroller chip that monitors the flash speed, and if it is too fast (or too slow), it will slow the blink speed of the Proton lights. This won't fix "fast flash" that occurs from using LED signals.
The reason we don't include resistors, is that the LEDs we use are pretty high power LED's. People think LED's don't get hot, but they actually do... we are at the limit of the thermal capability of the Proton light, so to include a ginormous resistor in there would push it way over the edge. External resistors are feasible, but clunky... they get hot, they are a pain to mount.
IMO, the best solution is an electronic flasher. Instead of just adding load (and wasted power) like resistors do, they actually cure the problem, rather than address the symptoms.
2) Why we don't include resistors or a flasher. Resistors are cheap and easy... we could include them but I dislike that solution. I know people who had them overheat and melt their plastic, or who had them short out and blow fuses. They are OK but not the best solution.
As for not including a flasher, the answer is because there are lots of companies in China making hundreds of millions of flasher relays, and because of this you can always get it cheaper locally than I could ever hope to sell them for.
3) Connectors. We don't include the OEM connectors for two reasons. First, it would mean a lot of extra stuff we need to do - having the crimping tools, keeping track of the various connectors, etc. The other (and real) problem is some bikes use proprietary connectors that they don't sell, and while there are a few companies that knock them off, it is a gray area. I recommend cutting the wires from the OEM signal, so this still gives you the plug/unplug functionality when you remove the fairing.
4) Waterproofing. They are totally sealed. The front is CNC machined from solid acrylic, then the board is inserted and the cavity is filled with epoxy. Proton lights laugh at water
5) Price. I know they aren't cheap... and I don't want to sound flippant, but "quality costs money" - it's true. If you compare with a $40 signal, the manufacturer probably sells that to a wholesaler for $15... and they want to make money, so there may be $5 of parts in the pair, probably less.
We use solid acrylic and machine it to a fitted shape. Each pair probably takes 20-30 minutes on the CNC machine to make. The LED's are high-power 5-lumen (per LED) units, and there are 12 per flushmount. There are also 2 microcontrollers, two constant-current LED drivers, various other parts to keep them running for life, etc. We probably have more $$$ in parts in the Proton lights than the MSRP of the $40 flushmounts. I would say any of the high-end flushmounts that is probably the case.
You also have to figure that if the price on any of the high ends units was, lets say $60, that means $40 worth of "stuff" has to be taken out of the product. The middlemen wouldn't eat that $40, so it comes out in the form of cheaper parts and such.
I am very sensitive to the price issue, so we try to keep the value high with high brightness (~60 lumens per flushmount), running lights, programmable patterns, etc.
6) Fitment. On the 250R there is a left and right, so be sure they are installed in the corresponding side. The fairings on bikes are not super precise, there is a pretty wide tolerance, so you sort of have to decide how much to push the close-fit issue. On the 250R, we have a slight lip around the bottom which makes it fit into the fairing and stay in place. I can post a pic of how they should fit and look, if anyone is interested, and that way if anyone has them in wrong, you could see how they should be. The fairing hole on the 250R is very deep (and hence, very tapered), so rather than coming up with a spacer (which we tried but seemed hokey), we added a slight lip at the front.
Hope this answers the questions, if anyone has any others, definitely feel free to get in touch, email is best since I am usually pretty busy at work and don't get a lot of chances to come to the forums.
Hey so how are you guys enjoying these bikes? It seems they are very hot for '09. I was actually hoping to get one as a "shop bike" to modify and use for projects, but all the Kawi dealers around here are super sticklers on charging over MSRP, so I just passed. I think it is a hot looking bike though, and I can imagine how well it handles.
Ok, it's Friday @ 5:30pm, got a few hours of maching left to do before I head out, so I better get going on it
Cheers!
Mike