Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 IRON BUTT MAGAZINE | Winter 2014 The Krista-Darla Combination For a combination of reasons, I pur- chased a set of the Darlas and the Kristas for installation on my BMW KGT. I was willing to sacrifice a broader beam of light available with the Ericas for the longer reach of the new Kristas. I also thought that the narrower beam of the Kristas would increase my ability to use them in the presence of oncoming traf- fic while riding on divided highways. Although the Darlas don’t add much to what the Kristas produce, they do improve conspicuity. In addition, the Darlas can be adequately dimmed to leave them on at night when there is oncoming traffic on narrow two lane roads. Under these conditions, Clearwater points out that the Kristas are too bright even when dimmed to % of maximum output. (However, they can be dimmed to % of maximum output on a late model BMW equipped with CAN bus.) In the daytime photo at the begin- ning of this article showing the front of my KGT, the Kristas are dimmed to % of their maximum output and the Darlas are dimmed to % of maximum output. This photo doesn’t do justice to how bright the lights appear in daylight even when dimmed. Since the paper the photo is printed on can only reflect light, it is not possible to show how bright the lights really appear. LDRWorkshop The photo above shows the contents of the Krista light kit. It includes the lights, the mounts, a “data cable,” the “CANopener,” a wiring harness, and the required fasteners. The “CANopener” is the component in the kit that makes this system truly unique. This component plugs into the CAN bus system used on late model BMWs that integrates all of the electrical components on the motor- cycle. Although the software BMW uses with the CAN bus system is proprietary, Clearwater Lights has cracked the code and figured out how to integrate its lights with BMW’s system. As a result, no new switches are required with the Clearwa- ter Lights.This was an important accom- plishment because without tapping into the CAN bus system, it’s not possible to get a trigger lead to activate the driv- ing lights with the BMW high beam switch. With the CANopener installed, the Clearwater lights are controlled by the BMW switch gear. As explained in more detail below, the BMW “Multi- Controller,” also called the “Wonder Wheel,” is used to control the output of the Clearwater lights. Certain com- binations of BMW switch movements determine when the Clearwater Lights are on or off.The photocell on the BMW instrument panel is used to distinguish daylight from nighttime and to automat- ically change the amount that the Clear- water Lights are dimmed during low beam operation. As previously noted, the Kristas are dimmed to % of maximum output for daytime operation and the Darlas are dimmed to % by default. When the BMW photocell detects that it is dark, the Kristas are dimmed to % of maximum and the Darlas are dimmed to % by default. However, the amount that the lights are dimmed can be modi- fied as described in the nearby table. When the Darla lights are also installed, their output can also be adjusted using a very similar procedure to what is described in the table for the three actions beginning with “Adjust Kristas Light Output.” The only differ- ence is that the step involving pushing the control wheel requires a push to the left instead of to the right. The Krista kit for the BMW K1600GT: lights, mounts, data cable, CANopener, wiring harness, and fasteners. Programming Options Action Sequence Toggle Kristas Off and On with Low Beam Hold turn signal cancel switch for 2 seconds Toggle Kristas Off and On with High Beam Apply front brake and activate flash-to-pass switch 3 times with Kristas off on low beam Adjust Kristas Light Output when High Beam On Turn on high beam; push control wheel to right for 2 seconds; rotate wheel to adjust brightness between 3% and 100% Adjust Kristas Light Output when High Beam Off; Daylight Operation Turn off high beam and make sure instrument panel photocell is exposed to bright light; push control wheel to right for 2 seconds; rotate wheel to adjust brightness between 3% and 100% Adjust Kristas Light Output when High Beam Off; Night- time Operation Turn off high beam and make sure instrument panel photocell is not exposed to bright light; push control wheel to right for 2 seconds; rotate wheel to adjust brightness between 3% and 100% Restore Default Settings For Daylight & Nighttime Dimming Hold left turn signal; activate flash-to-pass switch 6 times in 6 seconds Note: Lights can only be dimmed to 10 - 100% of max output on motorcycles without CANBUS.