Lighting
Auxiliary Lamps and Headlight Guard
Auxiliary Lamps
The GS lights are a lot better than many bikes I have had but there is still only one main and one dip. I have had a headlight fail on a sharp bend at night with a car coming towards me and it's VERY frightening so some back up is comforting and you can't have too much light.
I liked the idea of HID lights but replacing the originals with HID did not appeal due to the reported slow heat up time and still only gave me one main and one dip. I finally decided on a Touratech set comprising an HID lamp working with the main beam and a halogen driving/fog working with the dip.
Fitting
The kit is pretty comprehensive with ready made wiring looms, relays, fuses and all the bracketry. It's straightforward to fit but takes a while. The beak has to be removed to fit the lamp brackets which are weirdly shaped and are a bit like one of those wire puzzles in Christmas crackers, a nightmare to work out but easy once you realise how. There is also a bracket for the HID ballast which fits under the left side of the beak.
The tank has to come off to run the wiring loom but I think it could be done without. It is also necessary to drill a couple of small holes in the bottom of the light unit. These are for cables to Scotch clip onto the headlamp wires for relay power. Touratech suggest removing the unit first but I managed it easily enough in situ.
Finally a cable runs to the handlebars for a switch for the fog. A switch is not supplied for the HID as it is assumed it will always be used with the main beam
In Use
The HID is great, it transforms night into day. Dark road signs stand out like they have their own lighting and everything is crystal clear. The downside is that when the lights are dipped a LOT of light is lost.
The fog helps a little and comes on with the dip. To be honest I don't really notice if it is on or not but I leave it on all the time as it makes me more visible yo other drivers in daylight.
It's an expensive kit but the difference it makes to night driving is amazing.
Headlight Guard
 I bought this before going abroad. The bike manual warns against sticking anything on the headlight so I did not want to risk damaging an expensive light unit by sticking a beam deflector on it. Then I had the idea of sticking it on a £35 headlight guard instead. Having fitted the headlight guard I never got around to fitting the beam deflector. Never had before anyway and nobody ever flashes you.
I have left the guard in place and I suppose it does protect the headlight from damage. It also scatters a lot of light back up onto the screen, which I reduced with the addition of a headlight beak, and makes the headlight hard to clean.
If I wanted something just to protect the headlight I would have bought the wire mesh version and will probably change it at come time.
At least it was cheap and easy to fit. Just unbolt the indicators, slide the supports behind them and refit.
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