Half the allure of the Dirt Rider 24-Hour is riding the night loops, even when it's cold. But this experience can quickly turn sour without a good lighting setup. And having a bike with a headlight is only part of the battle. Stall or crash once in the middle of nowhere, and you'll rapidly notice it is dark out there. Additional lighting via helmet-mounted systems is nothing new, but it's an oft-overlooked aid that allows you to look ahead on the trail and maintain the good riding habits you use when the sun is shining.
During our 24-Hour, Washington-based Cyclops Motorsports hooked up a bike and rider with a system connected to the bike's wiring harness and a light on his helmet. After some minimal adjustments, he was plugged in and ready to ride off into the darkness.
Cyclops' unique light uses a halogen bulb that comes in a 35-watt configuration, with a 50-watt bulb available (higher-wattage units may require lighting-coil modifications, especially if you're using other power-hungry devices, such as grip heaters). Its bright light blended into the headlight beam, effectively doubling the area and intensity of light coverage. Our tester rode with a 35-watt unit and had nothing but praise for the system. Not only was the amount of light supplied sufficient for basic night riding but the setup had a side benefit we weren't expecting: You don't get hypnotized by the bouncing white light from your motorcycle's headlight.
The Nightlight attaches to the helmet with some hard-core hook-and-loop closures; this allowed easy adjustment of the light's position on our lid, which in turn aligned the beam and ensured an iron grip on the light so it didn't fall off, even under hard riding conditions. Of course, you'll have to duck a bit more when dashing through branches. Since the Cyclops light attaches to the top of the helmet, its weight didn't cause our brain bucket to pivot into uncomfortable positions, something we've occasionally encountered with other helmet-mounted lighting systems.
The unit plugs into a motorcycle's or ATV's existing headlight wiring harnesssaving weight since it doesn't use a battery. The kit uses a thick coil wire to connect the rider and light to the bike via a quick-disconnect plugfor those times when you take dirt samples. Depending on the power output of your lighting system, the Nightlight may dim when the rpm drop, as when entering tight corners or steep downhills. This tends to create a slight blind spot. Your options are to go faster, keep those revs up, get a coil rewind or wait until Cyclops introduces its optional battery pack (likely to be available by the time you read this). One minor addition we'd like to see is some type of on/off switch. It's a necessity for a battery-based configuration but would be welcome even with the stator-based system. The bottom line is all of the components were well-made and worth the wallet-friendly $99.95 price tag; it even comes with a lifetime warranty.