Under Hood Light

Steve,

That would be me. More info on our eBay store at http://stores.ebay.com/Ridgeline-Mods or I can answer any questions here. The waterproof LED with 12 lights mounts via industrial 3M tape and there is an ideal spot on the G-2 which casts a perfect angle for the light on the engine compartment, right back to the firewall. Two optional anodized self tapping screws are provided, but for those that don't wish to drill our prototype lights have done fine without them to date in severe winter conditions. The wiring harness is completely assembled and in a loom which fishes easily behind the G-2 insulation, then runs along the underside of the windshield cowl to the battery area, where it ties into the secondary post on the positive side of the battery with an inline 10 am fuse and heat shrinked terminal.

The ground runs to an adjustable ground switch on the left side of the engine compartment and the light comes on when the is released, even before the safety catch is activated. Constant power so no need for ignition, very low draw and no heat from the lights. On my personal 13 RTL-Navi I even installed a warning light in my dash when the hood is open in the event I ever did not close it completely and it was only held by the safety latch.

No drilling, soldering or crimping required. About a 20 minute installation, very clean factory look. Our local Honda dealership Service Manager was very impressed with the OEM appearance of both the strut kits and the LED kits. We are shooting the installation videos this weekend for the G1 and G2 strut kits, the LED engine compartment lighting, and the G1 and G2 trunk lid strut kit, which I can post or send to you if you would like to see them.

Thank you for your interest in our RIDGELINE-MODS products.

Danny

NOTES: We do include an 11/32 drill bit as we provide two style of loom clips: 3M adhesive or the push in factory Honda type. It's an either or situation, the 3M work fine if you do not want to drill. Also, if you install the LED kit with our G2 hood strut kit we have already used the only suitable hole existing in that area, so you will have to slightly enlarge the existing second hole available with the bit provided. Didn't want to mislead anyone when I said "no drilling", more accurately it would be "optional drilling".

Hi, good questions. The 12 LED light is very bright but not at all blinding. The best spot on the G-1 is a little forward of the G-2 location, photo attached but the cell phone camera does seem to get 'blinded' by the LED's, although that is not the case at all with the human eyes. The second photo shows the LED illuminating the engine compartment in a dark garage, very effective white lighting from the radiator to the firewall. The third photo shows the clean passageway for the wire loom to disappear in the hollow "X" member of the hood, and then comes out near the right [drivers side] hood hinge and tucks in behind the air cleaner box on the right fenderwall. The third photo shows the hood activation ground switch location, pre-drilled at the factory. The G-1 location for this switch is on the right side, closer to the battery. On the G-2 we took advantage of a molded tunnel in the factory hood insulation to exit on the passenger side. Both are very clean looks. Final photo shows the battery connection and in-line fuse.

Everyone that has viewed our kits thinks these are factory engineered, not aftermarket modifications. I guess that is a pretty good compliment.

By the way 100% money back guarantee including postage if you are not completely satisfied. I take a lot of pride in my work and these are well designed products I will stand behind no questions asked. The people on this forum have been very nice to me and I really appreciate that.

So what do you ride when you're on two wheels? I have a black '03 Softail FXSTi 100th Anniversary edition, lots of custom mods I designed myself on that also as with my black '13 RTL. Love 'em both but would rather be on the bike any day ! Just bought my nephew a black '09 VRSCF Muscle for his graduation from college, we tore it all apart and doing a lot of customization on that also. That bike is a rocket !

Thanks for your interest.

Danny

Hi, just took a photo for you of the prototype LED kit on my '13 RTL. These are NOT the same light bars we use now, this is a smaller 30 LED light and not as high a quality as the waterproof marine lights I am selling with the current kits.

The location is pretty similar to the G-2's and really there are not many other viable options for positions. The lighting is surprisingly effective from radiator to firewall, the new LED's are much bigger and flatter so they seem to project 180 degrees downward.

If you want to try the kit and not completely happy with it we have a couple options. First, of course, I offer 100% money back guarantee plus postage so no issues there. Just stick the light on with some duct tape and hot wire to battery without feeding the loom through the insulation panel and see how you like it.

Secondly if you feel it would be a big advantage I can mill a tapered aluminum plate, maybe .025 x 1" wide, powder it black and attach the light with the screws provided to the wedge plate. Then just use the pre-attached industrial 3M tape to affix the wedge with the light to the same spot, giving the light path a more vertical trajectory towards the center of the engine compartment. Perfectly willing to give that a try but I would like you to try the kit as is first. I find the lighting very good, could definitely change my spark plugs at night without turning on the garage lights.

Let me know. Thanks for your input.

Danny K.