Best motorcycle spotlights

Just like when we looked at uprated headlight bulbs, the benefits of adding riding or auxiliary lights to your bike are mainly two-fold.

Firstly, the additional light will help you to see at night, particularly depending on where you position the lights themselves on the bike.

However, just as, if not more, important is the second benefit, that you will be far more visible to other road users by using the spotlights as effectively ‘Daylight Running Lights’ or DRLs. As a result, others should be more aware of your presence and hence, you should be safer.

Related: Best motorcycle lighting upgrades

Lights can either be mounted high up alongside the headlight for straightforward illumination or DRL-style visibility or lower down so that they illuminate the road closer to the bike or to the sides for a better view of the sides of the road.

This can be particularly useful for rural roads where the bike’s main lights may illuminate the road ahead but leave the edges of the road to the side of the bike unlit.

Related: Best motorcycle indicator upgrades

Lower mounted lights can also be useful in foggy conditions as, just like on cars, they illuminate the road beneath the rider’s eyeline and don’t ‘white out’ the fog, which decreases vision.

Here is a selection of spotlights to help light the way on a dark night.

They come with the necessary wiring harnesses and control box (the relay) as well as the two-way switch to change the mode and activate the lights themselves.

Pros:

Inexpensive

Additional lighting power

Various modes

Cons:

Flashing little use for motorcycles

One pair projects a wide beam close to the bike to illuminate the road and the edges while the other pair project a tighter, more penetrating beam ahead of the bike into the distance. They are supplied with a handlebar switch but can also be integrated into the bike’s dipped/main switch using an optional harness.

Pros:

Combination of near and far lighting

Excellent quality

Optional total integration

Cons:

Very expensive

They are supplied with mounting brackets but you’ll need to sort out the wiring and relays.

Pros:

Long-range beam pattern

High light output

Low energy consumption

Cons:

No associated wiring or switches

They are wired directly to the battery, via the included waterproof handlebar switch or to the bike’s ignition so that they only illuminate when the ignition is on. They come with 55W bulbs as standard though smaller 35W ones are available for bikes with lower-rated electrical systems.

Pros:

Well-known brand

Come with full wiring harness

Can be ignition-switched

Cons:

Power-heavy halogen not LED operation

Pros:

Dual colour

High/dipped operation

High output

Cons:

No fitting kit or wiring included

They come with the full wiring kit including a handlebar switch though they can be integrated into the bike’s main/dipped system using an optional lead to switch between half and full power.

Pros:

Spot or flood light pattern

Integrate into bike’s lighting

1.6A draw

Cons:

Cost

They emit 3000 lumens of light from the white projector lamps and come with a wiring harness and three-way handlebar switch to switch on just the halo or the projector as well. A mounting kit is also included to fit the lamps to the engine or handlebars.

Pros:

Halo and projector lights

DRL and main-beam use

All in one package

Cons:

Switching relay needed

They would typically be wired into the lighting system to come on with a switched live, such as the sidelights and improve visibility without adding night-time vision.

Pros:

Tiny profile

Add to visibility

Minimal current draw

Cons:

Little additional light output for night-time

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