Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1540850
28 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Late Season Bike Prep Late Season Bike Prep Let There be Light! Let There be Light! By Kurt Flachbart By Kurt Flachbart This season has been nothing short of phenomenal, with a stretch of beau ful weather that we haven't seen in years. Our long-term test bike, the Beta 350 X-PRO, has proven to be a fantas c tool for the type of riding we enjoy so much, single track and some good old-fashioned dual spor ng. With the miles piling up, it was me to give the X-PRO some much-needed love while upgrading the headlight in order to extend the riding season. Over the years, we've implemented several ligh ng upgrade features. Now woods riding at night might seem a li le crazy to some, but with a decent light kit, night riding can not only extend your riding sea- son, but it's also a tremendous amount of fun with an en rely different perspec ve of the landscape. In discussing our op ons with Alec Morefield at Slavens Racing, Alec recommended the Motominded/ Baja Designs Squadron Pro headlight from Slavens Racing. Emi ng a whopping 4095 Lumens with only a 41-wa draw on the stator, we've found this light kit to be a great bang for the buck. What's a lumen, you ask? The lumen is a basic unit for measuring bright- ness, just as the gram is a basic unit for measuring mass. For example, a typical 60-wa light bulb in your home might produce 800 lumens. Lumen is related to the word luminous, which means "bright" or "radiant". Fortunately, Beta's 4-stroke X-PRO series is fi ed with a powerful 200-wa stator that's capable of easily powering a decent LED headlight along with other accesso- ries that would be appreciated on longer/colder rides, such as heated grips or a fan kit for those in warmer climates. The Motominded LED Light Kit from Slavens Racing is sold as a complete plug-and-play, fully assembled unit. The housing is manufactured by Motominded, known for its quality 3d printed components. The light itself is a Baja Designs LED Squadron Pro, a four-bulb lamp that is fully ad- justable for lt and aim. The beam emi ed is im- pressive, throwing light way down the trail while illumina ng off to the sides quite well, also. We tested the Squadron Pro in a par cularly rocky sec on of trail, where lots of hidden trail junk lurked in the summer overgrowth. Having the ability to rip a challenging trail in the darkness of night is a lot of fun. I've been riding this par cu- lar piece of property pushing 25 years now and thought I knew every inch of trail. At night, it's a totally different landscape and quite entertaining with powerful ligh ng.