The one-word answer – Safety! How? Let me explain.

I have used various LED aux lights over the years and one common issue I would find was that though the LEDs were super bright to look at, they did not do much for reflected visibility for the rider. I could see the light beams being unfocused, at times even lighting up treetops. But the depth (distance it would light up) was missing. It was as if the light would just cut off after a few meters ahead of the motorcycle. And then there was the issue with the color of the light. Most of the cheap LED aux lights come with a pure white color, temperature of over 6000° K. While they look bright, these do not provide ample visibility to your eyes. They did not light up things upfront, not to the extent we need it when doing good speeds on the highway.

Then comes the matter of the current it draws. Most cheap aux lights do not have accurate information on the current it draws or even a robust circuitry. They are not weather, dust or shock proof, which eventually leads to them malfunctioning. This can even lead to damaged batteries in the long run.

I have been using the Baja Squadron Pro for close to 2 years now and I would say it was money well spent.

To start with I love the fact that I can change the lens pattern to suit my needs. It even has options to change the covers to amber for use in foggy weather conditions. I currently use the Driving/Combo lens which provides maximum trail coverage from a single unit.  The Driving/Combo pattern is equipped with both wide cornering and spot optics which provides with a smooth balance of light for both near sight and far sight usage. I travel a lot in the dark, primarily in the wee hours of the morning. This helps me cover large distances in less time due to the lack of local human interference on roads, due to the time of the day. However, to maintain good speeds I need visibility and the Baja does just that. The driving combo lights up almost 300m ahead of me, improving my reaction times to any obstacle that may come up in front of me. In slow trails, off road terrain or even Ghats, the wide cornering lens comes in handy with a wide spread of light closer to the motorcycle.

The light color in which human eyes see best is what I like to call Sunlight White. This equates to a color temperature of 5000° Kelvin. This color temperature greatly reduces driver fatigue and increases terrain recognition, which improves reflected visibility. The Baja’s use 5000K LEDs to ensure the best visibility which leads to a safer riding experience

The build quality is something that ensures the aux lights perform efficiently. The body is robust yet light in weight. It has fins and copper plates inbuilt into the design to enable efficient heat transfer. The onboard circuitry maintains the power efficiently and avoids excessive power drain from batteries while ensuring a flicker free performance. It is even waterproof with an IP69K rating.

Now came the question if my motorcycle to handle the electrical load that the Baja Squadron Pro would add to the system. My stock headlights were a 60/55W and the battery is a 12-volt, 8 AH. The Squadron Pro draws 40W / 2.90A. I got rid of the stock headlights and got a LED headlight which would run at just 17W. Moreover, I keep my headlights off when I am using the aux lights, which provided ample illumination by itself. Baja sells this with a wiring harness which meant I could directly run this off the battery with no cutting or splicing of stock wiring. It has been close to two years and I am yet to face any issue with the motorcycle electricals, the Baja wiring harness, or the lights itself.

In a nutshell, these are worth the money spent and work well in making my rides in the dark a safe affair.

Author : Binil Varghese

My name is Binil and I am a Motorcycle Traveler and DIY Enthusiast. My earliest memories of traveling are road trips that I used to go on every year with my family to different parts of India. I used to eagerly look forward to these trips, as they meant discovering and exploring new places. College life introduced me to motorcycling and backpacking. Riding motorcycles is one of the greatest joys of my life.