MOTODEMIC - Hello

After an inquiry from a customer wanting to clarify some info they ran across on this forum, the name caught my attention and I had to come check things out.

My name is Brad, the Founder of MOTODEMIC. Extremely brief history - I started this company in 2015 with the sole purpose to bring quality parts to the motorcycle aftermarket industry. Teamed up with JW Speaker in 2016 to be our supplier of premium LED units that are reliable and made here in the US. We now cover over 140 models of motorcycles and every day we get to help people improve the looks and/or lighting performance of their beloved machine.

I have joined the forum to provide definitive information on posts regarding our products and be a resource if anyone needs some help with the lighting on the front of their GRiSO. I am not here to spam the forum. I've admin forums in the past and nothing fluffs my feathers more than people that come in and try to annoyingly post things they are selling.

If you have any questions in regards to our products, or lighting in general, please don't hesitate to ask.

Welcome!

Hey Brad, Welcome from the nether regions. Your expertise will be invaluable.

Welcome to the Ghetto, Brad!

Pete (Street)

Hallo Brad,
maybe it was me ;-)
After contacting Motodemic I have decided to buy your headlight housing (bucket) via [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in Germany. I did not order a headlight yet because I am still considering which one I prefer.
The GRiSO headlight is very "special" and unfortunately it is made of cheap plastic and it is not very suitable for LED upgrades. So it seems that your housing is by far the best option. Unfortunately this housing is very expensive in Germany.
BR
Jan

janguzzi wrote:

Hallo Brad,
maybe it was me ;-)
After contacting Motodemic I have decided to buy your headlight housing (bucket) via [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in Germany. I did not order a headlight yet because I am still considering which one I prefer.
The GRiSO headlight is very "special" and unfortunately it is made of cheap plastic and it is not very suitable for LED upgrades. So it seems that your housing is by far the best option. Unfortunately this housing is very expensive in Germany.
BR
Jan

We have been at a constant battle with the companies that resell the parts that JW Speaker buys from us as we feel like they are charging way too much (nearly double of our listed price). I am hoping to eliminate this issue in the future.

Thank you for posting your installation method, huge kudos to you!

Hi Brad, I am happy with my full kit delivered by J.W. Speaker with your housing.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Well mine is in the country.

I decided to lash out and treat myself. Although I rarely ride after dark there are times when I am getting home at dusk and beyond and I'm pretty certain that the El Cheapo POS 'No Name' light I bought off the Bay of Fleas would be no better and probably worse than the original H4!

What I can say is that if you're in Oz this is not a cheap upgrade if, like me, you go for the 'Full Monty' adaptive light and bucket package. The light and bucket+rim comes in around $900US, (From memory so don't shout at me if that's wrong.) which with UPS shipping translated to about $1400AU. Unfortunately UPS are super diligent about collecting duty and today I got hit-up with another $210AU in taxes and duty meaning this ended up being a $1,600 gee-gaw! Just a hint to Brad, if you send them by USPS there is a good chance they'll sneak in without attracting the attention of Border Farce and Customs and you might sell a few more! Not that I'd encourage such irresponsible behaviour!

Anyway, when it arrives I'll report on installation and effectiveness. It better be good! It cost me about 1/3rd of what my second GRiSO cost me!

Pete Roper wrote:

Well mine is in the country.

I decided to lash out and treat myself. Although I rarely ride after dark there are times when I am getting home at dusk and beyond and I'm pretty certain that the El Cheapo POS 'No Name' light I bought off the Bay of Fleas would be no better and probably worse than the original H4!

What I can say is that if you're in Oz this is not a cheap upgrade if, like me, you go for the 'Full Monty' adaptive light and bucket package. The light and bucket+rim comes in around $900US, (From memory so don't shout at me if that's wrong.) which with UPS shipping translated to about $1400AU. Unfortunately UPS are super diligent about collecting duty and today I got hit-up with another $210AU in taxes and duty meaning this ended up being a $1,600 gee-gaw! Just a hint to Brad, if you send them by USPS there is a good chance they'll sneak in without attracting the attention of Border Farce and Customs and you might sell a few more! Not that I'd encourage such irresponsible behaviour!

Anyway, when it arrives I'll report on installation and effectiveness. It better be good! It cost me about 1/3rd of what my second GRiSO cost me!

The improvement over stock and stock+led bulb is huge. You are gonna really dig how much more visibility you have.

Wowza that does add up. We used to use USPS but ran into too many issues with who they hand it off to when it reaches AUS. Customers would wait weeks on end or shipments would never arrive. We switched to only UPS because they are in possession the entire time and they typically do customs in air so there is far less chance of the shipment getting held up.

We have been trying to find a solid AUS dealer that will actually stock things. It has been challenging to say the least and we've gone through a couple that didn't work out.

Thank you for the order and feedback (thus far)!

What I'm unclear on is does the Speaker adaptive unit have some sort of photosensitive sensor? Does this prevent the arc of LED's operating when the light level is above a certain point?

I'm asking simply because I cannot see them operating when I'm riding. They aren't illuminated when the bike is on its sidestand and at that point is well leaned over so I would of expected the appropriate LED's to begin to operate?

Or does it incorporate a motion sensor and only begins to work adaptively once the vehicle is in motion?

These may seem like foolish questions but I can't find actual descriptions of 'How it works' on the JWSpeaker site. I don't doubt that it will be a huge help, especially for my ageing eyes, but I do need to understand how it works to know whether it is in fact working correctly!

The Adaptive light uses a combination of readings from its internal gyroscope and accelerometer to calculate lean angle and illuminate the correct amount of lean optics. The bike does need to be moving for the lean optics to turn on and stay on. You can trick it with the light in your hands but they will only turn on for a moment.

Excellent! Thanks. I suspected as much, or something similar, but with no clear description on their website and not having a neck like a giraffe so I could look at it while riding it did leave room for question.

As for getting it out again and moving it around? Bugger that! It was such a frontbottom of a thing to get in I'm never taking it out again!

Pete, I have to check... as far as I know, if have some pictures showing the led's turned on while cornering.

Not yet. I'll do that when I have someone to take pics. I'm a misanthropic hermit. It probably won5 happen until Coonamble.....

FYI, thread on your product: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Cantaloop wrote:

Hi Brad, I am happy with my full kit delivered by J.W. Speaker with your housing.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Stirring up this old thread to see what you think of this light after a few years. HAs the sting of the cost lessened with long term perfomance? Sound off!

My OEM bucket has a crack and I know it's a matter of time before I'm roadside, rummaging for that bungee in hopes of making it home....ask me where that crazy idea comes from...

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Look, I really can't comment on how well it works as a headlight as I don't think I've yet had my bike out after dark with it fitted, (Too many bloody hoppers around here and anyway, I'm old and get tucked up in bed with a nice cup of cocoa when the sun goes down nowadays. ) but it is very bright and works exceptionally well as an attention getter for dopey old fucks towing caravans and the like!

As to its fitment? The bucket is slightly too large to slip easily into the 'Scaffold' that holds it on the GRiSO and I found I had to loosen the bolts that hold the two parts of the mount a bit to get it in and then retighten them once it was in place. I can't remember whether this required removal of the nstrument binacle or not but I fancy it did. Not a terrible hardship but it does mean it isn't a straight 'Drop in'.

I think it's biggest plus is its 'Wank Factor'. When you turn the bike on it powers up and does a little dance for you to let you know the 'Adaptive' bit is working. Now normally things like that leave me totally unimpressed but for some strange reason I like it! Probably because I am a total wanker!

Now it's biggest downside. The cost! I bought mine from Motodemic when I was temporarily flush with funds and had just had a very disappointing run in with an el-cheapo Chinese insert that was awful in every respect as well as not being legal as it didn't have the required compliance markings. I knew it was going to be expensive but it got caught coming in through customs and I got slugged with both import duty and GST. By the time I had it in my sweaty paws it has turned into a $1,500 headlight!

Thing is that while the bucket of the GRiSO is shallower than most of the cheap fleabay replacements I'm sure there must be something out there that will fit, or be easily modifiable, that will allow the use of a much cheaper *Normal*, ie, non adaptive, insert for a fraction of the cost.

Really though I'd have to say that although the Motodemic/JW Speaker unit is good I could never really justify the cost. I've just put it down to one of my occasional brain farts. No regrets, but not justifiable in any sensible way.

I bought mine second hand from a member here
Def did not have to remove gauge cluster to fit it, which did require maybe .5 hour of loosen, adjust and tightening of related parts
Know nothing of the little light show on start up, will check next time I ride with someone
I know you venture out after dark at least to the local watering hole (not remembering if it’s referred to as new or old, thinking old) as I’ve seen you there
While the value of AU $ is unfortunate, at least you’re not in NZ additionally you folks get real border security, headlights and better beer than we do!

BetaSteve wrote:

I bought mine second hand from a member here
Def did not have to remove gauge cluster to fit it, which did require maybe .5 hour of loosen, adjust and tightening of related parts
Know nothing of the little light show on start up, will check next time I ride with someone
I know you venture out after dark at least to the local watering hole (not remembering if it’s referred to as new or old, thinking old) as I’ve seen you there
While the value of AU $ is unfortunate, at least you’re not in NZ additionally you folks get real border security, headlights and better beer than we do!

Do you like it? Consider the output and quality of the components exceptional? Or meh?

I don’t know enough about the actual component quality to have a valid opinion. As far as what it does - it does very well. JW, while far from the cheapest, is quite popular in the Jeep world.