What do people say about this fabulous product?
Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 16:45:39 EDT
From: Todd Burpee
To: Milktree
Subject: Re: Headlight relay kit
Will,
Your check went out yesterday A.M., so should be there soon.
I installed your kit Sat. evening in about 2 hrs. but I had a headlight
fairing to deal with, plus I futzed around with the routing a little bit,
being the anal-retentive that I am. Ended up doing it the way you described,
after all.
Good instructions. Good quality kit. I'm happy.
Thanks again,
Todd Burpee
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 07:51:09 -0500
From: "Grage, Michael"
To: 'Milktree'
Subject: RE: headlight relay harness
Hey Will,
Just wanted to let you know that I finally put the relay harness on last
weekend. It really couldn't have been much easier, your instructions were
great. I took the Hawk out last night to test out the new harness & bulb
and WOW! It actually puts out some useful light now, the difference is
really amazing. The light is much brighter and whiter than the stock
output, and the only thing limiting visibility now is the headlight
reflector itself. Thanks a lot for offering this to the list and doing such
a good job of it.
Mike
Date: Sat, 11 May 2002 13:35:18 -0400
From: jcristea
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Will's faboo headlight harness
I've always been a bit of a dim bulb , but hackfu wiring R6 lights onto the
Hawk left me with an additional pair . The total installation time was less
than 20 minutes and I now have lights bright enough to set my soul on fire a
la Viva Las Vegas . Good stuff indeed ; if you've got the dim/blinking
headlight problem Will is deffo yer maun .
joel
Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 16:49:16 EDT
From: Daniel Hershberger
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Headlight relay harness
I just wanted to shoot out big Thank You to Will for doing the work put
together the headlight relay harnesses for the list. I put mine on this
weekend while it was raining here in California. Due to the excellent
instructions provided, everything went well and I have a -very- bright 80/100
watt headlight now! Great job, and thanks again.
Dan
(as always, lovin' this list)
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 16:39:04 -0700
From: J. Schwartz
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Milktree's Headlight Relay System
Well, I finally overcame my LAS (Lazy-Assed Syndrome) and installed Will's
headlight relay harness. Incredible difference, and I'm still running a 55/60
bulb. Took 20 minutes to install. Directions were great. Headlight no longer
dims when I use the turnsignals. Much, much brighter. It's all good.
Now that I have purchased and easily installed Will's harness into my
Hawk, I can safely say that given the incredible improvement, he could
be charging a lot more for the product.
Thanks, Will!
- J., '89 red, nyc
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 19:33:06 -0700
From: Kenzo Baxter
To: Milktree
Subject: (kenzo) Headlight harness! You rock!
Will,
I was finally able to test out the new lighting on my Hawk just this
week. Rode home at night twice. WOWOWOWOW! This is the best investment
I've ever made for the Hawk. I can actually SEE now. It's incredible
how under juiced the stock lighting is for the Hawk. Granted, I do have
dual headlights on there, but the lighting should be the same, if not
better than the stock single headlight.
If you really wanted to I think you could seriously market (patent?) your
harnesses and sell them publicly. I don't think $100 would be too much
for a custom made headlight harness. Or if not, I guarantee you more
listers would buy them at a higher price if they knew what difference it
makes. I know it wouldn't be fair to charge lister more than you have in
the past, but the regular pulic, that's a different story. Do you know
if there's something like this on the market already (not including those
rediculously priced and fancy HID systems, etc)? Shoot, if you aren't
interested I might offer to take over for you! :^)
I tried to capture the "Before" and "After" lighting, but I wasn't very
wuccessful. Here's what I've put together. It's not public:
milktree-harness.htm
Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into these harnesses.
Kenzo
-Much obliged
ed. note: The website Kenzo wrote was coppied here for postarity,
and edited for clarity a bit, putting before and after pictures next to
each other. The real original can be found here.
Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 18:03:13 -0700
From: Steve Lenac
To: Milktree
Subject: Box of wire
Will, Very professional,with instructions even an idiot like
me can follow. Thanks Steve
Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 08:51:40 -0500
From: "Jackson, Doug"
To: Milktree
Subject: RE: Dealers and Petcocks (long)
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Hey Will,
Thanks for the pictures. I don't know what the deal is. The new washer is
thicker and more pliable than the old, hard smashed washer. I thought for sure
it would work.
Meant to drop you a line earlier. Installed the new harness and it works
great! Thanks for such a professional job.
Doug
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 19:35:22 -0700
From: Roy Hanks
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Milktree's Headlight Wiring Mod
A couple of years back I installed a 80/100W headlight bulb I
purchased from the local Napa Auto parts store. At the time I was not
impressed at all with the "increase" in light output. I muttered a few
obscenities, shrugged and went on with life. Then along comes Milktree
with his headlight relay mod which I thought was a great idea and
quickly ordered one for the Hawk and a second kit for my SuperHawk.
Before installing the kit on the Hawk I wanted to make a couple of
voltage measurements. So with the Hawk engine revved to 4000 RPM I
measured across the 80/100W headlight. On low beam the there was 10.2V
and on high beam the voltage dropped to a wimpy 9.6V. That might not
sound so bad till you consider that Power (watts) = Voltage SQUARED
divided by Resistance. So working through the numbers my 80/100W bulb
was putting out the light of a 45/51W bulb!!!! No wonder I was not
impressed by the bulb "upgrade".
Milktree's kit is very well done and the instructions are awesome.
After installing I repeated my voltage measurements and found that now
the low beam voltage is 13.5V and the high beam is 13.4V!! The
improvement is amazing ....the only problem now is I will have to wear
sunglasses when riding at night!
Thanks again Milktree for helping to enlighten (groan) the Hawk
community.
Cheers,
Roy Hanks
Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 23:44:58 EDT
From: Ron Dison
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Hawk Headlight relay harness- got yours?
In a message dated 5/28/02 9:11:27 PM, milktree@MAHONKIN.COM writes:
> Ok, The harnesses were just about breaking even, so long as
> my time was worth somewhere between zero and minus 30 bucks an
> hour. They turned out to be somewhat more work than I'd
> anticipated.
>
> Therefore I'm gonna raise the price to from a steal to merely
> generous for anyone who hasn't talked to me already.
I just received my harness from Will today and from opening the box, this
thing is a real fine piece of work and worth any price Will asks. I have
monitored the other list responses and know what to expect. It will maintain
the stock appearance while greatly increasing the headlight power. It may be
a bit before I get it installed, but I know I'll be happy! I'm expecting to
take a long trip in July out west and some night riding may be involved.
Ride Safe:
Ron Dison
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 23:57:16 -0500
From: Julian Cachur
To: "hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM"
Subject: Review: Milktree's Headlight kit
http://www.mahonkin.com/~milktree/headlight-relay-harness/
Will Turano (aka Milktree) makes the Hawk GT headlight relay kits.
I'm not very good at wrenching on bikes, so keep that in mind while
reading my comments.
Installation of the relay kit was an incredible pain in the ass.
Other folks have said that it only takes between 30-60 minutes to
install the kit. It took me about 2 hours with regular beer breaks.
Routing the wires behind the radiator was the worst part of the whole
thing. Milktree even makes mention of the difficulty of this in his
instructions.
The instructions are very easy to follow with lots of pictures to
help show where things go.
I also ordered the nice and cheap "no-name Korean made 80/100 watt
bulb" from Milktree. Installing this is simple and only takes about
5 minutes.
Once installed, the relay kit fits the hawk perfectly and you can't
even tell it's there.
Is it worth all the trouble? You bet! If you still have the stock
headlight in your hawk, do yourself a favor and order one of these
kits. At $59 (total cost including shipping and all parts) it's
inexpensive, improves your visibility thus increasing your safety,
and helps you to see better at night. Get this kit; you'll thank
yourself later. Some folks have estimated that it increases light
output by about 15% over the stock headlamp. With the 80/100 bulb
and the relay kit, I'd guess I'm putting out closer to 100% more
light than the stock setup!. The headlamp on my hawk is now brighter
than the lights on my car!
If I can put this mod on my hawk in 2 hours, anybody else with some
mechanical experience should be able to do it in less than 1 hour.
Thanks Will! Your headlight relay kit is awesome!
--
Julian A. Cachur
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 16:33:19 -0700
From: Patrick Coleman
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Milktree's lighting harness
I just got around to installing my relay lighting
harness tonight. Working against two major obstacles,
the cluttered condition of my basement, and the total
lack of beer, it took me 1 hour and 8 minutes. A
perfect fit, it looks great, and the extra light is
well worth it. Great kit, and great instructions.
Thanks, Will
Patrick
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 07:51:09 -0500
From: "Grage, Michael"
To: 'Milktree'
Subject: RE: headlight relay harness
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002 20:11:11 -0700
From: sue ann
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: milktree's headlight relay harness
one of the best things i've ever installed on my hawk has been milktree's
headlight harness. that thing rocks! i rode home tonite for the first
time after installing it. what a HUGE difference.i can see everything
and everywhere..... thanks Will!!!!
Sue Ann
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 12:11:16 -0600
From: "Gregory, Valerie W"
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Re: VW microbus Photos
Hawk Content - I got my Milktree Headlight Harness on Saturday - I should
have a chance to install it Friday. Hubby and I were impressed by the clean
design - and we're used to dealing with satellite/rocket harness. This
stuff looks ready to install and fly...no more squinting through the murky
dark for me!
Plus two pigs, a fish (heh) and a blue superball, which was immediately
appropriated by the cat.
Thanks, Will!
Val Gregory
AMA 466527, DoD 1258
'90 Hawk GT
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 10:08:00 -0500
From: Bob Zakaras
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Headlight Relay Harness and Cowl Savers
All:
Did both of these this weekend. Both are easy projects and great upgrades.
Thanks,
RZ
Bob Zakaras
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 14:00:43 -0400
From: JB Noble
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Milktree's headlight wiring harness
I installed Milktree's wiring harness last week and it was a breeze,
going just as his instructions said. Lots of pictures, and nothing
to cut or modify just routing the two sections of harness and plugging
in connectors. George W could do this. I'm still working on adjusting
the headlight, but the difference is striking at night, and I feel I'm
a lot more visible during the day.
MILKTREE YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE!!!
JB Noble
88 Grey & Cherry and burning a big f*$#ing hole in the night (Well, at least it will be as soon as I get the battery problem resolved)
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 21:25:50 -0400
From: Oldrice
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Schpeaking of headlights... !!!!!!!
Good Gawd Yall!
Did someone mention a dual headlight Hawk? Ever since acquiring Rev Mikes
first Gixxer setup way back when, I've had a fancy for them Duallies on a
Hawk. But that's not what I'm here to hollar about. I just came back from a
"night ride" after my *quicky* installation of the infamous Milktree Harness
on my own Dragon Hawk with the 2001 Gixxer 1000 Headlight mounted and
YOWZAA! I can see clearly now, as the night is day! Will, I bow before you,
you are Da Man! Nice Work Kimosabe! Best bucks I ever spent! Easy as pie to
install, (timed it - no sh!t 58 minutes!) and the hardest part for me was
getting the double harness from the headlight like Will wanted it behind and
through to the other side of the little fuse/buss box on the lower triple.
Twice as many wires as the rest of y'all.
Will and I have (excuse me, WILL has been) trying to figure out the best way
to wire it up for a loooooong time now. I reallly appreciate it Will. Man it
lights up nice. I thought it was decent before - heh, now compared to then
that was pathetic! NOW IT ROCKS!
Get the feeling I like it?
Thanks Will! Thank you very much!
Oldrice- '89 Dragon Hawk...well lit!
Oldrice.com
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 20:46:14 -0700
From: Dug Smith
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Milktree's headlight wiring loom - fitted!
OK, I'm just back in from the garage, having fitted my Milktree loom to the
Hawk. Bear in mind I'm a ham-fisted idiot, but it took me less than 2 plays
of Rob Zombie's "Sinister Urge" to get the lawnmower out of the way, hoik
the bike up on my "Porter paddock" and get the wiring done, then put it all
away again. So that's under 90 minutes. For grins, I measured the voltages
of stuff before I started (not running):
battery - 12V
headlight - 11V
afterwards:
battery - 12V (duh)
headlight - 12V :o)
The main thing I notice is in the garage, the headlight's white, rather than
the yellowy colour I'd been putting down to discolouration in the lens.
Triffic.
Easy peasy, especially if you undo the 2 screws holding the fuse box on to
tuck the wires along the existing loom. The only thing I don't like is the
khaki coloured cable ties included in the kit. I used them, because I'm
cheap and they were free :o) Oh, and there's nothing in there about
mosquitos. I've been bitten around 70 times :o(
Very happy, well done Will. I kept looking at the information I'd stored
about doing this, but I know without the kit, I'd have never got around to
it :o)
See? I'm lazy, as well as stupid.
toodle pip,
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 23:23:07 -0400
From: Jeremy Witt
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: More kudos for the Milktree Headlight Boost!
Just got done road testing the new and greatly improved headlight. If you
haven't ordered one yet, do so.
One beer and less than 60 minutes and the whole thing is done. Would have
been quicker if I hadn't decided to tighten down the rear fender (too
wiggly) and FINALLY getting around to shimming those stupid needles to
exorcise the 3k stumble. Another ridiculously simple task I wish I'd tried
two years ago!
But anyway! The low beam is about the same pattern, only white instead of
yellow. But more importantly, the high beam no longer has that gaping hole
just ahead of the front tire where there used to be no light at all. I'd
find myself switching between low and high as the road rose and fell. NO
MORE! Oh, and the high beam is damn bright as well.
Remarkable difference.
Get one.
Soon.
Thanks again, Will!
J
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 07:51:02 -0500
From: Gene Daniels
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: Headlight
I just installed Milktree's headlight harness with a 80/100 bulb and the
result is the best headlight I have experienced on a bike.If you ride at
night, you need one.
Before I installed the wiring harness, I thought I had burned out the
headlight switch as a result of using the brighter 80/100 bulb but one of
the wires to the starter button had come loose. If your headlight does not
work, check the two wires that solder to the top of the starter button.
I hauled the son's ( my-ex) Hawk home on a trailer for maintenance and
repairs and it sure is fun to ride! Have to test ride don't I? So
far,Progressive fork springs, M4 exhaust and mild re-jetting have certainly
transformed the bike.
Gene Daniels
Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:50:58 -0700
From: Rob Mosley
To: hawkgt-l@LISTSERV.HAWKGT.COM
Subject: More praise for Milktree's headlight relay kit
Zowie! Just back from a ride in the dark to try out the new headlight
relay kit. What a difference, indeed! Vastly improved peripheral
visibility, and a much whiter, brighter beam. BTW, I'm running the stock
wattage bulb, too. Installation was very straightforward, and the result
looks pretty professional to me. I'd highly recommend anyone interested
in improving their Hawk's lighting to look this way before investing in
higher wattages, more and/or different lights and all that. I'll
estimate the installation time to be about what others on this list have
posted: somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hours and a beer or
two--good beer, mind you. The only reason it took me the better part of
a week is that I decided to undertake a couple of Hawk beautification
projects while I had it apart, and the work week didn't allow me to get
back to it until today.
Milktree rocks! Thanks a zillion, Will!
Rob (Seeing more these days)