“Let there be light!” said Glenn Stasky of Clearwater Lights of Rancho Cordova, California, and there was. But not just any light, not by any means. Clearwater Lights creates some of the highest quality motorcycle lights available anywhere in the world, engineered, tested, and produced right in the USA. And motorcyclists saw that they were good, and they were distinguished from the “me too” copycat products produced elsewhere.

If you are unfamiliar with Clearwater Lights, the story begins a decade and a half ago when Glenn was riding through Colorado one night, on his way home to Tennessee. An oncoming car flashing its high beams prompted Glenn to dim the headlights and auxiliary lights on his motorcycle, causing a moment of night-blindness. As the car passed, Glenn turned his high beams and auxiliary lights back on, but in the split-second it took for the HID aux lights to reach full brightness, the dead deer in the road that the car was attempting to warn Glenn about took him by surprise, causing him to become airborne. Luckily, Glenn survived without a scratch, but the experience left him with a desire to create a lighting product that will never leave him night blind again. Thus began Clearwater Lights, and the quest to create the best lighting systems on the market.

With LED kits and accessories for multiple brands such as BMW, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, KTM, and many more, Clearwater Lights is the epitome of “no compromise”, and it has the customer service to back it up. Clearwater kits integrate cleanly, with all the necessary hardware and wiring, for the cleanest, most OEM-like installation possible. It was necessary for some of the parts to be stamped with the Clearwater name, because some observers could not tell if the parts were factory or Clearwater.

There are multiple aspects to Clearwater’s quality and success. Yes, the brand’s LED lights are bright, that is a given. For example, the Valkyrie kit for the BMW R1300GSA produces 60 watts with 5,500+ lumens and only 4.5-amp power draw at max output per light. This package uses a 3” diameter housing that allows for multiple mounting options and multiple beam patterns.

Next, Clearwater LED lights are fully dimmable, a feature that is lost on many competitors’ systems. With a light as bright as the Clearwater systems delivers, being able to dim them is necessary so as not to blind oncoming riders and drivers, but also to prevent the night blindness that Glenn experienced that fateful Colorado night. Instead of turning the LEDs completely off and leaving the rider in darkness, dimming them allows for a lesser degree of light to be used to preserve visibility. But here’s the trick: the lights are still at full power, but are being turned off and on quickly, which tricks the eye into thinking that they are being dimmed. Thus, when dimmed to 50%, the lights are actually being quickly turned off 50% of the time, or approximately 250 times per second, which the human eye interprets as the lights being dimmed 50%. This method is called Pulse Width Modulation, or PWM, and is a method used by BMW as well.

Clearwater Lights are not just for riders to see at night, they also help riders be seen during the day. Clearwater pioneered the Selective Yellow filters for its lights that filter out most of the blue spectrum to stand out better in the daytime.

When it comes to BMW motorcycles, nobody does lighting better than Clearwater Lights, as evidenced by the CANopener plug-and-play system that integrates into BMW’s CANbus system in 2013+ liquid-cooled motorcycles. By utilizing a CANbus system in its latest bikes, BMW brought the latest automotive technology into motorcycle manufacturing, and Clearwater followed along by integrating its lighting systems right into BMWs. While BMW’s CANbus technology has been a barrier to other lighting systems, Clearwater Lights dove right into the technology and took advantage of it to integrate its premium lighting systems right into BMW’s latest designs.

Creating such high-quality, innovative products requires a dedicated staff and a hands-on approach, so 90% of Clearwater’s products are produced at its facility in Sacramento, California. Clearwater’s team of industrial designers, machinists, fabricators, and assemblers work to produce the best possible product, and they are even available for tech support or on-site installation if the need arises. The design of the parts strives for maximum quality and durability, so instead of inexpensive mild steel, Clearwater typically uses stainless steel or billet aluminum, and hundreds of replacement parts are available should damage occur.

Safety is undoubtedly a core value for Clearwater Lights, so much so that it has branched out to create innovative safety lighting systems for race cars and motorcycles, ones that are now in used by several automotive and motorcycle racing organizations and track facilities. Clearwater also has lights for automobiles, flashlights, and a range of accessories.

What began as a harrowing experience on a long, dark ride home has spawned an innovative company creating the highest quality, superbly engineered lighting systems for motorcycles. While there are many less expensive products on the market, it’s awfully hard to beat the quality, reliability, performance, and integration that Clearwater Lights achieves.

For more information, visit ClearwaterLights.com, or your local Clearwater Lights dealer, and see the light!

NOTE: This is sponsored content produced in partnership with Clearwater Lights