Risk Racing Light Mine
We all love gadgets, particularly those that are handy, portable, affordable and in some way make life a little easier, right? We love them so much that we’ve told you about some of our favorites in the past in:
Our search for the perfect gadget for motorcyclists and their garage, on-the-road, in-the-paddock, on-the-track life-style is never-ending.
In a recent piece on cleaning up my workbench and the treasures, I found there an unexpected item was a rather odd little LED light device that bristled with magnets. It had a tag that said “Risk Racing.”
The thing got me curious so I found the Risk Racing website, which led me to the work lighting page, where I found that the gadget is called a “magnetic light mine,” because it literally resembles the sub-surface naval mines plunked down in shipping lanes during World War II.
That product’s individual page gives an MSRP of $6.99 and describes how the 12 neodymium magnets enable the device to cling to any ferrous metal surface to allow it to be aimed to put light on the subject in nearly any direction. This version has a single-mode, wide-angle bright white LED light that puts out about 15 lumens and comes with batteries included.
The larger Light Mine Pro is about the size of a baseball and has four operating modes: high-beam, low-beam for the wide-angle white LED light and steady or strobe mode for the dual red LED lights on the opposite side from the white light.
The wide-angle white LED light puts out a claimed 250 lumens in high-beam mode and also comes with batteries included. MSRP for the Light Mine Pro is $24.99 and it comes with a one-year warranty.
On a cold, gloomy day better for wrenching than riding, I found the Light Mine Pro handy for adjusting a noisy tappet on my 1974 Honda CB350F. Getting light directly into the tappet hole to be able to see clearly what I’m doing has always been a challenge but the Light Mine Pro’s magnets allowed it to cling to the frame and bottom edge of the gas tank, throwing hands-free light right inside the cam cover, making it a lot easier to see the adjuster and lock nut.
The next project on my agenda was checking for a burned fuse on a 1981 Honda CM400A. Getting light on the electrics under the left side cover is a little less challenging than getting it inside the cam cover, but getting enough light to see the finer details of wiring connections, insulation condition and whether the fuse element is intact is a little more difficult.
In that case, the Light Mine Pro was able to be positioned on the frame just aft of the electrics and provided enough supplemental light to be able to work among the wires and fuse block without having to hold and direct a light source.
Using the thing as a hazard warning light is an interesting plus. I haven’t had to use it in that role—and hope not to—but when I think of how far off I can see bicycle riders using LED strobe lights and headlights, it occurs to me that a bike disabled on the roadside in dead-horse no-power condition could really benefit from having one of these for warning on-coming traffic, particularly in low-light or foggy conditions. In trying it out on a painted surface such as the top of a fuel tank, I noted the super-smooth magnet surfaces left no marks.
Both items are also available from Striker at www.strikerconcepts.com .
