Most flashlights do one thing. You pick a wide beam for close work, or a tight beam for distance, and you live with the choice. The Olight ArkPro Ultra doesn’t make you choose. It packs four light-delivery strategies into a flat-sided aluminum enclosure the size of a folded multitool and weighs 4.23 ounces. Because it’s compact with four flat sides, it’s easy to store in a tank bag or saddlebag, and when you set it down on the side of the road or on your garage floor, it stays put instead of rolling around like a tube light. With an MSRP of $130, it’s not an inexpensive flashlight, so let’s see if it’s worth its premium price tag.
First up, let’s have a quick look at who Olight is. Fox Fan founded Olight in China in 2007. The company is now headquartered in Zhongshan, with US operations in Georgia. Olight now sells in more than 100 countries and holds over 1,200 patents. Its reputation was built on the compact Baton series and on tactical lights, such as its Warrior line. In 2022, Olight introduced the flat Arkfeld, which had a form factor that directly led to the ArkPro Ultra. Its designs have won iF and Red Dot awards.
Solid build
The body is one solid piece with no battery tube to unscrew. It is machined from Olight’s own aluminum alloy, which is claimed to be 1.73 times harder than standard 6061. The flashlight is sealed to IPX7, so rain and puddles are fine. It has also been drop-tested to a meter.
Every time you pick the Olight ArkPro Ultra up, you’ll be reminded of its quality. The sturdy build is part of the justification for the price. The main switch and button have a great feel. It’s a tool so well made that you always enjoy the experience of holding it in your hand.
The base of the ArkPro Ultra has a magnet strong enough to stick the light to your metal tank or a frame rail. That turns it into a work light when both hands are busy, and you don’t have an assistant to hold it.
Four lights in one Olight ArkPro Ultra
Selecting the lighting is easy, either before or after pressing the power button. Turn the ring around the center button, and you switch between three of them.
Pure Flood is the wide one, and it’s the star. It uses a proprietary EIP 1 LED that Olight designed and manufactures. The beam is soft and even, with no hot spots or hard edges. The color is clean white, which is exactly what I want. It produces the wide spread of light that is ideal in the garage. It fills the space under a bike on a lift without blinding you off the engine cases, though watch out around chrome pieces. It’s the same beam that works for a roadside stop. You can see what you need to see on the bike without an overly intense output.
Spotlight is there when you need a tightly focused, intense light at distance. A Luminus SFT-25R LED and a smooth reflector reach out about two football fields. It’s great for reading a distant road sign, finding an unlit driveway, or checking to see what just moved unexpectedly in the distance. It is impressive how far such a small device can throw usable illumination.
The Olight ArkPro Ultra flashlight in Pure Flood mode in High. Photo stright from iPhone.
UV is the surprise feature, and it earns its keep as a tool for motorcyclists. It has a wavelength of 365 nanometers that makes things glow. Dye-traced coolant and oil leaks light right up. It’s also the light that tells you more than you want to know about a motel bedspread.
The fourth source on the Olight ArkPro Ultra is a green laser with its own button on the side. It works alone or alongside any of the other three, which is where Olight’s “seven configurations” claim comes from. The green laser is cat-approved at my house, though don’t point it at a cat’s eyes.
Soft when you want it, bright when you need it
Both white lights, flood and spot, run through five brightness levels, from Moonlight at the bottom to Turbo at the top. You step through them with the center button. UV keeps it simpler, with just high and low.
Pure Flood mode in High setting. Original exposure shown.
Moonlight is a single lumen. That’s dim enough to find something in a bag at 2 a.m. without wrecking your night vision or waking the campsite. Olight rates it for two weeks of runtime. We tested it overnight, and it was still on.
Turbo is the far end, and a temporary boost. Pure Flood hits a claimed 1,700 lumens, though only for three minutes before it settles at 520 lumens for over two hours. The Spotlight mode has the same behavior. It can put out a claimed 800 lumens for four minutes, then 400 for about two hours.
Pure Flood mode in Low setting. Original exposure shown.
Between Moonlight and Turbo, you have a choice of High, Medium, and Low. Low is 15x brighter than Moonlight, and Medium is over 6x brighter than Low. High cranks it up another 4x for Spot and 5x for Pure Flood. Medium will be your go-to for most jobs, and it will run for 10 hours in Spot and 13 hours in Pure Flood.
Working the controls
The center button is dished, making it easy to find by feel, even with motorcycle gloves on. One click turns it on at the last setting you used. Once it’s on, hold the button down, and it cycles through Low, Medium, and High. Just let go when you land on the one you want. From off, you hold the button, and it comes on in Moonlight. Double-click for Turbo, and triple-click for strobe. Hold it past Moonlight, and it locks out. That means it won’t switch itself on and drain flat.
A ring of tiny indicators tells you what’s going on. White shows brightness, green shows battery, and a lock icon lights when the light is locked. They’re easier to see at night than in daylight.
Charge ahead
The 2,000mAh battery is sealed inside, which is the trade you make for a flashlight just 0.63 inches thick. Plug into the USB-C charging port, and the battery is full in no more than 95 minutes on a charger that can supply at least 1 amp.
The Olight ArkPro Ultra charging with Olight’s proprietary magnetic charger.
Olight includes an odd proprietary magnetic charging cable that takes twice as long to charge, as the company is concerned that the USB-C port is prone to wear. Keep in mind that the USB-C port is rated for 10,000 plug-ins, which is roughly 30 years of daily charging.
While it might seem extravagant to spend $130 on a small flashlight, the Olight ArkPro Ultra earns its keep every time it’s deployed. Its tactile rewards are abundant, it’s a useful tool in even the best-lit garages, and it can be indispensable out on the road. It’s money well-spent, and a lifetime warranty signals Olight’s confidence in the ArkPro Ultra.
Olight ArkPro Ultra Flashlight Specifications
Light sources: Pure Flood LED; spotlight LED; UV LED; green laser
Configurations: 7 (laser operates alone or with any other source)
Pure Flood LED: Olight EIP 1; 14.5 watts max
Spotlight LED: Luminus SFT-25R; 11.5 watts max
UV LED: 365 nanometers w/ ZWB filter; 3.5 watts max
Laser: Green, approximately 520 nanometers; Class 1 (0.39 mW max) or Class 3R (5 mW max) depending on SKU
The modern superbike class is an arms race fought on several fronts. There’s still the battle for horsepower supremacy, that fuels endless spec-sheet skirmishes on internet forums. But what has caused more than a few designers to burn the midnight oil is the bold new frontier of MotoGP-inspired aerodynamics, and the challenge of integrating those into the already exceedingly complex superbike. Nic de Sena rode the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R at a recent Laguna Seca track day with Volant Vivere and he tells us all about what he discovered and what it takes to go fast.
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Now here’s a rally you absolutely cannot miss—yes, we’re rapidly approaching the 34th Annual Biketoberfest Rally in Daytona Beach, sunny Florida.Biketoberfest this year runs October 15th through the 18th. Biketoberfest is all about the beautiful Florida weather, live music, the industry’s top vendors, bike shows, and motorcycle racing at Daytona International Speedway. And don’t forget, there are miles of spectacular rides along the famous A1A, the historic Main Street and the Ormond Beach Scenic Loop. There really is something for everyone here, and almost every event and attraction is free to attend. So, if you want a fun few days out in the Florida sunshine, Biketoberfest really is the place to be. Make sure you download the Biketoberfest mobile App from Apple or Google Play or visit www.biketoberfest.orgfor more details.
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Austin and Ellie got married in 2022 and recently returned from a four-year trip around the world riding their Ural sidecar. The epic trip is documented on their Instagram page @sidebysidecar. In this second segment, Teejay Adams chats with them about the challenges and effort it took to make it all happen, and some of the adventures they had along the way.
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Here’s quick reminder to check out our monthly digital magazine. It’s filled with everything you want to read on motorcycling, including some things you’ve probably not seen elsewhere. It’s absolutely free and you will find it on the Apple App Store and of course on Google Play as well.
Don’t forget to leave us your comments on our social media—we’re on all the usual platforms at Ultimate Motorcycling. We love hearing your feedback… so good or bad, please let us know what you think. If there’s something you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear those ideas too!
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