“Seek and ye shall find.” Said the wise man…

Well in this case he was right on the money. In the midst of a search I came upon a lighting product that I had not experienced in my many years of duning. My eyes zoomed into the pages of Golight.com to reveal a 12Volt 370 degree rotational, 500,000 Candle Power search light with the ability to tilt 135 degrees vertically, all with the use of a wireless controller! This means, that at the mere touch of a button, all of the light that I need can be placed right in the area where I need it. That’s what I call convenience! No more being at the top of the hill with my headlights pointing off into the distance while I stare down at the darkness below. How many times during those night rides have you needed the light where it wasn’t, and had plenty where you didn’t need it? I know, too many times…

My first concern was the size of the unit and where it would fit. I could envision it on a larger vehicle like a truck, or a rail, but how about a smaller side by side vehicle like a Yamaha Rhino? Well, after contacting Golight for the dimensions of their Stryker model light I had a good idea just where to mount this fixture. Fortunately, I’ve learned to let my present good equipment mounting ideas make way for future better ideas.

Upon receiving the Golight Stryker unit (model 3049), I opened the box and laid out the contents. Included was the fixture, a rock guard cover, a wireless dash mount remote, a wireless hand-held remote, batteries for both remotes, a stainless steel mounting plate (under the light), mounting screws, a bushing, and a complete instruction guide. The gloss black housing of the fixture and guard are constructed of the highest quality UV ray resistant high impact material on the market. The remotes themselves are covered in a rugged but flexible waterproof material that is easy to grip and handle

Now that I physically have the fixture I can better determine where to mount it based on aesthetics, and usability. The footprint of the fixture is roughly 6 inches square, and there is a rubber gasket around the bottom of the base for sealing purposes, so the unit must mount on a flat, fairly smooth area. Since the frontal area of the vehicle roof contained neither of those factors, I decided to build a mounting plate. Note: don’t plan on mounting these fixtures upside down; it will void the 5 year warranty.

Now, back to the wiring…According to the instruction manual the light needs to be on its own 15amp fused circuit. I purchased a fuse holder, fuses, and a 30amp rated automotive relay at an auto parts store for under $10. The next step was to locate an ignition power source to power the coil on the relay, and then connect the 15amp fused load through contacts of the relay to the Golight Stryker.

Once everything was reassembled and tightened, I installed the batteries in the remotes and installed the dash remote. I connected the two prong connector at the mounting plate on the roof to the connector under the light and moistened the edges of the rubber base gasket for a good seal. The light slipped on snug and secure. What a breeze…The mounting plate hooks in the front of the base as you slide the light back, then the rear drops down followed by the insertion of a stainless steel screw and that’s it!

Wow! I’ve seen a lot of spotlights in my day, but not one that hold a candle to this. I can’t wait to see how it will perform in the dunes…

As darkness overtook the area I tested the Stryker while driving through rolling sand hills before settling into one of the sand bowls. I then turned off the vehicles lighting to rely solely on the Golight as my only source. With the beam pointed ahead of the vehicle at a downward angle, I was able to clearly scan the hill far ahead, while having the entire area from the dash of the Rhino forward about 20 feet in front of me brightly lit. As I continued to maneuver through the darkness I became more familiar with the operation of the controls. I no longer felt the need to position my vehicle in a direction of interest; at the mere push of a button everything became highly visible. Even in conditions where the terrain continually changed, I could easily locate a neutral position to best utilize the light for the riding conditions. I also found this light is great for lighting the area behind the vehicle, for those unplanned moments backing down the hill.

Located on the RF remotes is a button that controls the speed of the 12Volt high torque automotive grade rotating and the tilting motors. The slower speed seems to me a bit more user-friendly while the vehicle is in motion, while on the other hand, when the vehicle was motionless, the high speed function was preferred to get the light where it was needed quickly.

An important fact that I have yet to mention is that the beam produced by this fixture contains no visible dark spots, unlike any spotlight I have ever used. I compared the beam to several other vehicles with added off road lighting during the night and found nothing that even came close. For such a small light, this thing packs a heck of a punch.

From my experience with this product, I feel that Golight has what it takes to provide the ultimate off road lighting solution for any vehicle making its way into the night. For access to the whole line of Golight products you can visit them at www.Golight.com.