Editors Note: Each issue of Snow Goer includes evaluations of aftermarket products we tested for a full season in our Cold Tested department. This story was published in the November 2023 issue of Snow Goer. Enjoy.
The axiom “Necessity if the mother of invention” isn’t new. In fact, it can be traced to the philosopher Plato in about 400 BC. But it’s still as true today as when he was going to toga parties in Athens.
Electrician Lenn Johnson was the living embodiment of that proverb when he attached LED light strips under the belly pan of his Polaris nearly a decade ago to make it easier for him to see when clearing snow after riding into his New Hampshire cabin after dark. Soon friends and riding companions saw his cool-looking lights and wanted their own.
Flash forward to today: The same guy who brought you the LED Helmet Lights typically sold at Bite Harder now offers the White-Out Light Kit for multiple generations of Polaris sleds. A Ski-Doo kits has since been added. We saw his White-Out kits at the Big East Powersports Show and decided we needed to test one.
The White-Out light kit comes with everything needed for installation. It starts with two 6.5-inch-long LED light strips that each contain 30 individual diodes. The kit also has custom-designed wiring, plugs, a dash-mounted switch, 12 zip ties, six peel-and-stick wire connectors/routers and alcohol wipes for cleaning surfaces.
We handed off the kit to rider-turned-test-jockey Shawn Jones for use on his 2021 Polaris 850 VR1 137.
Installation took just over an hour. Mounting the actual light strips involved cleaning the location where the strips would attach with the alcohol wipes. Sean then peeled the backing off the strips and pressing them into place. The adhesive on the back of the strips immediately made a strong bond. Next, a hole needed to be bored into the dash to mount the toggle switch.
The meticulous part was properly routing the wiring under the hood to connect the two light strips to the back of the toggle switch. The switch was then wired directly to the battery. Obviously staying away from hot, rotating or sharp under-hood objects was key to wire routing. The peel-and-stick connectors and zip ties helped hold the wires in an exacting route. The wiring includes watertight connectors plus an inline fuse – LJE appears to have thought of everything.
Putting The Light Kit To The Test
Once wired, Shawn flipped-on the toggle switch and found the garage floor bathed in nearly 1500 lumens of light. It was bright, but in daylight it just looked OK. In the darkness, though, the light output seemed immense.
“It was a little more light than I was expecting,” Jones said after using them for a full season. “When sitting beside the trail at night, it puts out quite a bit of light off the white snow, and it definitely came in handy when loading the sled into a dark trailer. And you could have the light on in the trailer without the engine running, which was a huge benefit.”
That last part was a key advantage to working with LEDs. Johnson said the strips have less than a 5-Watt draw when they’re on. So, while they can be used while riding to light up the snow in front of the sled, a primary use is lighting up an area around the machine when it is parked, whether at an intersection, parking lot – or when clearing snow from the driveway after riding into your rural cabin at night.
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Great article, thanks for the great review!