Looking at underglow? A different approach
Looking at underglow? A different approach
If you have been searching for underglow, you have probably already run into the one comment that shows up under every build.
Hide the strips. Show the glow.
Riders are hard on each other about this, and they are right about it. A bike where you can see the strip itself looks like a bike with LED strips stuck to it. A bike where you only see light on the paint and the metal looks like the bike came that way. Same parts, same money, completely different result. The difference is where the light comes from and whether you can find the source.
That one comment is worth understanding before you buy anything, because it decides how your bike looks far more than the kit's brightness or its colour count.
What underglow actually is
Underglow is a car idea. Strips go underneath the vehicle, pointed down, and the light pools on the road so the car appears to float. On a car it works well, because the body is wide and low and there is a whole floor to hide strips under.
A motorcycle is not built like that. There is no floor. There is a frame, an engine, an exhaust, and a lot of open air. Point light down from under a bike and most of it lands on the road beside you rather than on the bike. From ten feet away you see a puddle of colour and a few bright dots where the strips are sitting in the open.
This is why the "hide the strips" comment exists at all. On a motorcycle there is very little to hide them behind.
Plenty of riders run underglow and like it. It is a real look and we are not going to tell anyone their bike is wrong. It is just not the look we set out to build.
What we build instead
NYTRON is contour lighting. Instead of pointing light at the ground, the strips follow the lines your bike already has. The edge of the tank. The seam along the fairing. The line under the seat. The lip of the front cowl.
You are not adding a glow underneath the bike. You are drawing the bike's own shape in light.
Two things fall out of that, and both of them matter more than they sound.
The strips sit into the line rather than out in the open. Bodywork has edges, lips and recesses. Run a strip along one of those and what you notice from a normal viewing angle is the light on the paint beside it rather than the strip itself. How well it hides depends on your bike and where you place it, which is why you plan the layout before anything is stuck down. That is the same answer riders give each other in the comments, built into how the kit is meant to go on.
The shape is the point, not the brightness. Underglow reads as a colour under a bike. A contour line reads as your bike, at night, with its outline lit. Somebody behind you at a red light sees the width and height of a motorcycle instead of a single tail light. That is worth something on a dark road.
What comes in the kit
Eight strips, in four matched pairs, at 90 cm, 75 cm, 50 cm and 35 cm. Four lengths because a bike has short lines and long lines, and a strip that has to be bent around a curve it does not fit never looks right. You plan where each pair goes before anything is stuck down.
Everything runs off one 12V controller that connects to the battery. There is a fuse on the power cable and a switch on it as well. Colours and modes come from the Moto Auto app on your phone.
Fitting takes about 10 minutes. Plan where the strips go. Connect them and check they light. Stick them on. Then set the colour from your phone.
Two honest things before you decide
Keep it steady, and keep the brightness sensible. In our experience that is all it takes to ride without trouble. Flashing and strobing modes are the ones that draw attention on a public road, so those are for a show or a photo shoot rather than a commute. Rules do vary by country and by region, so check the ones where you ride. Our full advice is on the lighting rules page.
Switch it off when you park. The kit connects to the battery, so turning the bike off does not turn the lights off. There is a physical switch on the power cable and that is the one that cuts power. Flip it off every time you park the bike.
The specs
| Strips | 8, in 4 pairs: 90 cm, 75 cm, 50 cm, 35 cm |
| Controller | 12V, Bluetooth, fused |
| App | Moto Auto, over Bluetooth |
| Water rating | IP65 |
| Fitting time | About 10 minutes |
| Warranty | 2 years on all electronics |
| Returns | 30 days |
| Shipping | Free |