Originally Posted by rickymurphy
1. On all the NiteRiders, the HID comes on before the LED, to the chagrin of many of their owners. I'd prefer a separate LED system for backup, that way if something fundamental goes wrong with your primary system (switch, connectors, BATTERY), you'd still have an alternative.
2. Just get a charger from batteryspace. $20 for a slow charger (0.5A), ~$30 for a faster charger (1.5A). Should outlast any light system, get a separate one for work, you can't have too many.
On my NiteRider, the LEDs come on steady with the first click of the power button, and the HID ignites with the second click. If you want the flashing mode, then you hold the button for 4+ seconds. If you want steady LED but don't want to fire up the HID, then you can unplug the battery from the light head to turn it off without striking the HID.
I agree, I'd rather have a weentsy lil' Cateye EL400 or something as the LED light. I can remark that the NiteRider LEDs would be about sufficient to follow the fog line in pitch-dark conditions at very low speed, but nothing beyond that.