Motorcycle bullet/marker lights

fearamhain

Hi,
I'm thinking of adding extra lights to my front forks to make my bike more visible on the road.

Does anyone know if there are legal issues involved with this?
Also, any comments about safety / visibility issues welcomed.

rymus

ive seen a good few people add small halogen lights to the end of the forks (ends of wheel axle) to light up the road a bit more. I think the only thing to keep in mind is that red & blue lights on the front aren't allowed. But I could be wrong. My bike has yellow running lights on the front,never had a problem.

fearamhain

thanks rymus, I was thinking of orange/red ones, tired of getting cut off by cars around town.

rymus

when I said yellow running lights I meant orange. Theyre indicators & running lights.


go with orange I'd say, red may be a no-no.

fearamhain

Rymus,
This has been confusing me a little, what do 'running lights' mean exactly, can they double up as indicators and extra lighting without confusing other drivers? If that makes any sense!

rymus

you've got it right there. My running lights (there may be an alternative phrase for them) are my front indicators. They stay on all the time the ignition is turned on and when I indicate they flash while remaining lit. They just have dual filament bulbs in them which allow them to light and flash at the same time.

saobh_ie

I've seen bikes with spotlights one the ends of the forks, down at low level and heard of them being fitted to engine bars.

What type of bike do you have?

Also, do you really think extra lights will make car drivers notice you? I've heard that even blue flashing ones aren't as effective as you might think.

KTRIC

I've been looking for spot's that fit to engine bars for ages now and I can't find any. Manly for added road presence.

saobh_ie

My next lid is going to be white. I'm hoping that will do wonders for my road presence. =] Although red jackets and orange hi-viz vests don't seem to be doing the job. The fact is no matter what we do to increase our conspicuosity (god knows how that’s spelt) be it bigger lights, bigger bikes, brighter jackets, louder pipes, manoeuvring to be seen car drivers will still fail to see us with horrifying regularity.

KTRIC, I’m almost certain I saw engine bar spots while I was browsing for alarm systems a week or so ago, I’ll see if I can find it again. Have you been into any of the good garages around town? They might be able to sort you out with some sort of lights you could find a way to mount onto engine bars, even if a trip to the hardware is called for.

I think I saw LED strips somewhere… might be good on engine bars. Hey, making yourself as bright as possible might not work in real life but it looks great when you put in an insurance claim.

And don’t forget your high beam works in daytime too… =D But its a dodgy one. If you see a threat don't use it because flash of the lights in car driver speak is go ahead (don't they know nothing, never gesture for some somebody to come, you slowing down/stopping is all the encouragment they need). However apparently if you ride around with full beams during the day it looks like your going so much faster.

I know I’m knocking lights but I was giving consideration to adding a second head light to my Bandit, two side by side, speed triple like. Along with a second horn =D, both working off the same switch. 2x100 Decibels… I can’t remember what that works out at… I’m just trying to find a bike with a horn I like the sound of.

sutty

Highway Hawk Do good spots for custom bikes. (cruisers and the street) woth having a look

fearamhain

saobh_ie I agree with you about being seen on the road. I just changed from a cruiser 250 to a GS500 and I can't believe the increase in the amount of incidents. I never had the same level with the cruiser. This is what prompted me to get the extra lighting, how effective it will be is another thing. I mentioned to rymus that I fear they could have as many downsides as upsides, a white helmet sounds like a good idea. I read on a site (manufacturers comments) that the triangle shape given off by the two markers and your headlight enhance visibility, sounds logical.

highwayhawk.com has some nice stuff.

Borderfox

Good idea with the extra lights on the bike, car drivers will still not see you though.... farging iceholes

rymus

saobh_ie wrote:

What type of bike do you have?

I've got a yamaha royal star venture. like a goldwing but far better looking

theres no doubt extra lighting helps, i have a set of white headlights/running lights as well as the centre main light and while not adding much light at night they certainly make me more visable during the day.

I was going to get a set of highway hawk fog lights for the engine bars, still may. May also be an idea to work on the brake lighting. Something that reminds drivers not to wait until theyre right up your ass before they stop.

Biker.ie

Drive around on dipped headlights wearing a lustrous orange vest and if they don't see you they want their eyes examined.

There was some other boyo looking for flashing lights on his bike (to detract attention away from his beard or something) a while back, t'wasnt you by any chance ?

causal

A few points:

Extra lights will increase your conspciuity (every little helps) but:
Lights - are only good if people look at them (~75% car drivers excuse for hitting a bike is "I didn't see him")
White/Yellow - are the most conspicuous colours (iirc according to the Hurt report)
Twin lights on front of motorcycle - potential danger at night because they can be mistaken by oncoming traffic etc. as being the headlights of a car in the distance (small cow - far away cow)
Loud pipes save lives - I think this is true, road users can hear you coming long before they see you. Straight-through pipes or a race can - your only man!

causal

fearamhain

Hi there,
casual, I've heard about the pipes before, but I have a failry silent rothair and I like it that way. I think I'll give the dual filament running/turning lights a go and see if things improve any. It wasn't me looking for the anti-beard lights biker.ie

I was the victim of an "I didn't see you" about a month ago. It's unbelievable, this girl rear-ended me on a roundabout. She genuinely didn't see me coming around until she had driven up my ass. I even slowed down on approach to make sure that she wasn't going to drive thru, she slowed down looked toward me and obviously just ploughed on. Somewhere inside their heads, I think car drivers brains are only looking for other cars. I've had incidents where it's seemed almost impossible that people couldn't have seen me. It's crazy that you almost have to make eye contact with drivers to make sure you're not going to get creased. RANT OVER!!

rymus

fearamhain wrote:

It's crazy that you almost have to make eye contact with drivers to make sure you're not going to get creased.

theres no almost about it!

saobh_ie

causal wrote:

A few points:
Twin lights on front of motorcycle - potential danger at night because they can be mistaken by oncoming traffic etc. as being the headlights of a car in the distance (small cow - far away cow)causal

Good farking call. Never occured to me. There is that idea tossed... unless I mount them one above the other...

Car Driver: W T F?!?!?!

And car drivers are only looking for other cars. There's been studies done. They'll even say.

"Did you look for cars before pulling out."

"Yes, of course."

"But you didn't look for bikes?"

fearamhain

causal has put me off the idea too. Thanks all.

freewing

got myself a white pan european a couple of years ago and a white lid OH THEY SAW ME COMING amazing how polite cars become when they think youre a cop

Cake Fiend

freewing wrote:

got myself a white pan european a couple of years ago and a white lid OH THEY SAW ME COMING amazing how polite cars become when they think youre a cop

Nice, add black leathers and you can start pulling people over!

causal

freewing wrote:

got myself a white pan european a couple of years ago and a white lid OH THEY SAW ME COMING amazing how polite cars become when they think youre a cop

Yes it's WHITE PAN MAN

I have a 'Garda-esque' style hi-viz jacket - it works a treat especially at night
Kinda makes me feel like Moses, with a sea of cars parting infront of me

causal

rymus

proper order too

Hotblack Desiato

saobh_ie wrote:

And don’t forget your high beam works in daytime too… =D But its a dodgy one.

Yep...
(1) P*sses off other drivers and dazzles them
(2) Illegal
(3) All the driver sees is a bright light coming at them - with the beam parallel to the road - makes assessment of speed and distance more difficult.
The best thing to do is use your dipped beam.
If you're fitting other lights they must be white or amber, and set up not to cause dazzle.

causal wrote:

Loud pipes save lives - I think this is true, road users can hear you coming long before they see you.

Up to a point, maybe (but what if their subwoofer is turned up to 11?)
Like ambulance sirens, etc, with very loud pipes the sound reflects off buildings making it harder to pinpoint exactly where it's coming from.

fearamhain wrote:

It's crazy that you almost have to make eye contact with drivers to make sure you're not going to get creased.

Even then, there's no guarantee! I think many riders are far too reluctant to use the horn. If you're in any doubt when approaching a junction that someone might pull out, give a toot BEFORE they do.(of course you need to reduce your speed accordingly too, just in case they pull out anyway...)

saobh_ie

Yeah. I tend not to use my horn much. Mostly because people only use it to give out to other people.

I've been in cars and a horns been used out there somewhere and without trying to figure out, why, what for, where from the driver just says, "Yeah! F*** YOU TOO!!!"

Also on my first bike I was getting squished by a car who wanted my piece of the road and I got on my horn (and brakes). The horn was on for ten seconds and I slipped back from level with his bonnet to having my boot against his rear quarter panel and fifty centimetres of road between him and the kerb before he swerved back across to his own lane. The bike didn't come with the loudest horn.

Then when I got the Bandit, the horn on it just sounds gay. Beep! All herby like. Even when you press the button angrily. lol

Regarding the high beam, when I'm filtering I cover the horn and the 'pass' button so if anybody does anything silly they get lights and horn on. Although I haven't had to do this yet as I've always been lucky regards my decisions while filtering.

freewing

Sico wrote:

Nice, add black leathers and you can start pulling people over!

did that once didnt even have me usual gear on and i only wanted to tell the guy in the 4x4 that he was losing air from his rear tyre turned out he had over-loaded the back ( had about 500kgs on the tail) but he still thought i was a cop . got a wing now sometimes i miss the pan