How bright is too bright?

[CapCal1000]

There's a thread already.. Be warned.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=784860

[windmill]

Originally Posted by Zukizjsheller

Why is this even being debated?

Because a few riders don't think about the consequences of their choices, use poor judgment, or simply have no consideration for others, they go too far, creating a hazard for themselves, or more importantly for others.

What good is it to blind others so they cant judge your distance, speed, or direction of travel?

Some may say "so what", or "I don't care", as long as "they" see me,
What about our fellow riders, cyclists, pedestrians and others that the blinded motorist may fail to see?
Nobody is forced to ride, there are countless ways to enhance visibility without having a negative impact on the ability of others to observe ther driving environment. There is no excuse for the excess some practice.

Self preservation at the expense of others is either an act of ignorance or an act of cowardice.

[DAKEZ]

If it were not illegal I would ride without my headlight on during the day.

[ttpete]

Originally Posted by windmill

Because a few riders don't think about the consequences of their choices, use poor judgment, or simply have no consideration for others, they go too far, creating a hazard for themselves, or more importantly for others.

What good is it to blind others so they cant judge your distance, speed, or direction of travel?

Some may say "so what", or "I don't care", as long as "they" see me,
What about our fellow riders, cyclists, pedestrians and others that the blinded motorist may fail to see?
Nobody is forced to ride, there are countless ways to enhance visibility without having a negative impact on the ability of others to observe ther driving environment. There is no excuse for the excess some practice.

Self preservation at the expense of others is either an act of ignorance or an act of cowardice.

A modulated headlight never attains full brilliance, FFS! Why not write about things you have some knowledge of?

I hate sanctimonious whiners and holier-than-thou assholes. Piss off.

[Bill Harris]

"distracting farkles that give a sense of security"

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by ttpete

A modulated headlight never attains full brilliance, FFS! Why not write about things you have some knowledge of?

A modulated headlight does indeed attain full brilliance.

It maintains the low beam while modulating the high beam. Most (not all) High beams are overly bright even in the daylight and should not be used.. Or be used wisely so as not to annoy other road users.

[ttpete]

Originally Posted by DAKEZ

A modulated headlight does indeed attain full brilliance.

It maintains the low beam while modulating the high beam. Most (not all) High beams are overly bright even in the daylight and should not be used.. Or be used wisely so as not to annoy other road users.

Not on mine.

[windmill]

Originally Posted by ttpete

A modulated headlight never attains full brilliance, FFS! Why not write about things you have some knowledge of?

I hate sanctimonious whiners and holier-than-thou assholes. Piss off.

Where did I say anything about you, or modulators?

While I do feel they can be annoying to some, unnecessary, and could possibly cause undesired effects, I dont think they are dangerous like running high wattage high beams or real emergency vehicle strobes for tail lights.

No reason to be so sensitive, especially when your not being personally criticized.

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by ttpete

Not on mine.

Just how does yours work then?

[Ohio_Danimal]

I ride my GS1200 standing up, butt naked, with a neon yellow condom on.

Never fails to get their attention

[kamikazekyle]

Originally Posted by Ohio_Danimal

I ride my GS1200 standing up, butt naked, with a neon yellow condom on.

Never fails to get their attention

You should change that to a hi-viz orange or green/yellow vice just neon yellow. Oh, and stick on some retroreflective tape around the tip.


A bit on topic: I've thought about using some aux lights -- moreso for increasing by light spill at night from side to side than visibility to others -- but always held off. None of my bikes really have much wattage overhead, so even a set of small 10W LED aux lights would be a cram if I were to use anything like heated grips or jackets. I'm actually thinking about disconnecting the useless DRL in my Stone (you can only see it if the headlight bulb blew) and converting the license plate bulb to LED just to get a few more watts. During warmer months the extra juice isn't a big deal, but during winter when I run electrics or even just heated grips, every watt counts.

Anyway, more lights are fine in my opinion, so long as they don't become a distraction to other motorists. The motorist might not hit the moving disco ball that is the rider, but they're so distracted or blinded by the second coming of Jesus-type light that the rider is emitting that they run into the car in front of them. I've been behind riders with tail lights that flashed. While they were attention getters, one rider had his flashing all the time so it became impossible to tell when he was braking until he visibly slowed down. The other at least had his only flash when he put on the brake. I've also been blinded plenty of times by vehicles -- motorcycle and car alike -- with aftermarket HID kits on low beams that don't properly cut the light.

I do think a pair of properly aimed aftermarket aux lights or running lights can help visibility all around. The separation of the two lights and their offset relative to the main headlight help to give better depth perception to oncoming traffic, let a bike stand out better when their main headlight is backlit by another vehicle ("getting lost in the headlight of another car"), in addition to providing the rider with more illumination of the road.

Retroreflective stuff is good, too. It's passively lit and generally not overbright, especially at a distance.

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by ttpete

If you consider the brightness of some of the current LED car and truck rear lights, they're about the same as anything I've seen available for motorcycles. Considering this, the rear light on a motorcycle needs to stand out more so it doesn't get lost in all of the other rear lights at night.

If you don't want to be conspicuous, that's just fine. Actions always have consequences attached. We all know the universal excuse for killing a motorcyclist: "I didn't SEE him".

I agree. I have used P3 lights for years. They are quite bright, and also flash 4 times before going solid. They also flicker at 50hz, which is just in the visable range. Not a panacia, but work well enough for me.



I also use LEDs on the front for conspicuity:



BTW, these are angled down about 5° and at 20 feet are not nearly as bright as they appear in the photo. I do not get flashed with them.

Jim

[Bill Harris]

And what brand conspicuity LED lamps are these, Jim?

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by Bill Harris

And what brand conspicuity LED lamps are these, Jim?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/310539032170...84.m1439.l2649

Jim

[Bill Harris]

Ah, 15W 1200 Lumen Cree lamps. Good deal. Bright, easy to mount and at $23 eBay, they are less expensive than my Trucklite 60-series amber brake light modules ($32 local NAPA).

My DRLs:

(don't chuckle, these are 4-5 years old)

--Bill