Best radar detector for bikes?

[Reckless]

I've got a 8500 X50 permanently mounted to the bike. Works good.

One on one against a laser or a cop really using his KA and trigger switch in his lap your screwed.
Mostly they leave it on and just try lock you when they get a warning I think?
But this doesnt happen a lot, mostly you get enough warning from him checking the traffic ahead of you or from behind you. Mine is years old but modern enough to have the rear detection sensor. Be WARNED all cops have rear mounted radar detection now so they'll get you going away from them after they have gone by. I'm really surprised it hasnt clapped out by now because its done me years of good service on the VTR, SV thou and now the Bonnie and they are all big vibration bikes.

I went to Dick Smith and bought 3 plugs and a small speaker for in my helmet for about $20 bucks then used an old cell phone car charger cord and wired up an Audio warning. So no Batteries or leds. I read somewhere your reaction to audio is faster than seeing, then doing, I also wonder if your looking through your corner up the road and your led is on the opposite side of your visor, if you'd miss the LED warning without the audio. So have stuck with the audio warning.

Works really good and I don't notice the curly chord at all. I'm used to unplugging the cable after the last few years with this set up, so only walked away from the bike still plugged in couple of times early on.
The only draw back is about once every couple years you have to rewire the plug at the helmet.
I put a small chain and padlock round it so I can leave it parked outside a cafe or the supermarket and not have to worry about some turkey pinching it.


Couple pics attached so you know how its set up if you wanna go the cheaper route and hard wire.
Hope this helps??

[skippa1]

I've got a 8500 X50 permanently mounted to the bike. Works good.



I went to Dick Smith and bought 3 plugs and a small speaker for in my helmet for about $20 bucks then used an old cell phone car charger cord and wired up an Audio warning. So no Batteries or leds. I read somewhere your reaction to audio is faster than seeing, then doing, I also wonder if your looking through your corner up the road and your led is on the opposite side of your visor, if you'd miss the LED warning without the audio. So have stuck with the audio warning.

Works really good and I don't notice the curly chord at all. I'm used to unplugging the cable after the last few years with this set up, so only walked away from the bike still plugged in couple of times early on.
The only draw back is about once every couple years you have to rewire the plug at the helmet.
I put a small chain and padlock round it .........

That curly cord might work but it would annoy the shit out of me. Wireless led in my helmet has never let me down

chain and padlock......really?

[Laz]

I run an STI. You'll get a few readings on Ka band that will leave you scratching your head. It will be a cop kilometers away, which takes ages to finally appear around a corner! I've also detected their radar whilst being at 90 degrees to them (picking up the beam and NOT the radar unit in the plod-car).

K band is what the photo-taxation vans are on, but the signal is very weak. You may find a single "beep" announcing the presence of one of those. The Bel Redline doesn't have this issue though...!

The thing I like about these detectors is they are upgradable The one I just bought has just had the latest software/firmware upgrade. You can upgrade your STI to a Magnum for bugger all and apparently the older STI's have a coil wound LNA which is more sensitive than the later models. I have K band turned on and get a few alerts but not on quiet streets. It's a great unit.

[NAR RG500]

I've got a 8500 X50 permanently mounted to the bike. Works good.

One on one against a laser or a cop really using his KA and trigger switch in his lap your screwed.
Mostly they leave it on and just try lock you when they get a warning I think?
But this doesnt happen a lot, mostly you get enough warning from him checking the traffic ahead of you or from behind you. Mine is years old but modern enough to have the rear detection sensor. Be WARNED all cops have rear mounted radar detection now so they'll get you going away from them after they have gone by. I'm really surprised it hasnt clapped out by now because its done me years of good service on the VTR, SV thou and now the Bonnie and they are all big vibration bikes.

I went to Dick Smith and bought 3 plugs and a small speaker for in my helmet for about $20 bucks then used an old cell phone car charger cord and wired up an Audio warning. So no Batteries or leds. I read somewhere your reaction to audio is faster than seeing, then doing, I also wonder if your looking through your corner up the road and your led is on the opposite side of your visor, if you'd miss the LED warning without the audio. So have stuck with the audio warning.

Works really good and I don't notice the curly chord at all. I'm used to unplugging the cable after the last few years with this set up, so only walked away from the bike still plugged in couple of times early on.
The only draw back is about once every co uple years you have to rewire the plug at the helmet.
I put a small chain and padlock round it so I can leave it parked outside a cafe or the supermarket and not have to worry about some turkey pinching it.


Couple pics attached so you know how its set up if you wanna go the cheaper route and hard wire.
Hope this helps??

I also have speaker in helmet and run cable down my jacket to the plug by my seat, takes a little while to remember you are plugged in when getting off!

Not all cop cars have a rear facing antenna fitted, and quite a few dont have speed detection units at all.

My old man got a ticket on the weekend and no detector would have saved him because cop was hiding in bush, he got one quick pop on the detector and that was it, locked in.

They are awesome when cop leaves the unit on and you can pick them up, but in low traffic they will turn off and pop it on when they see you.

[MarkH]

My old man got a ticket on the weekend and no detector would have saved him because cop was hiding in bush, he got one quick pop on the detector and that was it, locked in.

They are awesome when cop leaves the unit on and you can pick them up, but in low traffic they will turn off and pop it on when they see you.

Bear this in mind:
If you are the only vehicle on the road, so the cop doesn't give away his presence by checking anyone else's speed - what is the cop doing wasting his time on a road with no traffic?
In other words: Your old man got really unlucky!

In general it is the busier roads that the cops will find more targets on, so that is where you usually see the cops.

I don't have a detector, but if I did then I'd want a really good one that could pick up the cop a long way away when he gives a quick pop and locks in your old man's speed, then I can ride on by at 100kph looking innocent.

[NAR RG500]

Bear this in mind:
If you are the only vehicle on the road, so the cop doesn't give away his presence by checking anyone else's speed - what is the cop doing wasting his time on a road with no traffic?
In other words: Your old man got really unlucky!

In general it is the busier roads that the cops will find more targets on, so that is where you usually see the cops.

I don't have a detector, but if I did then I'd want a really good one that could pick up the cop a long way away when he gives a quick pop and locks in your old man's speed, then I can ride on by at 100kph looking innocent.

Cop was hiding facing same way as rider direction and turned on when old man gone past at 130, nothing you can do, take it on the chin and hope next time it will help you more.

My point was that although I won't leave home without my detector sometimes it's usless to some of thier methods

[Night Falcon]

Personally I don't see the point in radar detectors for finding cops, I mean if you ride above the speed limit often enough they'll find you......why bother with a detector

[rastuscat]

My experience from when I wore a blue suit.

There are a lot of things that people do in vehicles that cops don't write tickets for. Some they should, but that's a different debate.

But people with detectors rarely are given that discretion. If by chance I was thinking of an advisory chat with someone who had broken one of those little rules, the presence of an LED in the helmet was often enough to change that into an invoice.

It's just part of the game played by those who choose to play it.

It's nice not having to give a toss any more.

[Flip]

Well I used to pay some road tax about every 12 months. I use to fax the bill to Fitzy and ask if he could help, he used to call me a scrote, ok happy days. I have had a snake detector since 07 since then I have not had a ticket, nadda not one. I have been pulled up twice both times they did not get a lock on before my speed dropped below 110. Yea a lazer works faster but they have to get set up and the snakes find getting to the donut shop is difficult, actually getting their fat asses out of their drivers seats is difficult. The other thing is the detector starts to chirp and I slow down and try to work out where they have set up to take another well deserved donut stop.

[NAR RG500]

Well I used to pay some road tax about every 12 months. I use to fax the bill to Fitzy and ask if he could help, he used to call me a scrote, ok happy days. I have had a snake detector since 07 since then I have not had a ticket, nadda not one. I have been pulled up twice both times they did not get a lock on before my speed dropped below 110. Yea a lazer works faster but they have to get set up and the snakes find getting to the donut shop is difficult, actually getting their fat asses out of their drivers seats is difficult. The other thing is the detector starts to chirp and I slow down and try to work out where they have set up to take another well deserved donut stop.

+1

Finally some sense!

Cheers

[STEPHASAUR]

Personally I don't see the point in radar detectors for finding cops, I mean if you ride above the speed limit often enough they'll find you......why bother with a detector

I find it as more of a failsafe.
To be honest, I don't speed enough to justify having a V1 in my car. The initial reasoning for purchase was because my old track toy was constantly picked on by police because it looked like a "boy racer car" despite being fully certified for its mods, having a clean record, and being a very tidy and well kept vehicle both mechanically and cosmetically speaking.

Yea, the attitude I got from police before vs after the radar was pretty negative, but it was one less thing I had to worry about for each time I was pulled.
The V1 in a way made taking the Zed out a much more enjoyable experience, because the paranoia of running into a Police officer was no longer present. idk.

If i do get pulled over for speeding, of course I'll happily accept it. I know the rules and I chose not to follow them. I just like that there is something there that spews a fit when there is such a risk

[Laz]

Well, We'll all see what happens now that the speed tolerance has dropped to 4 km for the next two months. Good luck everyone. I'm still glad I got my detector.

[WNJ]

Well, We'll all see what happens now that the speed tolerance has dropped to 4 km for the next two months.:

dont have a detector , ,Rode past a park up popo ( between the cheese cutters)on the Waikato xpress way last night , i was doin 140 when I passed him but eased off to 110 after passed him, he spun round and over took me and kept goin,

[slofox]

Had one of the very few actual saves from the TPX this morning. Pootling along an "80 temporary" zone at about 93 (inadvertently of course!) when the unit spoke up as approaching a corner. Dropped off 10k as the copper came around the corner. All good, went on past no worries.
I've run a detector for several years now and have had very few actual saves from the unit. But those that do happen are very welcome.

Incidentally, for how long can a "temporary" speed limit be in place? Seems to me that quite a few of these "temporary" limits are pretty permanent. In which case why mark it as temporary? I suspect it might be to do with fulfilling the requirements of local legislation but I don't really know. Any ideas about these?

[eldog]

Not that I need a radar detector

I really want to KNOW what the speed limit is so I don't need one

sometimes it's 70 then 80 just around the corner then back to 70, not so bad in areas I frequent.

looking for a app or similar that uses open source maps to act as a reminder what the limit is. Maybe I should more attention but there are some areas the speed signs are hidden behind trees, lamp posts, traffic signals, trucks.

If I want to go faster then it's up to me.


Yes temporary is just another way of making the long term speed limit lower without causing too much fuss.... Wait a year then fix it to this temp limit - no one will complain
Speed lowering by stealth. The reason will then be 'see we lowered the road toll here-by lowering the speed'