Which Radar Detector for Motorbikes? [Archive]

dangerous

14th June 2005, 06:49

I cant remember how my mate had his mounted on his GS I'll have to ask, but I make a mount comming of the mirror mount bolts.

I have the escort which is neck n neck with the V1 but the escort is ment to be more m/c friendly..... but who knows I've been nicked with it and saved by it, wouldent want to be with out it either. :niceone:

ps: if its wet i take it off dont think I'd risk any detector in the rain and besides in the wet you wont catch me exceeding the limit anyway.

Gixxer 4 ever

14th June 2005, 07:40

As above. I take it off in the wet. You can buy a box to put them in to keep them dry but they are about $155.00 plus GST see them here http://www.buyradar.co.nz/cart/motorbike.htm. Bottom of the page.
I purchased my X 50 from TradeMe. Trader name is Cartertonryan. Sells new detectors and has a great support system. They are about $120.00 less than shop pricing. Has a full warranty etc.

Lou Girardin

14th June 2005, 08:10

If you can stretch to it, go V1 with the audio adaptor. No other detector indicates where the cop is, this feature saves a lot of stress. Contact Pixie for mounts and protective holder.

RiderInBlack

14th June 2005, 09:04

Would a detector "see" through perpex (sp?). Used to do a lot of underwater photography. Homemade waterpoof (to over 100'/30m) housings are not to hard to make out of perpex. If the clear perpex does not effect the detector's effency, then this would be the cheap ideal way to go.

pete376403

14th June 2005, 09:25

Perspex / polycarbonate / glass are all radar transparent (otherwise there would be an awful lot of disappointed car drivers)
One of out party on the recent Brass trip had an Escort mounted in a plastic box, with the H.A.R.D helmet mounted indicator. Something I'll probably get myself, seeing as the margins are getting smaller and the penalties are getting so expensive.

Biff

14th June 2005, 10:13

I don't think there is a 'best' radar detector for a bike. Pretty much any one will do. Just make sure it has a jack socket for an ear phone or a H.A.R.D system as owned by Dangerous (http://www.radardirect.co.nz/index2.html). If it doesn't have one then you'll probably need to solder an ear piece directly onto the speaker cables inside the unit.

I bought a stand for my bike, designed to hold radar detectors/mobile phones etc. You can get them from radar direct or direct from the manufacturer, whose name I can;t remember. but have a look here and you'll know what I'm talking about: http://www.radarbusters.com/products/accessories/motorcyles/mounts/radar-mount.asp

My advice - buy the best unit that you can afford. In general cheaper ones not only give off more false alarms, but also provide you with less warning of upcoming hazards as their range isn't as good as a Bel of a Valentine for example.

As for whether radars can 'see' through perspex - yes they can. However I did read in another forum I frequent (yup I'm a forum tart) that some people claim that the range of their detector appears to drop when using then on their bike as oppossed to using them in their respective cages. I don't know why this would happen, unless there's an excessive amount of carbon or iron oxide in the perspex, which I doubt.

pritch

14th June 2005, 10:16

So how about some advice on type and methods of mounting. :confused:

I've been thinking about this too. The few mounting systems I've seen here were "homebrewed" and looked it. That's OK, but if you have a nice bike a crude mount does detract a little.

This range (there are others) seems to cover most mounting options:

http://www.saeng.com/cockpit.htm

Then again you can always put it in the top of your tank bag :-)

Lou Girardin

14th June 2005, 10:31

Tinted screens will affect the laser sensor.

XTC

14th June 2005, 10:43

There is an add in motorcycle trader for detectors and waterproof cases......

Gixxer 4 ever

14th June 2005, 11:06

Then again you can always put it in the top of your tank bag :-)
true but it can't see behind you. Mr Plod sits up side roads and zaps you after you go passed. I have no problem hitting the brakes hard to reduce the damage. They are not illegal and Mr Plod has to live with that fact. You are unlikely to get any leniency shown to you with one but I have not seen any anyway.

dangerous

14th June 2005, 17:34

Tinted screens will affect the laser sensor.
Can you explain that one for us thanks........ I have had several false alerts of 'laser' strike and I have a double buble dark tint screen, I cant figer out why this is as the unit will only pick up lida light beams, my only thoughts are that at a certin angle the sun can cause this by deflecting through the screen but why a 'tinted' one makes the differance I dont know.

RiderInBlack

14th June 2005, 18:49

So, in theory, you could easily make a waterpoof perpex housing for your radar dectector, thereby solving the water issue. This you could mount anywhere on your bike that has a clear view forward. So you could mount it between your forks just above the front wheel guard, which would not be so obvious to anyone looking to see if you have one:whistle: If you made this housing so that you could easily remove it or the detector out of it, then you could take it with you when you parked the bike (thereby stopping the detector from being stollen). Just an idea:niceone:

Biff

14th June 2005, 19:50

Tinted screens will affect the laser sensor.

Really?
How?
The frequency of the laser signal hitting the sensor isn't effected.

geoffm

14th June 2005, 20:02

I have a valentine 1 which I have had for years, with a couple of upgrades. I use the HARD system with it. IMO, the Escort X50 is your best bet - it is smaller, cheaper and can use an earphone jack. The HARD system is potentially unrealiable as it runs on batteries and relies on electronics. the batteries are 2* CR2032 button cells, at $5 each. Makes for expensive running costs.
Mounting depends on the bike. The BMW is a pain, as the instruments move with the bars, which makes it hard to fabricate a mount. I made a specail mount for the top of the master cyl. As time and money permits next year, I will make a waterproof perspex box to take an Escort, and mount it as a stealth installation under the bottom of the fairing upper. There is a site in one of the threads on teh K1100.org forum about this.
Like towbars, RD mounts are easy enough to make, but fiddly and time consuming to do a good job.
Geoff

Pixie

14th June 2005, 20:09

lukehyslop

14th June 2005, 21:18

Really?
How?
The frequency of the laser signal hitting the sensor isn't effected.

All a laser is is light - not visable light but light all the same. Tinting the screen will reduce the intensity of the light much the same way as wearing sunglasses.

Other things to consider are mounting the detector as high as possible for radar cos as you come over the crest of a hill and the cop is on the other side hopefully your detector will be in the path of the radar before too much of the bike is. And if you have a valentine you want it as far foward as possible so that your body wont block too much from behind.

Lou Girardin

15th June 2005, 08:20

Any diffraction of light can trigger the laser sensor IF it is the correct frequency. Equally, any reduction in light transmission or alteration of light frequency can reduce the effectiveness of the laser sensor. Fortunately it doesn't happen often, although the M/Way info signs do trigger my V1.
Incidentally, I've turned off K band on it. The reduction in falses is huge, I'll take the risk on meeting Plod with a Hawk unit. (If there are any left?)

Hitcher

15th June 2005, 09:06

A piece of seaweed dangling from the handlebars is highly effective. Apart from when it either gets too wet or too dry...

Biff

15th June 2005, 10:15

All a laser is is light - not visable light but light all the same. Tinting the screen will reduce the intensity of the light much the same way as wearing sunglasses.

Yup, I know this (infra red at 904nM I think).
But, to the best of my knowledge (which may not be much) infra red is not absorbed by normal tinted glass, plastics and such like, and it's intensity is not effected unless the surface of the glass/plastic is covered with a UV protection coating or possesses UV absorbing properties. Which, I guess, could be quite likely for bike screens. Similar to that use on specific types of sunglasses, as opposed to the 'cheaper' ones.

Am I wrong?

Holy Roller

15th June 2005, 10:36

I've got a Cobra ESD9870
Since I've had the new bike I've yet to have it warn me of :Police: on the open road. Works fine in the 50kph area. So I suspect that there are are not many :Police: out when I am on the road. May be like others have said in the past posts they only turn the unit on when they think you are speeding.

I have the Cobra mounted with the suction cups on the screen but am considering of getting a bar mount made so the unit can pick up signals from behind me as well.

Gixxer 4 ever

15th June 2005, 17:11

Incidentally, I've turned off K band on it. The reduction in falses is huge, I'll take the risk on meeting Plod with a Hawk unit. (If there are any left?)
It is recommended to turn it off. For 2 reasons. one to reduce false alarms and the other it gives a much faster response to the Ka band. Less time processing the data and scanning the K band looking for info to report. Well that's how I read it.
I believe they are all gone. Hope so but it is easy to turn it back on Mr :Police: if you get to clever.

Gixxer 4 ever

15th June 2005, 20:04

We have a very good shop selling on here if anyone is looking for info or pricing on radar detectors. I got mine from Ryan.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=6079

Pixie

16th June 2005, 00:05

All a laser is is light - not visable light but light all the same. Tinting the screen will reduce the intensity of the light much the same way as wearing sunglasses.

Other things to consider are mounting the detector as high as possible for radar cos as you come over the crest of a hill and the cop is on the other side hopefully your detector will be in the path of the radar before too much of the bike is. And if you have a valentine you want it as far foward as possible so that your body wont block too much from behind.
I had a laser warning on my V1 from behind ,when I was blocking direct line-of-sight.
Obviously due to laser scatter.

Pixie

16th June 2005, 00:09

Yup, I know this (infra red at 904nM I think).
But, to the best of my knowledge (which may not be much) infra red is not absorbed by normal tinted glass, plastics and such like, and it's intensity is not effected unless the surface of the glass/plastic is covered with a UV protection coating or possesses UV absorbing properties. Which, I guess, could be quite likely for bike screens. Similar to that use on specific types of sunglasses, as opposed to the 'cheaper' ones.

Am I wrong?
UV?IR?Opposite ends of the visible spectrum?

lukehyslop

16th June 2005, 00:38

I can do an interface to drive a piezo beeper off the V1 output -powered off the bike.

How do you do that? or is it something you buy? Does it need the remote audio thingymajig?

crazylittleshit

16th June 2005, 04:21

Other use your eyes...... :nono:

Biff

16th June 2005, 09:49

UV?IR?Opposite ends of the visible spectrum?

Yup - but UV protected glass and plastics have a capability of absorbing some IR apparently. No entirely, but possibly just enough to reduce the effectiveness of a laser detector I guess. And I am guessing.

TonyB

16th June 2005, 10:03

UV and IR are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Standard glass reflects most IR light hitting it- if you've got a heat lamp or bar heater in your bathroom and a shower with a glass door try it and see, the heat you feel is IR and it drops off noticeably when you are behind the glass.

Not so sure if Polycarbonate and perspex have the same qualities, but greenhouse plastic coverings have to have additives or laminates put in to make them reflect IR and UV, so I assume polycarb and perspex would be the same as they are plastics. I know they put a UV laminate or additive on polycarb to stop it breaking down.

I must say, I'm surprised they use IR for the lasers- you'd think there would be some risk of burning someones eye..... but then the lasers are red aren't they, so that does put them down the IR end...

Biff

16th June 2005, 10:49

I must say, I'm surprised they use IR for the lasers- you'd think there would be some risk of burning someones eye..... but then the lasers are red aren't they, so that does put them down the IR end...

Thanks Tony.

Geek hat on.

Not all lasers are red, some are green and some are blue, the blue ones having a shorter wavelength than the red ones. By definition a laser is actually any beam of light where the wavelength is constant (coherent - a focused beam of photons) and directional. Unlike normal light which scatters. In fact the term laser is actually an acronum for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation". Some so called lasers, such as laser pointers, are in fact nothing more than high powered directional LED's - so not 'true' lasers.

The laser guns used by the police, at least in Europe and the US, operate in the low UV portion of the radio spectrum I believe. But I'm not sure about NZ. But I may be wrong. Anybody else know the answer to this ?

The radio spectrum goes:

Radio (as in audio transmissions) >>Microwave>>Infrared>>Visible>>Ultra Violet>>X-Ray>>Gamma.

Wavelengths from UV to IR (nm):
262, 266, 349, 351, 355, 375, 405, 415, 430, 440, 473, 490, 523, 527, 532, 638, 658, 671, 685, 785, 946, 1047, 1053, 1064, 1313, 1319, 1340

And all of these are radio waves they travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles a second). So you've not much of a chance of avoiding a laser hit from a police laser gun, and even a ticket, unless you've got a laser jammer or your detector picks up a laser actually aimed at someone else.

Any red lasers have a wavelength of 630nanometres (nM - billionths of a meter), while blue lasers have a wave length of around 505 nM. I can't remember what the wavelength of a green laser is.

Geek hat off :drinkup:
Now let's talk porn.

Blackbird

16th June 2005, 11:05

There hasn't been much discussion on laser jammers (mainly because most of them are a complete rip-off, but here's some info on the Bel: http://www.ixxra.com/detectors.html.

Have also attached photos of my detector mount which clamps to the brake or clutch bolts. Beautifully made in alloy with teflon ball joint. Cost me just under $100 delivered from www.motorcycleradar.com in the US. Only took 4 days to arrive too.

lukehyslop

16th June 2005, 12:44

From what I've read it seems that laser jammers which have seperate jammers units etc work very well and some even guarentee that you cant get a ticket from laser. Radar detectors with a laser jamming feature have been proven time and again to be useless in most magazine tests. I've never seen lasers being used outside the main centers and I dont reckon you should be speeding in town anyway so I dont see the point (athough I guess on a motorway its a bit different).

Blackbird

16th June 2005, 13:23

I hadn't seen many police lasers used out of town either until I did the Southern Cross. I saw them being used in real out of the way spots in Otago, Canterbury and between Whangarei and Kawakawa!

Biff

16th June 2005, 14:30

I hadn't seen many police lasers used out of town either until I did the Southern Cross. I saw them being used in real out of the way spots in Otago, Canterbury and between Whangarei and Kawakawa!

There are a few in use in and around ChCh these days. I saw one (before my detector did!!) out towards Akaroa sometime ago. Bloody cop was hiding behind between his mufty and a van.

Thankfully I always stick to the speed limit in built up areas.

TonyB

16th June 2005, 15:00

I've only ever seen two. The first one was a cop in mufti sitting on a traffic island on a deck chair. Seriously I thought he was a nutter pointing a gun a people :weird:
The other one was obvious as hell, but I still thought "Why is that nice police man pointing something at me?" took until I was nearly past him for the grey matter to go squuEEEAAAK CLUNK! Wasn't speeding on either occasion.

Didn't know about the laser pointers. Thanks gee.....er Biff :niceone:

geoffm

16th June 2005, 18:06

The laser guns used by the police, at least in Europe and the US, operate in the low UV portion of the radio spectrum I believe. But I'm not sure about NZ. But I may be wrong. Anybody else know the answer to this ?
.
The NZ laser guns are the same as the US (Kustom Prolaser) since that is where they come from. Nine hundred and somehting nm wavelength
Some years ago, I had a play with one on the RamaRama overbridge. It was when they were new, and a cop was up there pinging people on the long straights, and his mate was pulling them over. Doing a roaring trade. I pulled up and asked if I could have a go...
Really easy to use, and you could get a car 1km away. Bikes were a lot harder to pickup, although practise helps. Under 500m, it is like shooting fish in a barrel with a machinegun... Lockon time was generally under a second at 500m. Extreme ranges took slightly longer. Eitherway, you are toast if they are aiming at you.
Geoff

lukehyslop

16th June 2005, 23:58

Who uses a Valentine 1 on their bike? I've got one that I use in my cage (actually I don't have a bike at the mo but thats soon to change). Just been looking at options for using on a bike. Seems like you either need something like the hard system (really expensive but maybe worthwhile). Or the remote audio adaptor plus some kind of speaker or headphone (still expensive) and as if the detector wasn't expensive itself. Why cant they just put a headphone jack on. I'd try to wire one on - but way to much to lose if I fuck it up! Has anyone played around and wired a speaker or headphones straight to valentine without audio box etc.

dangerous

17th June 2005, 06:55

Who uses a Valentine 1 on their bike? Just been looking at options for using on a bike. Seems like you either need something like the hard system (really expensive but maybe worthwhile). Or the remote audio adaptor plus some kind of speaker or headphone (still expensive) I'd try to wire one on - but way to much to lose if I fuck it up! Has anyone played around and wired a speaker or headphones straight to valentine without audio box etc.
The V1 has a external ear jack dosent it? just get a hed phone plug type set up from Dick smith bout $10 cut one ear piece off.... or if you dont like being attached to the bike by a wire then try the piezo beeper, a high pitch beeper that will sound off.... shouldent be to dear for one of them see Pixie on pg2
I use the h.a.r.d which is brilant but does cost $400 :ride:

lukehyslop

17th June 2005, 07:30

Nah the V1 doesn't have an earphone jack they want you to by their remote audio controller ($150+) which has an earphone jack and volume control.

Lou Girardin

17th June 2005, 08:06

Nah the V1 doesn't have an earphone jack they want you to by their remote audio controller ($150+) which has an earphone jack and volume control.

Contact Pixie, he'll make an audio adapter as per his V1.

Biff

17th June 2005, 08:22

Nah the V1 doesn't have an earphone jack they want you to by their remote audio controller ($150+) which has an earphone jack and volume control.

Or if you're feeling brave, open the unit up and solder the ear piece cable directly onto the speaker.

Be careful if you decide to cut one of the headphones off. Avoid shorting the + and the - of the headphone cable together when connected to the V1. Worse case scenario you may find that you can blow the final stage audio amp circuit (or whatever the internal final audio stage is). Just cut the hadphone cable back to different lengths (the = and - cable) and tape them up :niceone:

k14

17th June 2005, 09:02

Any red lasers have a wavelength of 630nanometres (nM - billionths of a meter), while blue lasers have a wave length of around 505 nM. I can't remember what the wavelength of a green laser is.

Yeah I'll just put my geek hat on and correct you, blue laser is 405ish nm, red is 630nm (the most common one) and green is in between. Yeah I know :whocares: but I do :whistle:

Anyway back to the topic, I've got a Bel 985 and I can not fault it, perfect every time. Only problem with it was it didnt come with a headphone jack but I have remedied that and it is sweet as now.

If money is no object go for a valentine 1, but I would take the Bel RX65, its about the same price as the escort and I am very impressed with my bel. Will perform the same as the V1 aswell.

Biff

17th June 2005, 11:13

Yeah I'll just put my geek hat on and correct you, blue laser is 405ish nm, red is 630nm (the most common one) and green is in between. Yeah I know :whocares: but I do :whistle:

Yup - from 405 to 505nm for blue laser I believe.

Ixion

17th June 2005, 11:32

Yup - from 405 to 505nm for blue laser I believe.

nana-metres . Hey , that's how I measure my speed. Nanametres per hour ! :ride:

TonyB

17th June 2005, 11:34

Yup - from 405 to 505nm for blue laser I believe.
SOOOooooo, if you painted your bike, leathers, helmet, lights bla bla bla in a colour that absorbs all light in this range, could they pick you up?
Hmmm, doesn't matt black absorb everything.....

Is the Cobra ESD9870 any good? There's an NZ co on the net selling these for well under 3 hundy

Pixie

17th June 2005, 11:54

Or if you're feeling brave, open the unit up and solder the ear piece cable directly onto the speaker.

Be careful if you decide to cut one of the headphones off. Avoid shorting the + and the - of the headphone cable together when connected to the V1. Worse case scenario you may find that you can blow the final stage audio amp circuit (or whatever the internal final audio stage is). Just cut the hadphone cable back to different lengths (the = and - cable) and tape them up :niceone:
The V1 has a pulsed output that can be interfaced to drive a piezo beeper.
Internally they have a beeper instead of a speaker,the circuit is pulsed dc,it won't drive a moving coil speaker.

Pixie

17th June 2005, 12:01

Thanks Tony.

Geek hat on.

Not all lasers are red, some are green and some are blue, the blue ones having a shorter wavelength than the red ones. By definition a laser is actually any beam of light where the wavelength is constant (coherent - a focused beam of photons) and directional. Unlike normal light which scatters. In fact the term laser is actually an acronum for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation". Some so called lasers, such as laser pointers, are in fact nothing more than high powered directional LED's - so not 'true' lasers.

The laser guns used by the police, at least in Europe and the US, operate in the low UV portion of the radio spectrum I believe. But I'm not sure about NZ. But I may be wrong. Anybody else know the answer to this ?

The radio spectrum goes:

Radio (as in audio transmissions) >>Microwave>>Infrared>>Visible>>Ultra Violet>>X-Ray>>Gamma.

Wavelengths from UV to IR (nm):
262, 266, 349, 351, 355, 375, 405, 415, 430, 440, 473, 490, 523, 527, 532, 638, 658, 671, 685, 785, 946, 1047, 1053, 1064, 1313, 1319, 1340

And all of these are radio waves they travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles a second). So you've not much of a chance of avoiding a laser hit from a police laser gun, and even a ticket, unless you've got a laser jammer or your detector picks up a laser actually aimed at someone else.

Any red lasers have a wavelength of 630nanometres (nM - billionths of a meter), while blue lasers have a wave length of around 505 nM. I can't remember what the wavelength of a green laser is.

Geek hat off :drinkup:
Now let's talk porn.
Coherence is more acturately put as; The waves all being in phase.
I'm lucky enough to have to work on 5 watt output UV lasers -can't see the light beam,but it still burns holes in cardboard -makes you carefull where you put your hands!!

Biff

17th June 2005, 12:44

Coherence is more acturately put as; The waves all being in phase.

Same thing.

Out of phase photons = scattered light. In phase/coherent beam of photons = focused/directional light.

The V1 has a pulsed output that can be interfaced to drive a piezo beeper.
Internally they have a beeper instead of a speaker,the circuit is pulsed dc,it won't drive a moving coil speaker.

:niceone: Thanks