Blue Headlights?

[Wolf]

You should use commonsense to ensure you don’t run into trouble later on.[/i]

Well, that's us as a species screwed, then. Common sense is pretty rare.

"common sense" would dictate that our head lamps would be intense red beams as our night vision is not affected by red light (hence proper map reading lamps are red).

You can look at something illuminated by red light at night or look at a red light source and once the light is gone your night vision is still as it was before the light was there. This is because the highly sensitive rods in our retina, which are responsible for our night vision, cannot see red light. They can see all other frequencies, however, and being flooded with white light (all frequencies) fouls up night vision until our eyes resume a dark-adapted state.

Using white headlamps to see fouls up night vision, as does being blasted by even a considerate motorist's low beam - let alone being hit with the force of the full beam.

"Common sense" would dictate that all vehicle instrumentation should be red - blue, green etc might look pretty but its washing out the rods and spoiling night vision every time you look at your instrumentation.

See:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu...n/rodcone.html

A quote from the above page under "Rods Do Not See Red!" (Emphases my own)

"The ship captain has red instrument lights. Since the rods do not respond to red, the captain can gain full dark-adapted vision with the rods with which to watch for icebergs and other obstacles outside. It would be undesirable to examine anything with white light even for a moment, because the attainment of optimum night-vision may take up to a half-hour. Red lights do not spoil it.

These phenomena arise from the nature of the rod-dominated dark-adapted vision, called scotopic vision. "

If viewing objects under white light is underirable "even for a moment", imagine what harm approaching head lights are doing.

Regrettably, making a worldwide shift to using red lights for illumination and instrumentation would cause no end of troubles.

[Waylander]

All that stuff he said.

That settles it then. When I get new instraments for my bike they are gonna have a red face and I'm gonna try and make the backlighting red aswell.

[T.I.E]

seeing them on cars they seem to be rather bright though. pain when they are on coming, how do others feel?

[TCT]

I have a pair on my GSXR750. Looks cool but I am not sure how well it works at night 'cos I don't ride at night LOL. You can get them for ~$35 a pair at Supercheap.

[StoneChucker]

The 04R1's headlights appear blue at certain angles. Mainly if you accelerate, the car infront see's blue lights behind them. I've accidentally "pulled over" two cars before

I think the lights are "Gattling" Halogen? Not 100% sure.

[XP@]

"common sense" would dictate that our head lamps would be intense red beams as our night vision is not affected by red light (hence proper map reading lamps are red).

we could all ride in reverse...
interesting red light rules from an obersvetory
http://www.bsasnashville.com/TNSP/rules.htm

7. If, and may the heavens forbid it, you accidentally shine a white light in the field of dozens of dark adapted people, expect to be called some very unpleasant names and to hear things that will make those of a modest temperament blush. I am certain that your mistake will not be twice repeated.

evidently the halogen lights do tend torards the red end of the spectrum. and have to be 1.5 times as powerful as hid lights to produce the same amount of wince factor...

[Skyryder]

From The LTSA

Make sure replacement bulbs are the correct colour, eg headlamp bulbs must be predominantly white or amber, although some white bulbs can look slightly blue. You should use commonsense to ensure you don’t run into trouble later on.

Common sense from the LTSA. Seems to be in short supply from these guys. eg indicating when exiting a round-a-bout.


Skyryder

[John]

Common sense from the LTSA. Seems to be in short supply from these guys. eg indicating when exiting a round-a-bout.


Skyryder

Cannot agree more.

[eliot-ness]

You can look at something illuminated by red light at night or look at a red light source and once the light is gone your night vision is still as before the light was there.it was This is because the highly sensitive rods in our retina, which are responsible for our night vision, cannot see red light.



Thanks for that info Wolf. You've just sorted a problem for me.
Amazing what you can find on a biker site

[FEINT]

HID isn't a bulb you can just replace. The blueish lights you see on most Japanese cars are replacement bulbs. HID lights are alot brighter than the standard halogen bulbs. HID is a whole system (use less power than halogen bulbs). You can purchase aftermarket systems for your car (don't know if you can modify to fit bike).

High Intensity Discharge (HID) lights, also know as Xenon lights, produce a bright light resulting from an electric arc inside a capsule full of Xenon gas. Many times, HID lighting appears to give off a bluish tint when the bulbs are lit. This technology produces a significantly brighter and whiter light than that of a standard halogen light. HID lights first began appearing on luxury cars in the late 1990s and are becoming increasingly more common as standard equipment.

As a newer headlight technology, HID lights provide better visibility at night, which help to improve nighttime driving safety. HID lights also consume less electricity than their halogen counterparts, reducing load on the car’s electrical system. Because of the projector-like technology of HIDS, their high-tech appearance is also a welcome addition to today’s vehicle designs.

hope this helps.

[Waylander]

HID lights provide better visibility at night, which help to improve nighttime driving safety.

Yea for the driver of said car. Everyone else gets blinded as they approach.

[Wolf]

Yea for the driver of said car. Everyone else gets blinded as they approach.

And you think they're some inconsiderate prat who hasn't dipped his lights, so you flash your lights at them and they respond in kind, blowing you off the back of your bike with the photonic force of their high beams. As you lay on the road looking at spangly after-image patterns, you mutter "Why the fuck doesn't New Zealand have the same output restrictions as Germany?"

[Waylander]

And you think they're some inconsiderate prat who hasn't dipped his lights, so you flash your lights at them and they respond in kind, blowing you off the back of your bike with the photonic force of their high beams. As you lay on the road looking at spangly after-image patterns, you mutter "Why the fuck doesn't New Zealand have the same output restrictions as Germany?"

You been followin me lately? Had some bugger do that to me the other night. It really sucks when you are like me and hardly ever use your brights even out in the middle of nowhere on a cloudy night.

[Wolf]

You been followin me lately? Had some bugger do that to me the other night. It really sucks when you are like me and hardly ever use your brights even out in the middle of nowhere on a cloudy night.

Follow you? On what?

t'was a rhetorical "you" - based on personal experience.

[Waylander]

Follow you? On what?

t'was a rhetorical "you" - based on personal experience.

And I was being silly. Anyway I'm gonna start looking into getting red lit instraments for my bike now as I said earlier. Help my night vision better and look so much cooler than white.