LED lights facing forward?

[saltydog]

Anyone know the oil on mounting a small LED light facing forward? I have a mate with one drilled discretely into his faring and it is REALLY visible, more eye-catching than his headlights at times. Reckon it would be illegal??

[Paws]

As long as it is white I don't think its illegal, A lot of new cars have led daytime driving lights.

[saltydog]

As long as it is white I don't think its illegal, A lot of new cars have led daytime driving lights.

ok. my mates one is green and it sticks out like dogs balls

[vindy500]

I think its ok as long as its not red

[fliplid]

ok. my mates one is green and it sticks out like dogs balls

That aside, there's loads of them car types with blue led lights attached to various parts of their car.

[saltydog]

That aside, there's loads of them car types with blue led lights attached to various parts of their car.

I think you are right, any colour but red seems to be the logical answer.....

[scumdog]

normajeane and I have extra bright 'melt-yer-retina' type lights on our bikes and never had a problem.

And they are as visible-as.

[steve_t]

Pretty sure forward facing lights must be white or amber. Rear facing lights must be red or amber (except reverse lights which should be white). Other lights are OK as long as the lamps themselves can't be seen directly eg. neons under cars or coloured LEDs under fairings. ColouredLEDs even for park lights are illegal AFAIK even though you do see quite a few young fullas with blue and green LED park lights on Friday and Saturday nights. Even those coloured LED tyre valve caps (fireflies?) are illegal AFAIK. Scumdog might be able to confirm...

[saltydog]

normajeane and I have extra bright 'melt-yer-retina' type lights on our bikes and never had a problem.

And they are as visible-as.

where did you buy them from, one source reckons REPCO has a good selection?

[Laava]

Perfectly legal unless they are dazzling people. How do you find that out? Experiment I guess. I am considering putting exactly the same on my current project bike and have wondered exactly the same.
I have superbright individual LED's as indicators front and rear and have been told by riding companions that they are exceptionally visible over long distance although I havent seen for myself! No probs getting WOFs and 2 times I have been pulled by the popo they have been positive comments.

[scumdog]

where did you buy them from, one source reckons REPCO has a good selection?

Try your local auto-sparkies, $120 for the kit with relay etc - or maybe less if you shop around, iit seems the fitting is the expensive item, the 'bulbs' are abot $8 a pair or less at the Warehouse.

[davereid]

Anyone know the oil on mounting a small LED light facing forward? I have a mate with one drilled discretely into his faring and it is REALLY visible, more eye-catching than his headlights at times. Reckon it would be illegal??

Hella http://www.hella.co.nz/?t=138 have daytime day running lamps.

They are very very easy to spot.

I'm considering a set for my bike, which already runs lights and forward indicators.

My thoughts are to disable the headlight auto on and have the daylight running lamp instead...

- Headlight comes on with the key, so its on during cranking. Which means the bastard can be (is often) hard to start.

- Tail light is always on. I think this reduces the visibility of my brake light - instead of going from OFF to BRIGHT it goes from BRIGHT to BRIGHTER which I don't think is as effective.

- I can't flash headlight at errant drivers ( I used to drive with headlight OFF and pull the PASS button if I saw a car that could potentially violate my right of way.) I used to find this very effective.

On the other hand I could just save the money and pay for rego.

[imdying]

Has to white or amber, other than that it's all good... 08- CBR1000s have them in the mirrors from the factory, definitely improves their visibility in low/poor lighting.

[jack_hamma]

Two strips of those led's light bars running down your front forks would stand out!

[ckai]

I spent ages digging around for an answer for the colour debate a few months back. The only crap info I could find was, I think, on the NZTA site and the gov't legislation site. I found something on the NZTA site that mentioned what law was to do with lights and then dug up the law.

It only said you can't have red at the front and white (other than reverse) at the rear. Any light can't distract other drivers as well.

I have single blue LEDs in my side marker lights on both the bike and car. They're not a strip but the car has a reflector type lens that disperses the light a little more than a single point. They stand out but they don't distract.

I have had dozens of cops pass me and none have flinched on both bike and car. Been through cop check points about 4 times and none have mentioned anything at all. Also had a warrant on the car and nothing was said.

I can't remember any of the laws etc so sorry, pretty useless there.

There's a truck driving around the waikato with 6 blue LED strips and a courier van with 3 and they aren't in your face at all.

Oh another thing. Unless you have a reason, only amber lights can flash at the front if I remember rightly.