riding with lights on or off

[RiceBurner]

Originally posted by Motu
I ride with my lights on because it saves the regulator/altenator.

I disagree with those who put their lights on and then ''think'' that car drivers can see them - you stupid fuck! that's the way to kill youself! Doesn't matter if you have your lights on full beam and air horns going with full eye contact - the dickhead can still pull out on you!

Put your lights on to save the electrics - not to protect yourself...YOU do that!

umm - don't quite understand this - surely the bike has been designed to run with the lights off as well as with them on??


Fully agree (as is obvious) with the last 3 words.

[wkid_one]

Shut yours eye - then whether your lights are on or off won't matter

[SPman]

Originally posted by RiceBurner
If anyone rides near me on a bike with full beams......
I WILL PUNCH THEIR LIGHTS OUT!!!  ..................

..........................
 it's something that really pisses me off.

Me too.!

I've had 2 bikes coming towards me in the last week with blazing full beams and I felt like running into the inconsiderate pricks!

[wkid_one]

On the premise of being visible - you could always do any or all of the following:

• Ride a yellow/lime green or similar bike
• Go to Repco and get those cool 'go faster' blue lights
• Get some "Tirefly" LCD Valve Caps (ignoring the safety issue with them)
• Go to JayCay and get some cool green neon for around the radiator and under the seat
• Get some designer hot pink leathers
• Go to Mitre Ten and get some Halogen Work lamps to replace your standard headlights
• Go down to Yamaha Marine and pick up a Fog Horn
• Take your muffler off
• Get a chopper flag
• Borrow your brothers ghetto blaster and strap it to the pillion seat playing New Kids on the Block
• GO to an Army Surplus store and plaster your bike in glow sticks
• Hire a police escort everywhere you ride

My advice however, is just pay attention to what you are doing and ride safely.........you can have all the safety devices in the world - but you are the one riding your bike and you are the one who avoids hazards....having a headlight on will hardly stand up for 'no liability' in court if you are doing 65kph in a 50 zone, it is a false sense of security.....

 

[Redstar]

tiz true that your lights on Will increase the life of your rectifier!
why? its electrical basics. the Japs produce current to cope with worse case senaraios starter current. everything is marginal in design. pump out enough to guarentee a clean start under load. downside too much current under normal conditions. your bike has to start in scandanavia at christmas and Omaha in February so they give it the upper output and us kiwis have to shave off the current with the headlights on to stop the regulator from frying.
some Bikes are insensitive to this and Harleys have such robust systems that you can suit yourself but my Kawa has fried one and I anit about to fry another so lights on.. havin said that I think full beam is a bit OTT.

[750Y]

I ride with my high beams on however as other vehicles approach and vice versa I dip them back to low beam. I feel satisfied that 1: I have initially and momentarily been more noticeable/visible.(my main intent)
2: The change from High to low beams is a noticeable action which I think draws people's attention, thereby, further promoting my presence on the road, and also indicates that You are being considerate thereby promoting goodwill between motorcyclists and car drivers.(of course courtesy is wasted on the ignorant and I put 50% of all drivers in that class around Auckland.
After all the poor driving that has been thrown at me and the daily display of lazy driving habits my attitude is "be seen".

Lee:
I too would like to hear why You say it's not a good idea as I know You have a little bit of experience.

[Motu]

Originally posted by RiceBurner
umm - don't quite understand this - surely the bike has been designed to run with the lights off as well as with them on??


Fully agree (as is obvious) with the last 3 words.

With the lights off the reg dumps excess charge into the heat sink - part of the reg on Jap bikes,and never put in the air stream (un cool looks) putting the lights on diverts the excess to the other ends of the bike,and burns out cheaper bulbs.

I think the best rider training that could ever be given (illeagally) is to make the rider ride across the city at night with no lights - defensive riding at it's most extreme! Back in the 70s with Lucas electics this was everyday (well,night) life for us - I ride as if I am invisible,doesn't matter if I have my lights on or a dayglo vest with a naked chick on the back....I ride as if they can't see me - I stake my life on it!

[RiceBurner]

Originally posted by wkid_one
Shut yours eye - then whether your lights are on or off won't matter

You mean like most car drivers??



Also - discovered today from a Police Officer that in the UK there is an offense of "Causing Undue Dazzle" - ie from badly adjusted lights or headlights on at the wrong time.





Of course it's all academic if the cagers aren't looking..........

[Lou Girardin]

I started using high beam on sunny days only, because I noticed that bikes behind me using low beam weren't much more visible than with no light. If that annoys cage drivers, tough. If it annoys other bikers, I'm sorry, but I'd rather be seen. On one occasion when both beams were out, I thought I'd become invisible, every bastard on the road tried to have me off.
Lou

[marty]

Originally posted by jrandom
.

You've adjusted the headlight aim on your bike? What do you do when you need a 'real' high beam? Twisty back roads at night, etc? And doesn't the WOF require certain pointy-direction headlight levels at low and high beam settings?

it's a 2 minute job to adjust the lights back to wof standard. i do heaps of night riding (commute 30kms in the country after late shift in the waikato fog....). probably only 1 in about 50 cars flash their lights at me so can't be too bad. i figure if about 1 in 5 cars refuse to dip their lights for me then fuck 'em. the dipped high beam thing certainly helps when splitting lanes though. i've thought about those blue lights - one in each corner of the reflector set into the headlight (saw heaps of that in the UK at xmas) intensifies the blue heaps. they use them over there to show the alarm is set too.

and twisty back roads at night just keeps ya honest! gotta watch out for possums cows rabbits goats though..........

[Big Dog]

Lights on but dipped. I can see why those with twin headlights would want them dipped.

Saw a civilian riding a police bike the other day, at 120 plus mind, and every one was giving him a wide berth!

My point though is this, reflective vests (like I used to wear on my old 250's) only make a noticeable diference if not every one is doing it. If every one wears one they just become part of the background. Which is good news for Customisers.

I ride with the lights on low. I beleive that allthough the difference it makes to visibility is low that 5% of difference to the UAV driver coming the other way with 5 noisy kids changing channel on the radio and slowly drifting into my lane is better than no additional visibility but I don't ride on high anymore because of the number of time I have seen drivers coming the other way lock their eves on my highs and drift toward it.

Oh and sv riders yes your bikes do look better with "both eyes open" just a shame it has to be on high.

[merv]

Originally posted by Slim
Hmmm. Showing your age a bit there, Merv!!!

Yeah, I was at Uni then.

The thing about 1973 it was the year that helmet wearing became compulsory too. Before that we could ride up to 30mph (kms weren't in then either) without a helmet - good for drying your hair after a shower, except for the knotting as we could all grow long hair then too. It was also the year that gas dropped in price from 49c to 48c a gallon when it was under tight control. Then early the next year it all started with the oil crisis and we had to buy cans to put our gas in before noon on Saturdays if we still wanted to drive or ride on Sundays. By 1975 we almost died when gas hit a buck a gallon, then they changed to litres and it didn't sound so bad any more.

[Motu]

Good memories Merv - we used to go for a ride - and dump our fuel on the roadside somewhere (hidden) so we could get back home again.No plastic containers then either,just tins.I used to have some small round quart tins that I could strap on the bike.These guys have it easy eh?

[merv]

The main comment I was making earlier is that you need to have lights on in a manner that are perceived by others as being at the correct distance away so they won't do anything stupid in front of you. The cage driver has to judge your distance and if you are doing 65 or more in a 50 zone they have to get it right, likewise if you are going quick on the open road.

I find the lit up indicators are stupid because they are not being used as people would perceive, similar to people driving with parking lights on, so the person who is going to get in your way can easily get it wrong. I say use your headlight on dip and let your indicators be used as indicators. If you want to add lights, perhaps the boy racer blue lights are the way to go as they are then perceptually quite different. However, at my age then you think blue light - must be towing a trailer.

The other thing I find quite irritating these days are all these blasted euro-spec cars on the road with the overly bright taillights to cope with their dismal weather - you keep thinking people are stopping up ahead as they look like brake lights from a distance. For correct perception we really need lights to at least all look nearly the same brightness at a distance. Then there might be some chance of the cage drivers getting ot right. Don't do anything to piss them off or screw up their perception of how close you are to them.

For all of you that say you ride on high beam, how many of you are pissed off by all the dicks driving their boy racer cars or SUVs with the goddam low level driving lights shining in your face? Because that is what you are doing in return if you have your lights on high. Those damn low level lights come into their own in fog when the light doesn't reflect back into your face yet so many drive with them on all the time now.

[Coldkiwi]

to who ever was quicker with their fingers than they were with their brain (can't be arsed flicking back through this):

I do not assume every prat in a cage has seen me just because i have my lights on high beam when lane splitting. If I thought that I would be rear ending cars every second day now woudn't I?

I do it because it increases the odds of someone seeing me when they casually glance in their mirror (looking over the shoulder is clearly a lost art) as they move over. I still ride with the hand twitching over the brake lever so I can stop when they pull out into my path  because legally I shouldn't be there and I have to be willing to do all I can to keep myself out of trouble.